Klarinet Archive - Posting 000675.txt from 1998/08

From: <HatNYC62@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Bass clarinets
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 23:40:24 -0400

In a message dated 8/23/98 8:15:22 PM, klarinet-digest-help@-----.org writes:

<<Buffet is definitely the best bass clarinet made currently.>>

There are a lot of professionals who disagree with this. Some strongly. The
Selmers have a different quality that you may not prefer. The Selmer sound is
different, and I happen to prefer that sound, as does my good friend Michael
Lowenstern. Charlie Neidich also recently switched from a Buffet bass to a
Selmer, after trying Michael's new instrument. Jim Ognibene, one of the finest
players I have heard, plays a Selmer 33 at the Metropolitan Opera.

The mechanism is perhaps not as carefully regulated as the newest Buffets, but
mechanism has to be a secondary consideration to sound & pitch. Pitch on the
Selmers is quite good on the best of them, though there are always compromises
to be made, particularly the e/b, a problem on almost all bass clarinets,
regardless of maker. I have to admit that I haven't had the opportunity to try
the newest Buffet, but I have no reason to believe that its basic sound has
changed from the last model.

David Hattner, NYC

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