Klarinet Archive - Posting 000473.txt from 1998/12

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A question of Clarinet Preference
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 05:31:56 -0500

At 01:06 AM 12/11/98 -0800, Jay Webler
wrote:
>
>>I suspect that many high school band directors (and even into college) are
>>still ignorant of the new and varied alternatives which have arisen to
>>challenge the R-13. So they dutifully and dogmatically continue to push the
>>Buffet,
>
>When I puchased my R-13 almost 6 months ago I tried many of the instruments
>that are challenging the R-13. Back then I had a difficult time making
the decision,
>primarily because of cost. Last month I went back and tried the same
instruments
>and discovered that none of them really comes close to the sound quality
of the R-13.
>IMHO. Though the previous statement about band directors knowledge of other
>instruments may be true, I do not feel that steering a srudent
>to the R-13 is going to be detrimental to the student. I shop at a music
store that
>previously carried Leblanc. They finally dropped the line, because when
comparisons were
>done between the Leblanc's and the R-13, the R-13 was chosen most of the
time.
>Perhaps it has continued in its popularity because it is a good
instrument, with an excellent
>sound ,and not because someone has stock in the company, or because
someone may be
>ignorant of the competition. I know that I don't have any stock, and I
certainly tried the competitors..
>
You certainly can't mislead anyone by recommending an R-13. It's a fine
instrument, and all those people using/recommending them couldn't be wrong.
But there ARE other options. As you say, you tried many, and had a hard
time deciding. Different brands sound and feel different. Not necessarily
better or worse, just DIFFERENT. Now that you have been playing your R-13
for a while and have become familiar with its sound, feel, and response,
you have probably developed a preference for it and the others no longer
meet your particular expectations. The last time I had an R-13 to play
with for a while and compare with my Selmer Series 10, I realized that,
despite the vast differences between them, if someone had given me the
choice of trading even up to get the R-13 or keeping my Selmer, I'd have
gone back and forth and agonized FOREVER! And either way, I couldn't lose!

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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