Klarinet Archive - Posting 000166.txt from 2005/03

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] CBDNA USC BH
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 08:45:27 -0500

Ben, the older Selmer and Buffet basset horns were small bore.
Buffet was the first of the two to change over to the larger
bore, at that time only used by LeBlanc (for the Boehm
instruments). With that bore size change also came the larger
alto clarinet mouthpiece. I am not sure if Selmer has changed
yet because I have not been conversant with their newer basset
horns. But both of my former basset horns were Selmer
instruments, one made in 1962 when I was living in Paris, and the
other made for and owned by Rosario Mazzeo around 1958 and sold
to me when he retired from the BSO.

You are correct that the older instruments were a total pain to
play but that was not because they were kept in poor repair. At
least mine were not. They were a total pain because neither
Selmer nor Buffet made the needed effort to make a good quality
small bore instrument. There were not enough sales to justify
the effort. So what they made was slapdash, hit and miss.

But at the time there was nothing else available except for the
LeBlanc which had problems of its own. And while the nomenclature
for the LeBlanc basset horn was incorrect -- it was an alto
clarinet in F, not a basset horn -- it was superior to the other
two for two reasons. First was the matter of intonation and
second the key arrangement for playing the basset notes.

But don't knock the older Selmers and Buffets. When, by
accident, they made a good one, it was often very good.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Benjamin Maas [mailto:benmaas@-----.com]
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 12:45 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] CBDNA USC BH

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sarah elbaz [mailto:sarah@-----.com]
>
>
> The Basset Horns that played the Gran Partita were : One new
> Buffet and one old Selmer.
> I suppose that its theplayers that made them Shine!
> Sarah
>.

They still have those old things around?! They are large bore
if I
remember correctly and were a total pain to play (they were
usually in
pretty poor repair)... Geez, if they sounded good, it was
definitely
because of a good player. Of course, around USC there definitely
is no
shortage of good clarinet players.

--Ben

Benjamin Maas
Fifth Circle Audio
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.fifthcircle.com

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