Klarinet Archive - Posting 001309.txt from 2004/03

From: "Dallas SCUBA" <forest_aten@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Fun day at Festival
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 10:50:59 -0500


> > >
> > > But would they if they did NOT know that all those local pros played
> > > them? I'll wager that if you could do the auditioning WITHOUT letting
> >them
> > > see the brand name, there would be a much less unanimous conclusion.
Not
> > > that Buffets are less than fine instruments; they are very good. But
so
> > > are Selmers, Yamahas, Leblancs...
> >
> >Not as good...and if the people auditioning had an objective set of
critiera
> >to use for evaluation.....I bet that Buffet would win overwhelmingly.
Just
> >an opinion based on a lot of experience in this area. Will everyone pick
> >Buffet? No....
>
> But that's just it. In Europe, for example, where the same choices are
> available, very FEW play Buffet R-13's, which seem to be preferred here,
> although many still play Buffet. When you have that many manufacturers
> making that many of ANYTHING that are of comparable price and quality, for
> the market to chose one THAT overwhelmingly indicates that something is
out
> of whack. You don't have 99% of people buying Budweiser over Miller, for
> example. I maintain that there is bias in the marketplace, largely
created
> by teachers who push their students to buy Buffets because that's what
THEY
> have, and they have them because THEIR teacher told them to get one,
> etc. I'm not saying that they are getting an inferior instrument as a
> result (known R-13 intonation discrepancies aside -- if everybody buys
> them, at least the sections will be in tune with themselves!), but they
> have shut themselves off, as you have, from objective evaluation of the
> alternatives. In a completely blind evaluation, the other brands would
win
> a much larger share of the business.
>
>
> >... By the way....I
> >don't play Buffet clarinets because someone brainwashed me. I play them
> >because they better for me.
>
> Perhaps so. When I first played a Buffet, I immediately DISLIKED it
> because of key placement issues. That may have been largely due to being
> comfortable with the instrument I already had, of course, but it steered
me
> toward my Selmer. Nobody was pushing me either way. I have since played
> Buffets I would be quite willing to own (and a dog or two), but I still
> like my Selmer's sound and intonation just fine.
>
>
> > > I see this all the time in the business. People come in saying, in
> >effect,
> > > "I'm here to buy my Bach Stradivarius trumpet/Selmer Paris sax/Buffet
> > > clarinet" without even CONSIDERING trying anything else. I cajole
them
> > > into giving other comparable instruments a trial, but when they are
done,
> > > they buy what they came in for, pre-conceived notions fully
> > > intact. Sometimes, this is because the instructor TOLD them that was
what
> > > they "had to" buy. Or sometimes, it is "because that's what my FRIEND
> >just
> > > bought." Of course, this is likely at least PART of the reason the
local
> > > pros all play Buffets, too! And thus the merry-go-round goes on and
on...
> > >
> > >
> >What "people" are you talking about in this paragraph? Are you talking
about
> >professionals? It sure doesn't seem that way to me. We were talking about
> >professionals earlier Bill. I think you assume way too much. Good
> >players.....professional players are not often led to slaughter....at
least
> >not easily.
>
> Ah, but we WERE talking about students! I said they were making their
> choices based not solely upon their OWN preferences, but because of what
> their teachers play and what they saw the local PROS play. And THEY play
> them because THEY, as students, were led to "slaughter" by THEIR teachers
> back when they were young. Switch the brand logos on the horns and see
> what happens!
>
>
>
> Bill Hausmann
>

Bill,

It seems that your prejudice comes from a sales and marketing
background.....not playing clarinet.

Most clarinet players......select their instrument based on a set of
objective criteria. Well trained musicians are constantly evaluating every
aspect of their performance. Clarinet players are just about the biggest
equipment fiddlers I know. The players (student or professional) that I know
are always searching......for the perfect clarinet. They seem to end up with
a Buffet. Not that it's perfect. It just meets most players criteria list
better than most others.

You elude to "known intonation issues" with the Buffet R-13. The R-13, with
it's "known intonation issues", has far better intonation than most
clarinets on the market today. Far better. Someone recently discussed the
various changes needed to improve the R-13. Most of the improvements
suggested had been recommended by Lee Gibson three decades ago. Buffet
responded with the Festival. While the Festival did make improvements on the
tuning issues characteristic to the R-13, it presented new and now "known
intonation issues" for the Festival. The most obvious being the left hand
plays low and the right hand notes play high.

Every clarinet is a compromise. Buffets compromise is currently the best in
my opinion. And in the opinion of a lot (most in North America)
professionals. Players can think and easily develop independence of thought
and action. We aren't as stupid as you represent.....makes me smile a lot
Bill.

If I were to switch brand logos and re-evaluate....the result would be the
same....because the instruments being tested don't change because of a logo.
Your bias is based on selling clarinets....not playing them.

Forest Aten

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