Klarinet Archive - Posting 000322.txt from 2001/06
From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] ELITE II
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 04:13:12 -0400
<><> George=A0Soho wrote:
So, nobody knows anything about Elite? I intend to buy new one. I saw
Elite, it looks great. But I don't know anything about it. Should I buy
it or not? Help me, please!
George, I'm certainly not a guru; and I don't know anything about your
background --- beginner? intermediate? advanced? jazz? classical?
klezmer? pops? rock'n'roll? avante garde? --- but one or two people here
have already given you the best answers that are possible under the
circumstances. Perhaps it will help if I paraphrase their answers in
my own 'novice' vocabulary:
.....and please accept my apology if I'm telling you stuff that you know
already, or being too wordy.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
If you are a beginner:
Your embouchure and breath support and ear are not stable enough (yet)
for you to decide which instrument will provide you with whatever you
will want when you are more experienced. As a result, the best advice
for the moment is: "Don't spend all your money now because later on
you're almost sure to want a different instrument a few months from
now."
As a first step towards forming a stable opinion, buy a mouthpiece or
two for the instrument that you have right now. Also buy a ligature or
two, and a couple of different brands of reeds. In the process of
trying to decide which combination of mouthpiece and ligature and reed
you like the best on the instrument you have now, you'll discover that
your opinion will change from one week to the next because: (1)
everything else about your playing will change from week to week as
well; and (2) your ear will learn how to distinguish between the
various aspects of tone and intonation. In the meantime, buying a few
mouthpieces and ligatures and reeds won't destroy your budget
(hopefully).
If you not a beginner:
Nobody can give you a definitive answer because: (1) there are many
different tones and styles of playing, and you haven't explained which
one you want; and (2) even if you do explain your goals --- and if you
tell us that you want a dark tone, what does 'dark' mean? --- no two
people have identical musculature or oral anatomy or breath, and so
forth, and therefore the instrument that gives me a clear, ringing tone
with acceptable intonation between twelfths may give you a strident,
shrill tone with unacceptable intonation.
The bottom line is that you must try individual instruments over a
period of time. Can you lay two clarinets on the table, close your
eyes, ask a friend to put your mouthpiece on one of them and to hand the
instrument to you, and then know for sure which instrument your friend
gave you?
If you can't, then does it matter which instrument you buy? If you can,
then which instrument do you like the best? Will you give the same
answer to this question next week? Will you give the same answer if
you use a different mouthpiece on the two instruments? Those are the
questions that count.
Someone here advised you to try different brands as well as different
models within the same brand. The differences in tone and intonation
and resistance and 'feel' and so forth between brands are huge! In
fact, when you finally decide which brand and model you like the best,
you'll still notice differences between two instruments of the same
manufacturer and model. So again, the advice is: "Wait until your
playing develops some stability, and then try different brands and
different models withi each brand, and pick the one that suits you in
particular."
Cheers,
Bill
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