Klarinet Archive - Posting 000029.txt from 2002/08

From: Peter Stoll <peterstoll2000@-----.ca>
Subj: [kl] Fantastic experiences in Vancouver
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 20:58:10 -0400

Hi everyone,

Hope you're having a good summer. I'm on holiday
visiting family in the gorgeous city of Vancouver,
Canada (on the west coast for the non-geographically
inclined) and I have to share 2 great experiences I've
just had here. First was a pair of visits to Morrie
Backun. You may have heard about Morrie's wooden
barrels and bells that are becoming the hot item all
over the place. For good reason, these things seem to
take the metallic buzz out of the sound while
improving intonation and the evenness between
registers, creating a beautiful warm and centred
sound. He makes them in all kinds of woods (I think
there's a picture in the latest Clarinet magazine) but
for the record I found the Cocobolo to be the best
fit.

Morrie's a super nice guy and the rumour is that he's
getting in all kinds of super advanced equipment to
start production of custom made clarinets. If these
are anything like his current parts look out! He says
the design of these clarinets will be "evolutionary
rather than revolutionary" to avoid forcing
experiences players to adopt new fingerings and deal
with a radically different setup.

En route to trying his stuff he did some work on my
Bb, A and Eb and whoa! This was state of the art
stuff, electron microscopes and super-fine drills and
you name it. This guy knows his way around woodwinds!
He found some subtle cracks on one horn, invisibly
repaired now, and a ton of tiny leaks and man has the
scale improved on my Eb and A. Thanks Morrie! His
email is MBack@-----.com and his shop number (604)
205-5770. For the record I paid for all the
accessories and repair work he did, but his prices are
very reasonable. My only fear is that he's going to
get booked up as the word continues to spread. For a
true 21st century approach to instrument design and
repair, check him out.

Wes Foster, the brilliant Principal Clarinetist of the
Vancouver Symphony, is collaborating closely with
Morrie and very generously came in to help me choose
some barrels. His comments about my playing were as
on-target as ever, this Marcellus student knows his
stuff!

Thanks guys for a great experience, and everyone take
note of this hotbed of innovation before Morrie gets
overloaded with bookings!

=====
Peter Stoll

University of Toronto
Toronto Philharmonia
Continuum Contemporary Music
ERGO ensemble

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