Klarinet Archive - Posting 000583.txt from 2002/01

From: Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bassethorn
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 09:06:06 -0500

Both instruments you mention have spotty records. You may very well get
a good one or it could be below their normally excellent production
record. But you must also consider the fact that both instruments are
wide bored and this has several consequences which speak to the
character of sound that you are likely to get.

On the positive side of the large bored instrument is the fact that both
Le Blanc and Buffet use the larger bore to get around certain acoustical
deficiencies of the narrow bored instrument. These deficiencies are
real and problematic, not imagined. Actually, it is Buffet who switched
from narrow to larger bore. Le Blanc always made the larger bore
instrument and its popularity was due to the fact that it did not have
the Buffet (and Selmer) problems.

But this shift to a larger bored instrument requires a larger mouthpiece
and the fact is that both instruments are actually alto clarinets in F.
While there is considerable disagreement about the following
statement, it has to be voiced: the alto clarinet in F with extension to
low written C is not a basset horn, and, more important, to some its
sound is not characteristic of a basset horn.

More important is whether or not you are happy with the character of the
sound that you have gotten from the instruments you played. If you like
it, then it does not matter what theoretical disagreements exist with
respect to the precise definition of a basset horn. But I will add that
I owned two basset horns (both Selmers and both narrow bored) for 30
years, sold them and then stopped playing. But the imminence of the
Mozart quarter-millenium celebration (2006) caused me to buy another. I
could have gotten any one that I wanted and the manufacturer I chose
made the instrument in either a narrow or a wide bore. I chose the
narrow (because of my personal preference) and have not been disappointed.

Dan Leeson

Juerg Fehr wrote:

> I am planning to buy a bassethorn. I could get a Leblanc 315S right now for
> a very reasonable price or I could order a Buffet, which would cost more and
> would not be available until the end of the year. Has anybody compared the
> two instruments? I remember playing the Buffet once and it played very
> comfortably, but trying the Leblanc was not bad at all, it is well in tune,
> has an nice and even sound through all the registers and responds really
> well.
>
> Advice from experienced bassethorn players are much appreciated.
>
> Juerg
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> .
>
>

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**Dan Leeson **
**leeson0@-----.net **
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