Klarinet Archive - Posting 000835.txt from 2003/08

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet vs. Everyone
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 21:04:59 -0400

I can see two difficulties (that haven't been mentioned yet) with
boasting that top-notch players use a certain brand or model.

First, top-notch players receive special attention (deservedly so) from
instrument manufacturers. It's unlikely that you or I would receive
the same level of quality control and custom selection if we were to
purchase a mass-produced instrument. Thus it's possible that a
manufacturer could dominate the market for top-notch players simply
because the manufacturer employs an especially masterful technician, but
unless you receive the same dedicated attention from the same master
technician, you will be buying a different sort of instrument. I don't
mean this as a criticism of any company. I doubt that owning the best
imaginable clarinet would improve my own playing --- I might even find
it a struggle to get results that pleased me. But it doesn't make
sense (imo) to extrapolate down to an amateur's level from the
instruments that world class musicians want and receive.

Second --- and this was really driven home to me a few years ago at a
ClarinetFest when I overheard a complaint from one of the world-class
performers to the manufacturer who sponsored him --- I was dismayed to
witness how far removed his concerns were from mine. The fact that he
wanted a certain quality had no significance whatsoever for me. So why
would his choice of instrument influence mine, either pro or con?

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