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Klarinet Archive - Posting 000047.txt from 2003/12
From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] The season to kill bad ideas
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 23:00:58 -0500
At 06:24 AM 12/1/2003 -0800, Dan Leeson wrote:
>Bill Hausmann wrote
>
>"To each his own. Selmer clarinets do indeed sound different from
>Buffets. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the
>individual. I LIKE my Selmer's sound, very direct and forceful, what I
>would define as "dark;" that is, heavy on the fundamental and lower
>partials with relatively less energy in the upper partials. As for its
>condition, it looks pretty good to me! Of course, I have neither the
>funds nor the need for such an instrument, but I figured somebody here
>might. You can't ALL be exclusive Buffet Artists!"
>
>OK. I'll bite. What physical property may be found in the Selmer clarinets
>(or vice versa) that allow them "to indeed sound different" from Buffet
>clarinets (or vice versa)? And once you describe that physical property,
>the next question is how does this difference manifest itself in a sound
>that is "heavy on the fundamentals and lower partials with relatively less
>energy in the upper partial (which you define as "dark")?"
I really did not expect you to have a problem with my use of the word
"dark" since I did define the term carefully. But in my experience, at
least, Selmer clarinets in general, and even Selmer USA clarinets, share a
similarity of tone as I have described. I have NO idea what physical
characteristic of their design brings this quality out, but surely there
must be one, probably kept a deep, dark secret (on the order of the
Coca-Cola formula) by the company's designers. This is not to say that I
disapprove of the tone quality of Buffet clarinets, only that I recognize a
subtle and apparently brand-specific difference between the brands, small
enough that I doubt I would notice it in any other situation than a direct
comparison, but there nonetheless. The Buffets, to me, seem to have more
higher partial energy, resulting in their so-called "sweet" sound.
Bill Hausmann
If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!
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