Klarinet Archive - Posting 000474.txt from 2000/02

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] basset horns for sale
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 16:02:03 -0500

Well you are quite right, Fred. The narrow bore basset horn is a
difficult instrument to deal with from many perspectives. And almost
all the problems that a narrow bore horn have are eliminated with the
wider bore instrument. However, I do not consider that the wide bore
instrument sound like a basset horn, plays like a basset horn or is a
basset horn. It is an alto clarinet pitched in the key of F with an
extension down to low C.

It's a very nice instrument but not a basset horn. And the distinction
here is not simply one of nomenclature, but character of sound.

And, oh yes, it uses an alto clarinet mouthpiece.

I had two Selmer, narrow bore instruments for years and they were always
a problem. But I worked around those problems as best as I could and
they were quite satisfactory in performance. Never had a serious
complaint that I could not fix.

Fred Jacobowitz wrote:
>
> Dan (and others),
> I suspect that the reason they are for sale is that someone
> finally got wise to the fact that these narrow-bore instruments are a
> royal pain in the butt to tune. Leblancs with their wide bore, tune MUCH
> better than Selmers and Buffets.
> Peabody Conservatory has two Bastard
> Horns and they are DOGS. They are made by Selmer (though I don't think
> that is the main reason they are lousy). I used the better of the two
> on a recital there and still had to take off most of the keys to put stuff
> in the holes, raise and lower keys, etc. to get some semblance of tuning.
> And it still tuned lousy!
> Also, though it is much more traditional to make a narrow-bore
> instument, the wide-bore one is much more free-blowing and plays much
> louder, which is a much better match for modern clarinets.
>
> Fred Jacobowitz
> Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory
>
> On Wed, 9 Feb 2000, Daniel Leeson wrote:
>
> > Daniel's note is very interesting. It would be very instructive to
> > understand why the Pittsburgh Symphony want to sell two relatively new
> > instruments. What is wrong with them? And the answer to that question
> > cannot be "nothing." They are going to have to lay out at least as much
> > as they are asking to replace them, probably more.
> >
> > Either this is a business decision or a technical one. If the latter,
> > it would be worthwhile hearing the "why" behind the action.
> >
> > "Daniel A. Paprocki" wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm posting this for my friend Dick Page.
> > >
> > > The Pittsburgh Symphony has for sale a pair of Selmer basset horns. They're
> > > about ten
> > > years old and Dick Page (bass cl, Pitt. sym) has done extensive work and
> > > tuning on them when they
> > > were new. Asking price is $8,000 for the pair. Anyone interested
> > > can contact Dick Page directly, either by e-mail (rpage@-----.com) or
> > > phone. (412-371-9886)
> > >
> > > Dan
> > >
> > > --
> > > Daniel Paprocki
> > > Clarinet & Saxophone Studio
> > > Angelo State University
> > > San Angelo, Texas
> >
> > --
> > ***************************
> > ** Dan Leeson **
> > ** leeson0@-----.net **
> > ***************************
> >
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> >
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--
***************************
** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
***************************

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