Klarinet Archive - Posting 000903.txt from 2000/03

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: RM Malerne clarinets
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 20:54:54 -0500

At 01:08 AM 3/28/00 +0000, you wrote:
>Is anyone familiar with R.M. Malerne clarinets? There is an A model for sale
>on E-Bay and the guy says he has two more. So, are they decent?

Decent, most certainly. I don't know how much further I'd go than
that. My girlfriend's kid has a Malerne bass, low E-flat. Roberto's in
NYC had it for what amounts to dirt-cheap: $800, considering it's wood,
two-joint body, etc. He bought it last May and it's needed repairs twice
since then. That probably is due to it being bounced around on a school
bus in a case that I suspect was intended for an old Conn bass with a low C
extension. I've played on it several times, more than several
actually. It has a very easy low register, but tonally I like my Bundy
horn better, plastic or not: it sounds remarkably like the dream-horn
Selmer that Roberto also had, but for which he was asking a justifiable but
budget-busting three grand. The Malerne also has some F# (based on the
standard clarinet) key problems that require alternative trill-key
fingerings that can be quite uncomfortable. I don't lay this at Roberto's
door, I suspect the instrument is one of those quirky horns that goes out
of alignment if you look at it funny. When I was a kid I used to own a
French-made Bb that was rather like that: it was great if you didn't play
it. It was not a Selmer, not a Buffet, but some brand I'd never heard
of. (Maybe it was really made in Paris, Texas.)

For all that, I would still consider TRYing the Malerne if there is a
return policy associated with it. Everyone's mileage varies and the A the
guy is selling might be a gem.

Ken

----------------------
Kenneth Wolman http://www.rio-cardoner.com
"i had not really expected to find any of the art world populated with
ex-murderers fascists green berets and now i know that you can find
anything in the art world and they can even become prophets' -- David
Antin, "Tuning"

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