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Klarinet Archive - Posting 000095.txt from 2004/02
From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] re: C Clarinet
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 15:39:06 -0500
After my week with Morrie Backun, I am convinced you can buy any clarinet
(within reason) and give it to him and he will make it right. From what I
could see, clarinets are largely unfinished. Maybe that is why they are so
much cheaper than the other woodwinds. Check him out at Fest this summer.
The mad scientist is brewing a real goody!
Nancy
Nancy E. Buckman, CPO, AFO, Technical Assistant
School of Health Professions, Wellness and Physical Education
Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, MD 21012-1895 USA
Phone 410-777-2316 Fax 410-777-2233
E-mail nebuckman@-----.edu
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Nancy,
I have never been an advocate of this kind of advice. (to buy any clarinet
and trust that a tech can make it into something that it really isn't....)
Some things just can't be made right. I find that if a player will take
their time when selecting a clarinet, that it is very likely that they will
never need expensive custom services. With a well selected instrument, you
can get to know the instruments "issues" through it's first pad cycle and
have reasonable adjustments made at the first overhaul. It doesn't take a
mad scientist to make these kinds of adjustments.
$800 for a Backun bell?? is very expensive for something that makes a
"change". Whether the change is for the better is always a decision that
each player has to make. I feel that players frequently make unreasonable
decisions in their quest for the perfect clarinet system. "change" doesn't
always mean a change for the better. I always encourage students in the
process of clarinet selection to step back frequently and try to develop
more than one point of view....
I've played several Backun bells and barrels. Both pieces did change
things....but not in a way that I would definitely say was "better" than
what I am currently using. (only OEM plus good regulation and factory
Moennig barrels) Backun's equipment was sent on approval to a local
professional player. She sat around playing these for weeks trying to decide
on if they made a positive difference. She invited many of us in the area to
try them. I'm not sure if she bought them or not. I do know that all of the
other professional players that played on them are still using their former
equipment. (could be that we are all broke ;-)
I haven't done any careful analysis of these bells or barrels....just played
on them casually a couple of times. I would say that the difference I
perceived was not enough to motivate me to spend this kind of money.
I am very glad that Mr. Backun appears to be helping so many players!
and....that so many players have so much money in their pockets for this
kind of sophisticated equipment???!! ;-)
Forest Aten
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