Klarinet Archive - Posting 000001.txt from 2007/11

From: Martin Baxter <martinbaxter@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] pro horn suggestions
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:11:45 -0400

A number of professional orchestras today seem to insist that the
players use certain instruments. If this is where you are aiming it
is well to be aware of this.
Otherwise choose the instrument that helps you get the sound you want,
PS I like Leblancs for orchestral playing, but for chamber music I
use a Peter Eaton Bb and a Buffet A, Completely illogical but I like
them!
Martin
On 1 Nov 2007, at 09:11, Alicia Byer wrote:

> Hi everybody,
>
> I'm sure you get these kinds of questions all the time, so if this
> post is incredibly out of line, or incredibly boring, feel free to
> ignore it...
>
> I'm in the market for a new professional clarinet, and I'm
> wondering what to get! I just graduated with my BA in composition,
> and played clarinet throughout college, but never upgraded from my
> intermediate instrument that I used in high school, since I wasn't
> a performance major. Now, I've come into a little bit of cash and I
> want to finally move up to a real instrument. I've tried the Buffet
> R13 and one or two other Buffets (I can't remember which) and a
> couple of the Leblancs (Concerto and Opus I think?) at a music
> store that I worked at, and I really favored the Leblancs at the
> time because they seemed easier to play and less stuffy. I mostly
> play experimental/new music and improv, so I need something
> extremely responsive and even, but still flexible, and I prefer a
> dark, covered, centered tone. I'm not a fan of lots of "ring". I
> looked at the Concerto and the Backun Leblancs, the Cadenza seems
> like a good deal. The Buffet RC Prestige seems ideal but probably a
> little out of my price range. Does anybody have any other
> suggestions? The instrument I'm playing on now is quite pitiful and
> falling apart, it's a French intermediate instrument from the
> 1940s, so I probably couldn't jump to an instrument that required a
> lot of wrestling to get a good tone. I use Richard Hawkins
> mouthpieces and 4/4.5 Vandoren v12s with my more closed mouthpiece,
> and a 3 1/2 with my more open one. I also use a terrible $2
> ligature that I dug out of a bin. So! Thanks for reading all this,
> and let me know if you have any suggestions.
>
> Best,
> Alicia
>
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