Klarinet Archive - Posting 000303.txt from 2005/01

From: X-MailScanner-tom.henson@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm Clarinets
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 14:42:45 -0500

Noel,

Thank you very much for sharing your teacher's knowledge. Thanks also to
Rien for his comments.

This is exactly the kind of comment I was looking for. I do know that
Herbert Wurlitzer, whom the company carries his name, has passed away. I
have been dealing with Bernd Wurlitzer who has been every bit the gentleman
in helping me. I do not know if what you say about him not being the son,
but the son-in-law is true. I never discussed this with Gordon Bobbett or
Charles Stier who are good friends with him. They might know, so I will ask
them next time I talk to them.

I also have talked by phone with Gordon Bobbett from Knoxville, Tennessee.
He may be the most knowledgeable person in the U.S. on the Reform-Boehm
Wurlitzer's. I believe he has four or five on them himself including a C
clarinet that he says is simply amazing. He told me that he has personally
played every model of the Reform-Boehm clarinets many times for comparison.

He did explain to me that the whole concept of design, from the bore to the
keywork and tone holes (venting included) does not follow the French design
at all. I ordered the model 185 soloist with the low E/F venting mechanism
and was told that this particular clarinet plays unlike any other
Reform-Boehm Wurlitzer because of the unique key mechanism and venting as
you describe. Gordon told me that he was not sure exactly why this
particular model was so much better, but he did say that the sound of this
model with the low E/F vent was the closet thing in a Reform-Boehm clarinet
that you would ever get to the German system sound. I believe he also said
that it probably had a lot to do with the venting as your teacher described
and the partials that are produced using this design. He said that because
of this, one has to play this clarinet in a different manner than a
traditional French clarinet like Buffet.

He went on to tell me that for starters, you need to use a softer reed. He
said if you played on a 3 1/2 on a French clarinet, that you will probably
need to drop down to a 2 1/2 or 3 maximum. This also has to do with the fact
that you are playing now on a German mouthpiece with a close tip opening. He
also said that besides the difference in the mouthpiece that one has to get
used to, that the bore is very different and has more resistance that a
French clarinet. He said that you could really not over blow this clarinet
no matter how hard you tried. This would agree with what your teacher said,
so it sounds like Gordon knows what he is talking about. He said the secret
to playing one of these clarinets is to just blow, blow, blow, and not make
any adjustments whatsoever in your embouchure. The clarinet does the rest.
In the end, you have a lot less work you have to do to achieve better
results.

Gordon went on to say that once you learn the proper way to play one of
these clarinets, that a light bulb will literally go off on the day that you
realize that you can do things on this clarinet that could not have been
done on a French system. He said that the dynamics, projection, multiple
tone colors, and evenness of scale and register will blow you away. He also
said that this was the most in tune Boehm clarinet he had every played. No
more out of tune 12ths. No more flat low E/F and sharp B/C. No more weak
notes and strong notes to take into account where you have to try and
manually correct this by manipulating the breath and
mouthpiece/reed/embouchure combination.

He then said something that surprised me. He told me that the Wurlitzer
clarinets may be the best jazz clarinets ever invented. I had not
anticipated a statement like that, but he said most people don't realize
that you can create so many more tonal characteristics on these clarinets
than on the French system that they can be used for many styles of music.
Klezmer is another one. That really blew me away.

So to hear what your teacher told you and your experience playing his, I
have to say that everything that Gordon told me matches perfectly with what
your teacher told you. I am now looking forward to getting this clarinet
even more than before, knowing that it will not be limited to just one style
of playing.

Like Gordon says, once you go over to the dark side, you won't go back. You
won't even look back.

Tom Henson

**********************

My teacher has an older model of these. He said that the current Wurlitzer
is in fact the son-in-law of the most famous of the Wurlitzers, but had
assumed the family name. He told me that the Wurlitzer characteristic is due
to 'venting' - all the tones are vented by a position one semitone below (or
something to that effect) whereas the normal Boehm compromises - for
instance at B Flat. He said that - in addition to giving much stronger notes
on those keys where compromise normally occurs - the bore of the clarinet is
different and doesn't flare at the end. This allows the clarinet to be blown
very forcefully all through the registers without any hint of unevenness or
'barking'. He very kindly let me try and disprove this assertion by blowing
into it as hard as I could, and I found it to be exactly as he said.

Noel

**********************

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