Klarinet Archive - Posting 000807.txt from 1999/05

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl]Hans Moennig's solution the Dark Clarinet Tone
Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 15:09:33 -0400

On Mon, 17 May 1999, Bill Hausmann wrote:
> Yes, I am guilty of making the ridiculous assumption that the instruments
> in question were designed to play with good tone and correct intonation and
> proper mechanical and acoustical function. So sue me. If they really
> perform in this manner, rebuilding should be unnecessary. The need for
> rebuilding strongly suggests to me that something that SOMETHING was not
> satisfactory. No great leap of logic required.

I'm afraid your last sentence says it all. There is no need for
rebuilding - unless you simply have ignored what people have been telling
you for the last couple of days! They play fine out of the case.
Once again *sigh* (in case you angrily deleted it before) - people
rebuild/customize because they have a special need that they have in mind,
or because they match a particular mouthpiece barrel with an instrument
they like. So.....they take that instrument to someone hand have them do
work on it.

On the other hand, you want to be able to spend $1600 on a horn hand have
it do everything you want - or else, by God, you're going to make it clear
that as a consumer you're just simply "not going to take it anymore"!!
Then you take all that unecessary, unhappy, illogical and poorly concluded
message and put it on a website for all to see. That's ok with me! But
some of us think you are simply blaming a manufacturer because a piece of
plumbing with holes and keys drilled/placed is often altered by a
technician. You have rejected everyone's arguement that they like the
horn they bought and get it tweaked in a way particular to them and then
claim that it is the manufacturer's fault.

I think you just like to complain! Of course, that is just my opinion.

> I think what we are arguing about is purely a matter of degree. I have
> never said, implied, or suggested that any major manufacturer of clarinets
> is building junk, and in fact, have on several occasions DENIED that I
> think that is true. We also seem to disagree on just how much changing
> constitutes "rebuilding."

Let's see - you didn't accept any of Webster's definitions for what
customization is - rather you made up your own. Have you ever read an
insurance policy? They start of with definitions, and then the language
of the policy is based on the definitions presented. It seems to me that,
if you had an insurance issue - you would argue against the definitions of
the policy because you had an adgenda - not because there was anything
wrong with the definitions!

After re-reading your original posts as well as the ones during the past
few days, I can't agree with you on this Bill. You have strongly implied
that the instrument manufacturers are building junk. Although, in your
defense, you simply call the instruments defective designs - and you use
people going to aftermarket techicians with a new horn as evidence of
such.

> Changing the positions and sizes of all the tone
> holes certainly qualifies, though, and should be unnecessary in a correctly
> designed instrument. Swapping a few corks for teflon, adjusting spring
> tensions, even using cork pads for the upper joint, etc., are post-factory
> customizing options and cause me no problem at all.

I've never had that done to my clarinets. Not one of my Buffets has ever
had a tone hole moved or resized - with the exception of my bass clarinet
that I had Francois undercut a bit more. But I saw his tool - and it had
marks on it that defined the tolerances to specifications by Buffet - and
it was done within tolerance. Francois then posted why tolerances are
sometimes left a bit short - and others responded to that effect. You
don't mention if undercutting is acceptable in "your" definition. Perhaps
you could elaborate on how much undercutting is acceptable before you call
it rebuilding rather than customization. LOL

So what can we conclude? First of all, if we can show that a strong
majority of Buffet owners do not have these things done - we can then show
that those who do are customizing not a bad design, but a great design
that they want to make work for them in a specific way. You don't have to
accept that premise or position, but that's a choice you make.

BTW - as stated earler, Brannen works on all instruments - not just
Buffets. In fact, he used to do oboes and english horns also. Did you
think that made those defective too?

Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director - Concert Band, Symphonic Winds & Titan Band
Advisor - Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University

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