Klarinet Archive - Posting 000393.txt from 1998/12

From: "Dee D. Hays" <deehays@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A question of Clarinet Preference
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 22:21:13 -0500

-----Original Message-----
From: BNnirvana@-----.com>
Date: Monday, December 07, 1998 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] A question of Clarinet Preference

>i have only been playing clarinet for 1 year and i started off on a used
>clarinet.my parents are going to buy me a new one.does anyone have any
>suggestions on what i should get?
>thanx,
>rachel

This is a really tough question actually. You (and your parents) need to
sit down and think about your goals and ambitions.

1. What is your current clarinet? Occasionally people have a very fine
used instrument that would only require a some work to be better than what
they could afford new.

2. Will you be doing a lot of marching? If so, a plastic clarinet should
be given serious consideration if you live where there are extremes of
weather. If your current horn is plastic, consider keeping it for marching.

3. Do you expect to play throughout high school but not continue past that?
A low end wood intermediate or good plastic should be fine especially if you
get a really good mouthpiece to go with it. You would be surprised how good
these horns can sound with a fine mouthpiece.

4. Do you expect to play after you get out of school as a hobby? A high
end intermediate might be appropriate.

5. Do think you might be studying music in some form in college? You are
probably a bit young to have strong leanings for a career yet sometimes
people do at your age. A pro horn (even used) is probably too expensive
this early in your development, but if you pick one of the better brands of
plastic or intermediate woods, you can sell it for a reasonable amount
(although nothing near what you paid for it) and upgrade to a better horn
later.

6. Of course there is always the cost issue. How much can you and your
parents afford? If you have some patience, you can mail order and try out
instruments at a much better price than most of your local stores will have.
However, it may take a while to go through the procedure of try horn, return
horn, try next horn, etc. If you have someone qualified to help you select
instruments, some used instruments can be outstanding buys.

Basically, I would recommend sticking to one of the four major makers of
clarinet. These are Buffet, Leblanc, Selmer, and Yamaha. They develop and
build their own clarinets and all of them have models available for the full
range of beginner, intermediate, and professional horns. There are some
specialty makers also but they only produce pro grade horns. The bulk of
the remaining makers do NOT do their own design and contract the
manufacturing to factories around the world. Quality is markedly
inconsistent because of this.

Also instruments made by the major makers will hold their resale value
better.

Dee Hays
Canton, SD

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