Klarinet Archive - Posting 000095.txt from 2006/12

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Stephen Fox
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:21:55 -0500

Well, I had pretty much retired from playing and I had no
instruments. But when I saw the 2006 year looming, I realized
that I wanted to participate as player for the Mozart 250th.

I had owned to Selmer basset horns. They were nice instruments
but I had sold them. One of them was Rosario Mazzeo's own basset
horn and, as good as it was, it had problems.

I went to the German makers but stopped looking the moment it
became apparent that they would not make an instrument with a
standard clarinet mouthpiece. Theirs all had alto clarinet
mouthpieces. Beautiful things. Like looking at a Mercedes Benz.
And in tune, or at least the ones I had heard. But an alto
clarinet mouthpiece?? No way.

It was then that I contacted Steve Fox, first, because he had a
good reputation for turning out a quality product, and second, he
was prepared to build what I wanted. First thing was the wood.
I did not want African blackwood. I wanted something else.
Second I wanted gold keys. Third I wanted a plateau system with
certain fingering constraints. And last, it had to use a soprano
clarinet mouthpiece and be a narrow bored instrument. Oh yes. I
wanted a wooden bell. Metal bells (which I had on both my past
basset horns and my bass clarinet) affected the sound of the
instrument in ways that I did not care for. I also noticed that
the basset clarinets being made in the UK were with wooden bells.
You have no idea how much time and money I spent trying to get a
wooden bell made for my bass. Today Morrie Backun makes one, but
not then.

So Steve Fox and I had some email and some phone calls and I made
down payment. It was that simple.

18 months later I had the instrument and, except for one problem
that I eventually learned to live with, everything was OK. I
don't want you to think that all was perfect because that is
almost never the case with a hand made instrument. But those
things did not bother me.

After about two years, Keith contacted me and asked if he could
come by my home in California to try the horn. He did, and he
ordered the same instrument from Fox, though there were a few
minor touchpiece changes. Then one of the players at Keith's
Santa Fe workshop ordered one, but in African blackwood.

That's about the story. Now I am done playing. There are
physical problem that I face that prevent me from playing as well
as I once did. My memory is getting poor as is my breath
control, but I did 8 Requiem's this year, three Gran Partittas,
and a bunch of other things. So I am happy going out of clarinet
playing the way I did. I did not want people to start saying,
"When is he going to stop playing?" as I have heard them say
about other musicians. I got out while still competent.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne Thompson [mailto:wthompson222@-----.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 2:02 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Stephen Fox

Dan and Keith,
Do you care to tell the story of how you learned of
Stephen Fox and decided to order a Basset Horn from
him? Dan, did you have a chance to play a basset horn
that he had made? Ten years ago was early in his
business, was it not? Keith, I believe I've read that
you bought yours after playing Dan's; but that's
probably oversimplifying, yes?

Wayne

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