Klarinet Archive - Posting 000071.txt from 2004/08

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] James Campbell
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 17:23:47 -0400

At 01:18 PM 8/3/2004 -0400, Allen Levin wrote:
>...A note: He used a matched set of Selmers, modified by Morrie Backun
>with new barrels and bells. On the Bb it produced a very even sound
>throughout the range; but aggravated the tendency of a Selmer to sound too
>loud and jazzy - like my old Centered Tone*. On the A it produced the
>most beautiful sound I've heard in many years. The breathy throat tone
>problem may simply have arisen because of the need to match pitch to the
>piano in the second movement.

I was just re-reading an article in Smithsonian Magazine (March 2004) that
told about the two clarinets Artie Shaw donated to the museum, one of which
is a Selmer. "The other is a Buffet that the bandleader used with his
quintet,the Gramercy Five; the Selmer, Shaw says, had more 'shout' than the
sweeter, woodier Buffet, making it better in front of a big band." The
article also mentions
another interesting tidbit: "He even says, with casual heresy, that for the
recording of 'Stardust' he used a less expensive plastic reed."

The picture of one of his clarinets in the article is also fascinating. It
is difficult to tell, but I am pretty sure it is the Buffet. It has the
articulated C#/G# and extra ring on C, but the Eb/Bb sliver key and posts
have been removed and the hole plugged.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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