Klarinet Archive - Posting 000673.txt from 2003/04

From: Robert Howe <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re:bassett-alto
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:40:09 -0400

Hey all,

I posted this over New Years' and had little response. I would love to hear
what folks think of my observations.

I would like to tell you about my three babies. These are corni di
bassetto, one by each of the major French makers. All observations will be
welcomed, I post this to learn from the list; this is not an advertisement
of instruments for sale.

The LeBlanc I bought in 1995 from a major New York player, you can hear it
on a Deutsche Gramophone recording of the Grand Partita. Serial 13636.
Large mouthpiece, works well with a Hite. Bore 18.0 mm at base of neck,
18.1 at center joint. This and the other two range to C, all have the low C
on the bell and all have floor pegs. Has a double register vent, throat Bb
is sounded with the first vent and is lousy (as it is on all three, I use A
and the third side key for Bb on all of them). Low Eb is touched with the
right small finger, D with the left, Db right, C thumb. There is no
auxiliary Ab-Eb. I have used it for BH 2 on the Requiem, BH on the Happy
Workshop; have loaned it for BH 2 on the Requiem, BH two on Grand Partita
and BH 3 on the Masonic Funeral Music.

The Selmer I bought in 2000 from a player in Verona who bought it new in
Florence. D3035, small mpc (Portnoy BP3), bore 15.6 neck 16.0 center,
single register vent, Low Eb R, D L and R, Db R and thumb, C Thumb.
Curiously, the left hand F-C also closes the low C but not the intervening
keys, which makes passage work involving middle of the staff Eb to C
awkward, as the left hand third space C thus has more tension to overcome;
on the Requiem and Grand Partita first parts, which lack low C, I turn the
bell to disable the connection and thus free up the key. Has an auxiliary
Ab/Eb. I have used for BH 1 on Requiem and Grand Partita, BH 1 and 2 on
Masonic Funeral Music.

The Buffet is an RC Prestige 23971 which I bought at a French auction (in
absentia, 2001), large mpc (VanDoren B44), 17.6 to 17.2 (speak of a reversed
cone, willya!), double register, throat Bb from the first vent, low Eb R
(but adjacent to F/C, not to E/B), low D R and L, Db thumb, C thumb. Has an
auxiliary Ab/Eb. I have loaned it for BH 1 and 2 on Masonic Funeral music.

Some thoughts, observations, questions. I wish these had fewer left little
finger keys, I mark the extra ones with felt so that my finger can tell. Why
don't these guys build a BH with an auxiliary vent just for throat Bb? What
bore/mpc configuration is preferred by major Amerrican players? Why does
the Selmer link left F/C to low C? Any ideas on dates for these puppies?
(The Buffet is clearly NOT from the 1920s, despite the 5 digit number, it
can't be more than 20 or 25 years old from the wear on the case. Cases,
which are bumped even when the horn is in storage, may tell age better than
rarely-used instruments). The Masonic Funeral Music sounds *Fabulous* on
three bassetti (and of course an additional Bb clarinet) rather than the Bb
and two basses that one so often hears.

All these puppies play well, the Selmer, despite the single vent, having the
best clarion register. You can see from my pattern of use that I like the
Selmer best, but that is in part because my regular playing partner likes
the LeBlanc a lot and because I have only had the Buffet briefly. The
LeBlanc strikes our local symphony first clarinettist (the estimable Mike
Sussmann) as being sharp, but I find my that my tuning fork rings all the
time when I play it; Mike certainly has a more developed embouchure than do
I. For what it is worth, my main instrument is oboe, my Bb clarinet is a
Fox with a Fox-adjusted Portnoy BP 2 mpc.

Talk to me!

Ciao,

Robert Howe

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