Klarinet Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 2002/12

From: "William Semple" <wsemple@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Benefit of taking time off
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 09:23:31 -0500

Clip>Try taking off 40 years! Quit in 1961 and started again last year
playing is terrible but having a ball playing with my 2 daughters in
a church symphony<

Don't be surprised at how quickly you become happy with that R13. We spend
more on other avocations (as well as on vocations). And it sure beats
hauling around a harp, a harpsichord, or a piano. My new R13 is much more
solid than my older horns. I like what Buffet did to the silverplate. When I
played my last jazz gig, one of the audience members commented on how the
stage lights reflected off of the keys. They just shine. The only drawback
is that the silver seems soft and picks up microscopic swirl marks (and I
hunted for the softest fabric I could find). So I understand how you feel.

Clarinetists are also lucky that they aren't violinists, for more reasons
than one. The most expensive clarinet (which is not even necessarily worth
the difference with lower-priced models) can't compare to the average cost
of a symphony-level violin.

Congratulations to you for playing again. There is a wide range of interest
in the clarinet evident here, from Tony Pay to the 1st year student. We
should be glad we share this wonderful instrument, whatever our level of
achievement.

...I don't come anywhere close to any of you folks,
but you know what...I don't care. I am doing the best I can and
trying to improve, and loving it...I even bought a Buffet R13. The
R13 is okay but not sure I would do it again. It's a lot more
instrument than I will ever use...it's just so nicely made I enjoy
that.

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