Klarinet Archive - Posting 000388.txt from 2009/02
From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Clarinet Setup - Long
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:09:40 -0500
Tom
I really don't buy into this "handmade" is better dialog. "mass production"
doesn't always mean inferior. As a matter of fact, modern manufacturing
technology....has move quality of all sorts of things...including
clarinets...to a much higher plane.
I've seen many "handmade" instruments from Europe...that have lots of
problems. You are pretty good at reading the advertising hype on the
clarinets you choose to play. I personally....don't know any professionals
in the US playing on German instruments. I'm very sure there are a few...but
I don't see them, hear them or know them.
My Buffet (factory) clarinets, by the way....have perfect fit and finish and
play beautifully.
Forest
PS...I think many "handmade" clarinets are under sprung. :-) and....bluing
has nothing to do with "balancing" the action of a key...it's to protect
against corrosion.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom.Henson@-----.com]
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 2:55 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] Clarinet Setup - Long
Clarni Bass,
I guess you missed my previous post on this, so to answer the question
below, yes.
Everything about the keywork is made by hand. They take blanks which are
simply straight pieces of German silver and then fashion, bend, shape,
file, grind, solder and then test fit everything by hand on the clarinet
before they ever send them out to be plated. They are then hand fit
again for a final time when they do the final assembly of the clarinet.
The screws are cut to length from stainless rod stock, hand threaded and
then the slot cut into the end. The screws not only fit perfectly the
length of the tubing, but are hand lapped until the screw creates that
hydroscopic action with the inner wall of the tubing, There is
absolutely no end or side play in the screw and the key moves as if on
ball bearings.
The springs are then cut from various gauges of spring wire, hand fitted
and hand blued in order to create the balanced key action. They do not
use blued needle springs as they are too brittle and stiff in their
opinion.
Yes, it is very expensive and more so than mass made keys. However, have
you considered that mass produced keys may not fit my hand or someone
else's? This would be like buying a suit off of a rack in a department
store. You may get a very good fit, have a tailor work on it to make
some adjustments, but it is still a suit off the rack. While the suit
off the rack may fit fine 95% of the people who would buy it, what about
the other 5%?
You say there is no advantage to making them by hand. This is simply
your opinion which you are entitled to have.
While some firms that hand make keys have done this for a very long time
and it could be said that it is a tradition, it is not a dead tradition
in the sense that it has no purpose. My contact with these companies
showed me that they are very aware of the modern advances in clarinet
making, but simply choose to make them the way they do for a reason. I
have tried to give you and everything else what those reasons are.
Someone may think this is silly, but others may not. Understanding why
they do this at least helps a person to make their own decision if it
has any value "to them".
Leitner & Kraus actually uses machine made parts for the rings and then
solders them up and finishes them by hand. They told me they do this to
save money so they can offer their clarinets for less money than
Wurlitzer. It does produce a high quality keywork, but they are not as
strong as that made by Wurlitzer in my first hand experience since I own
clarinets from both firms. It also took me sending my Leitner & Kraus
clarinets back several times for keywork adjustments to make them better
fit my own hands. Even then, the keywork is still not up to the same
level as that of Wurlitzer in my experience. Is it good enough for 98%
of those playing on it, yes. But I am not in the 98% group.
Since I don't want to assume this, have you ever seen clarinet keys
being completely made by hand or had a clarinet maker fit them to your
hand? If so, have you asked them why they do this?
Have you ever had a chance to play on a clarinet for an extended period
of time that had hand made keys and fully make a subjective comparison,
say to a Buffet clarinet?
If not, then what are you basing your opinions on?
Tom Henson
>> That is why they make all of the keywork by hand.
>> Nothing is mass produced.
What does this mean anyway? Do they carve and bend the keys with hand
held tools? Today there is really no advantage to making everything by
hand, although I won't be surprised if it has a mystique that works on
some people. There is no reason a key that is mostly machine made, with
an accurate final fitting, should be less accurate than a totally hand
made key. However there is a good chance it will be less expensive and
easier to make this way.
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