Klarinet Archive - Posting 000727.txt from 1999/05

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] re: Contrabassoon - don't get much use
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 02:06:00 -0400

on 5/15/99 3:34 AM, Dan Leeson wrote:

>I had a C clarinet made in the late 1800s and
>David Niethamer owns it now. I played it for 30 years, and whoever
>owned it before me played it for a long while, etc. It is not blown
>out. I had a basset horn dating from ca. 1910 and it wasn't blown
>out. I'm asking David if he thinks his 100 year old C clarinet
>that has been worked hard for a century is blown out.

I'm not sure I understand exactly what "blow out" means, but the C
clarinet that I bought from Dan plays well - holds its focus, tunes OK
(especially since a Jacobi overhaul) - just like I'd expect a good
instrument to play.

If "blow out" means that an instrument changes playing/blowing
characteristics, then yes, I'd have to say it's possible, but not
necessarily inevitable. With good care, an instrument might remain
playable for a long time. Then again, it could change. The change on an
oboe might be relatively more noticeable than on a clarinet because of
the difference in bore size.

There are so many variables that I think it's hard to pinpoint exactly
the cause of any change in playing characteristics. To lump them all
under the term "blown out" is over simplified and not quite accurate, at
least in any scientific sense. As a way to convince a spouse that one
needs to buy a new instrument, maybe this could work. ;-)

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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