Klarinet Archive - Posting 000510.txt from 2001/06

From: howard klug <hklug@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Buffet Festival versus LeBlanc Opus
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2001 23:25:12 -0400

It's always a difficult thing to objectively evaluate
instruments/mouthpieces on the floor of a noisy clarinet festival, and I
must admit that my own past experiences have finally given way to the
objectivity of the home, quieter, environment in the end. If any of you
are looking for a better Buffet, please don't investigate the Rossi
clarinets, for they are different in many ways that a casual blowing will
not discover.

Some of the standard third register fingerings are slightly out on the
Rossi's, but then we don't use them anyway. G3 is, for us, fingered
1/123Eb...which usually doesn't work on a Buffet. High F (without a sliver
key, thank you very much) is spot on, while F# may need the sliver key.
High D usually doesn't need the little finger Eb key, Eb3 works well with
r. hand middle finger plus the C key. Different yes, but not impossible,
and in the end, for me, preferable.

Rossi's tend to have a higher ceiling of volume than a traditional Buffet,
so if you push it, it will take it, but you also have to control it and
keep it focussed.

My experience has shown that more of the conically bored mouthpieces are
responsible for bad intonation than the instruments themselves. Rossi's
don't tune well with these kinds of mouthpieces (which are often selected
for their very focussed tone quality rather than their tuning
capabilities), and this is most often the cause of the tuning
discrepancies we find. AN ASIDE: When was the last time we heard anyone
select a mouthpiece with the comment, "boy, this thing really tunes well!"
(It doesn't happen...but should.)

In addition to doing the above three things very well, I am also pleased
with the great uniformity of matched tone quality through the registers.
Register breaks disappear, there is a slight increase of resistance in the
left hand above the staff (a safety cushion), and the third register
doesn't get edgy (like certain other commercial brands I could name).

If anyone is in my neighborhood and wants to give these Rossi's a good
try, don't hesitate to call.

All best wishes,

Howard Klug
Indiana University

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