Klarinet Archive - Posting 000586.txt from 2002/04

From: Tom.Henson@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] Prestige RC vs. Prestige R13
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 16:49:09 -0400

Thanks David for pointing this out.

I totally forgot the S-1.

I have heard 'opinions' (my emphasis) that the Festival is really a poor
man's Prestige, differing only in quality of materials and hand tuning.

I have a Festival Bb Greenline and like it a lot. I don't really know if the
bore is different from the Prestige or not.

I understand that the Festival and Prestige have a relocated register key
(slightly higher) for improved 12th's.

One comment that I can make in comparing my Festival to the standard R13 is
this.

Since I have started playing again after so many years, I spent a great deal
of time trying to undo a bad habit that I had in the past (I used to play an
R13 exclusively). That I would tend to play with a heavy finger motion and
'pop' the notes as some call it.

I felt I had made strides in improving this in playing with the Festival Bb
and have tried to always be aware of this when practicing. As soon as I
picked up the R13's to test, I noticed right away that it seemed to have
come back even though I was not playing with any heavier finger motion than
before.

That's when I realized that this 'popping' may be more related to the air
pressure in the bore and how this pressure was distributed through the tone
holes. I wish I could describe this in more scientific terms. That's when I
knew that bore design can make a difference in subtle ways.

Does this make sense to anyone here that uses these clarinets?

Tom Henson

David Naden said: << In addition to the R13 and RC bores that are currently
being discussed, there was a model S-1, Festival (R13 derivative, but
different), etc. The Vintage model is based on the original R13 bore
designe (to my
understanding) which is different than the current R13 bore. >>

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