Klarinet Archive - Posting 000948.txt from 1998/09

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Basset clarinet lower joint
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 14:29:27 -0400

Presumably a basset clarinet in A should, ideally, be a total redesign,
based on the fact that the bell note is A rather than c#. Has this ever
been done?
Furthermore, does anyone know whether bass clarinets to low C are
actually designed as
instruments to written C, or as extended shorter instruments?
Roger Shilcock

On Wed, 23 Sep 1998, Tony Pay wrote:

> Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 12:01:32 +0100
> From: Tony Pay <Tony@-----.uk>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Basset clarinet lower joint
>
> On 22 Sep 1998 19:27:39 GMT, Simon_Aldrich@-----.ca said:
>
> > I am playing the Mozart Concerto seven times this year and I am
> > borrowing someone's RC Prestige basset clarinet for the performances.
> > The owner told me the top joint wasn't very good and when he played
> > either the concerto or the quintet he used his own top joint. He
> > mentioned that he knows other people who do the same thing with their
> > basset clarinets (ie they use the top joint of their regular A
> > clarinet with the bottom joint of their basset clarinet).
> >
> > My question is therefore: Is it possible to buy just the lower joint
> > of a basset clarinet? If not, it would seem that there is a market
> > for this. If the chances are good that one might prefer one's own A
> > clarinet top joint why not just buy the lower joint? Why pay all that
> > money for only the lower half?
>
> There is a firm in London (Lowes) that specialises in extending the
> lower joint of an A clarinet and adding 4 RH thumb keys, or 3 RH thumb
> keys and one little finger key, with excellent results. The cost is
> around 700 UKP, if you give them the lower joint. If you want more
> little finger keys, the price is higher, depending on your requirements.
>
> Someone bought just a lower joint of a normal A clarinet from Buffet
> Crampon to have this done, so the answer to your question is that the
> process is at least possible, in two stages.
>
> Whether Buffet Crampon would sell you just the bottom joint of a basset
> clarinet, I don't know. I don't see why not, but the price might be
> quite high. In any case, you don't really need all those keys: the
> simpler the better, for the basset notes. You don't need to be able
> to toil about chromatically down there.
>
> Free-blowing instruments tend to become more focused when 'bassetized',
> so finding a good second-hand instrument with that sort of character
> might reduce the cost even further.
>
> And surely there is someone in the US who has the knowledge and
> expertise to do the job, too.
>
> Tony
> --
> _________ Tony Pay
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE
> tel/fax 01865 553339
>
>
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>
>

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