Klarinet Archive - Posting 000114.txt from 2011/07

From: Oliver Seely <oseely@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buying a new clarinet
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:06:07 -0400


Caveat emptor! (let the buyer beware). Don't get sucked into all the hype about something as filled with superstition and mythology as an expensive clarinet.

Somebody said, (people on this list may know who it was) 95% of the quality of a person's playing is in his/her head. Now mind you, I don't agree with that at all if someone with authority and experience actually said that. Still, it offers some food for thought.

I started out in 1951 with a Penzel-Mueller clarinet my Dad bought from a jazz clarinetist for $95. I couldn't believe that Dad spent $95 for me, so that Penzel-Mueller became MY instrument and I guarded it jealously. When my son came along and decided to take the clarinet, I decided that he was going to have the new clarinet his dad never had, so I bought him a Buffet R13. He played it all the way through high school and then stopped playing through college and grad school, so I started playing it because it was as close as I was going to get to a new clarinet. Then my granddaughter came along and decided to play the clarinet. My son bought a plastic clarinet for $100 to be able to play along with her after playing it and deciding that it was okay, and my granddaughter plays a rented instrument right now. By and by, with my advancing maturity (read "in the twilight of my life" or "my golden years"), I decided to start "de-thinging" myself, so I gave the R13 back to my son (bought him a brand new silk swab, but kept my favorite homemade chamois, from Pep Boys, swab with the lead weight, and started playing the Penzel-Mueller again. There are certain aspects of that instrument which I like better than the R13. The lower register, for example, has a bit better response (whatever that's supposed to mean) for me.

Here we are, all together:

http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/clarmusi/seeltong.jpg
(and it is this picture and the memory of playing together which is far more important to me than the brand or cost of the instruments we're playing)

Anyway, my advice, for whatever advice from a rank amateur is worth, is to go into your local music store and play some of their clarinets, of all prices. If you don't like any of them, then go to the next music store and play some there. It will be a rewarding experience and you'll make a lot of new friends.

But don't get sucked into the irrational exuberance associated with buying a top-notch instrument, not, at least, at this stage of your return to making beautiful music on that wonderful instrument.

Oliver

> From: talkingiguana@-----.com
> Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:26:48 -0400
> To: klarinet@-----.com
> Subject: [kl] Buying a new clarinet
>
> I'm about to buy my first clarinet, and I was wondering if anybody has any
> advice on what brand to buy, new or used, etc. I think this is going to be
> my instrument for basically the rest of my life, so I'm looking for
> something of at least near-professional quality. I don't play
> professionally, but I plan to minor in music in college and be part of small
> groups and my school's symphony. Any advice is welcome!
>
> Thanks!
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