Klarinet Archive - Posting 000963.txt from 2000/08

From: les debusk <sflane@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Which one? (Uh-oh...newby alert!)
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 23:38:00 -0400

I started off on a regular plastic "Blessing" if i can remember correctly never
knew, to this day who made it.... it played pretty well.. besides the cork
falling off.. i used that clarinet for 4 and a half years from sixth grade to
9th grade. and then used it for marching band... i my self took the path of
music.. its what i want to do .. and its what i love.. so through many great
chances offered to me... i started lessons and then became (or tried) a very
serious musician.. i still am i am in eleventh grade now.. but its all i really
do these days.. its like symphony rehearsal one night then richmond band
rehearsal the next night.. and so on.. but i moved to a great wooden Buffet
R-13... used.. because i couldn't afford a new clarinet at the time.. but that's
the path i took in selecting clarinets... hope i said something that in any way
helped.. i didn't have any problem loving music with a plastic horn.. if its in
you... its in you...
Les DeBusk

"Dee D. Hays" wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausmann1@-----.com>
> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
> Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 7:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [kl] Which one? (Uh-oh...newby alert!)
>
> > At 03:00 PM 8/28/2000 -0700, Mike Selvey wrote:
> > > ... 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.
>
> I'll play the devil's advocate tonight by stating that in many cases
> upgrades simply aren't justified. A significant percentage of students put
> away their clarinet forever the day they graduate high school (or even
> sooner). For the majority of students, a good quality plastic will be more
> than sufficient especially if paired with a truly decent mouthpiece and
> quality reeds. These students are taking band as part of the total school
> experience (often just for fun) and have no notion of continuing. So there
> is no reason for the upgrades to materialize.
>
> The director has the preconceived notion that wood horns sound better and he
> wants his section to sound good so that is what he tries to get all his
> students to play. So the parent is convinced to put out several hundred
> extra dollars to satisfy this notion when there is over a 50% chance that
> the student will quit playing at or before graduation.
>
> Dee Hays
>
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