Klarinet Archive - Posting 000119.txt from 2011/07

From: Robert Rockwell <robertrockwell1938@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buying a new clarinet
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:47:07 -0400

You might want to check out and see if a local woodwind repair person might
have a good used clarinet at a reasonable price. I purchased an excellent
used Buffet R-13 from Bill Cole in Saratoga Springs, NY for $1200 or you
might want to wait and see what your music teacher where you are studying
music might recommend.

Bob Rockwell

On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Oliver Seely <oseely@-----.com> wrote:

>
> 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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