Klarinet Archive - Posting 000950.txt from 2000/08

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Which one? (Uh-oh...newby alert!)
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:49:03 -0400

At 03:00 PM 8/28/2000 -0700, Mike Selvey wrote:
>For a number of reasons (I gather), the band department in our local
>school district STRONGLY recommends that first time clarinet players
>should begin with a wooden clarinet, and not a standard resonite
>"student" clarinet. Their reasoning appears to be that in this school
>district, most parents never seem to "upgrade" their children's
>instruments as their school career continues, so they strive to ensure
>that beginning students get a good one to carry them through high
>school.
>
This is one very common line of reasoning, mostly used by people who REALLY
think that wood sounds better than plastic, period. In general, entry
level/intermediate wood and plastic clarinets share identical
specifications and will not sound all THAT much different from each other,
particularly in the hands of a beginning student or out on the marching
field. Plastic clarinets also require less maintenance and, obviously, a
lower initial investment. In MY humble opinion (and this may or may not
reflect the opinion of my BOSS) the best solution is to buy a plastic
clarinet for the beginner to use until high school. At that time, if the
student is at all serious, an upgrade to as good a wood horn as you can
afford should be made, with the plastic one being demoted to marching band
"beater." That being said, however, things will be easier for your child
if you follow the wishes of the local director. In the opinion of many
other people, he is not wrong, and even I see his point, since those
upgrades frequently DO fail to materialize.

>The deal set up by the school district is to attend a showing of
>instruments put on at a hotel by a local music company, and view the ONE
>clarinet which has been "recommended" by the district and the music
>store together as our best choice. It will be in the nature of the
>standard Lease/Purchase agreement of 18 months. The price of this
>"school band discount" Signet-110 is $899.00! I almost had a cardiac
>arrest!
>
>I have a problem with this, not the least of which is because of an
>apparent lack of choice, and the frustrating inability to find out
>ANYTHING on the 'net about this particular clarinet. Only by calling
>the music store directly was I able to find out why I could not find
>reference to a "Signet-110 Bb wooden clarinet". It turns out that even
>though "Signet" is no longer advertised by Selmer, it is still
>manufactured as a "private" line for some larger music stores for just
>this application. This gives them a kind of "exclusivity", in that I
>cannot price shop that model, and they can ask $899.00 for it, with no
>way to disprove their "band discount"!
>
A clever idea. The Selmer Model 103 wood clarinet we carry in our store
lists for $1,083 with standard double-wall plastic case AND Selmer Paris
HS* mouthpiece. The instrument should be comparable, but beware! The HS*
mouthpiece ALONE is a $100 item, and is far superior to the cheaper plastic
or molded hard rubber mouthpiece that may be included in their deal. We
get the instruments supplied with the HS* from the factory in response to
band director requests.

>After reviewing my research and the prices, I have settled on four
>possible candidates to acquire through online purchase. My question
>(finally!)to this list is:
>
>Which of these four clarinets would you recommend for my daughter, and
>why?
>
>Selmer CL200.................$510.00
>Buffet E-11......................$599.00
>LeBlanc Normandy-4......$539.00
>Yamaha YCL-34............$569.00
>
>Any and all opinions would be deeply appreciated by this hopelessly
>ignorant Dad, who knows how to relentlessly research products online,
>but has NO idea of their practical day-to-day characteristics, or
>suitability for an eleven year old girl who has never played an
>instrument in her life.
>
The Selmer CL200 will be closest to the one they specify. It is essentially
identical to the 103 I mentioned earlier, but with a slightly smaller bore
design, and will share key mechanism design with the Signet. Again, watch
what mouthpiece is included. The E-11 and YCL-34 are also very fine
instruments, maybe even better than the Selmer, with the Normandy 4 maybe a
half step behind (The Noblet 40 would be equal to them). All are
fine-quality entry/intermediate instruments which should perform well
(although all come standard with poor-to-mediocre mouthpieces). Personal
preference is usually the key -- how the keys feel to you, amount of
blowing resistance, etc. Since the band director is aware that most
parents don't have the experience to HAVE a preference, he is trying to
help you decide by sharing HIS experience, so DO listen to what he says,
but you may not need to slavishly follow.

>Any other practical advice for someone in my postion (i.e. "Is a
>carry-all case preferable to a standard hard case for a sixth-grader?)
>would also be welcome!
>
The carry-all case allows the music book to be carried inside the case, a
definite plus, but results in a larger case, naturally. The Yamaha
carry-all is a particularly nice cordura-covered semi-hard case with
shoulder strap.

Good luck!

Bill Hausmann NEW ADDRESS: bhausmann1@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

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

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