 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: fmadison
Date: 2004-04-06 00:55
Hi,
I just finished playing the new Tosca from Buffet ( The Music Group )
I normally play Festival Buffet Clarinets.
After waiting for so long I finally have mine and at first I had many doubts but here are some of my thoughts.
I am very happy with the intonation and even scale of the Tosca. I used a VSAM Strobe Tuner to check the intonation. Normally on a forte low F you go flat but hit the new key and it is in tune. The Tosca is very similar to Festival in even scale and intonation so for those of you who play the Festival model you can expect good intonation in your scales on the Tosca.
The 12 ths are very good as well when it comes to the intonation.
After seeing that the Tosca plays very well in tune I looked at the tone quality.
The Tosca has a very focused sound more so than the Festival model. I personally love the resonance of the Tosca. It was a good idea not to have a ring on the bell. Of all the models in the Buffet line I found the resonance to be very good.
( by resonance I mean that the instrument keeps vibrating like a Violin when the player has stopped the note, for a half second the Violin keeps vibrating. On the Tosca it is very much shorter in duration. )
So the resonance was an added surprise to me.
The key work has been made more ergonomic. The octave key has a wider base and closer to the covered F hole ring. I found it very easy and comfortable to play.
The resistance of the Tosca was similar to the Festival model as well. One thing
that got my attention is that the standard barrel that comes with the Tosca has extra wood around the center and it played better tonewise than the Chadash barrel I use with my Festival. The Tosca came with 65 and 66mm barrels.
Don't get me wrong Chadash barrels are very good but I found that darkness in tone is missing when played on the Tosca. In the same way a Moennig sounds darker than Chadash.
So I am sticking with the factory barrel on the Tosca.
The articulation is very precise you have to be very accurate with your articulation. This Clarinet is very clear in that it voices what you articulate.
You know how some mouthpieces allow you to articulate cleanly without having to be very accurate. Well you have to control the articulation on the Tosca because it is very responsive.
One last thing is that when playing ppp it still has good intonation and a good sound. Some Clarinets sound great loud but the softer you get it fizzels out. On the Tosca the sound is better at ppp than the Festival.
I am planning on trying out additional Toscas and pick one out for myself.
Conclusion: I love the Tosca!
Please understand that the concepts of better, brighter, darkness are all subjective.
I like to think that all types and models of equiptment are like different paintbrushes or colors.. There is no wrong or right, or better or worse.
Some might like a bright red color or a darker red color. It depends what the painter it trying to paint.
Same thing with Clarinetists it depends on what you are trying to do.
So if you do get a chance to try one I would recommend it for sure.
As for costs I will say that it is a big investment and it is worth it.
-Frank
It's the wood that makes it good!
Post Edited (2004-04-06 03:10)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: RAMman
Date: 2004-04-06 01:08
Frank...
Very interested to hear what you think of the Tosca, my teacher has just taken delivery of the first one in the UK and has fallen in love.
I can't wait until there are enough over here for me to have a go.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-04-06 07:14
Frank,
I recently tried some Buffet Crampon Tosca’s (4 to be accurate) and I’ll have to say that I found the intonation great but the sound appeared to be to beautiful… (if that’s possible), but the Tosca’s power isn’t right I personally think.. if you play a RC, festival or R13 it’s much easier to play a solo voice.
I also tried some Selmer Signature’s (4 to be accurate), great keywork (the best around I think). Beautiful sound and intonation, but a very bad finishing of the clarinets… The power is the same as on the Tosca clarinets.
My third try was the Leblanc Opus II (2 to be accurate), I fell in love with it on the moment I played the very first note… The power was there but also a beautiful pianissimo. The intonation was very good and the sound was great. The keywork is very good but not so good as the Tosca and the signature…
I’m going to buy a opus II, they have offered me a visit to the factory in france under guidance of Eddy Vanoosthuyse and we will try there some Opus II to find my new love….
Currently I’m being a Buffet Crampon RC player….
-Eddy
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: RAMman
Date: 2004-04-06 12:49
Eddy...
Funny you should say the Tosca lacks power...my teacher has been loathed to take it into an orchestral rehearsal for the same reason.
She has also mentioned that the Tosca wasn't set up brilliantly, and just playing the thing seemed to have opened it up a little.
I would suggest this has something to do with her adjusting as well.
As for the Opus...I love the sound, but have always found the keywork to be so inprecise, give me a buffet from that point of you!
Daniel.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: fmadison
Date: 2004-04-06 19:54
Hi,
Eddy and Daniel...
Some Clarinets can project some have problems projecting. Some are focused and some are not.
I always found that when you have a focused Clarinet you lose projection and if you have a Clarinet that projects you lose focus.
But all this can be solved by using the right ligature, barrel, reed and mouthpiece. So there is no reason to worry.
I will confess that it is easier to make a focused Clarinet that does not project well to project than it is to make a projecting Clarinet that does not focus to focus.
My Festival projects well but I had to work it to focus with the right mouthpiece, reed, ligature and barrel.
As for the Tosca I got it to project very well with the right mouthpiece.
As for better keywork, it depends on the size of your hands that determines to some extent how comfortable the Clarinet keywork is for you.
As for the OpusII I know many pros who play the Opus and they have been waiting for some time for the OpusII. We don't have in Miami a Leblanc stockpile here but I would be willing to try them. Again it is all good because Selmer got the ball rolling with their great Signature Clarinet. New keywork and great intonation. Now Buffet and Leblanc are coming out with new and maybe better options for Clarinetists.
From my view.... It's all good!
-Frank
It's the wood that makes it good!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: LeWhite
Date: 2004-04-07 02:19
Erm... If your sound is focussed it will project. If it is not focussed, it simply will not carry. My teacher refers to the latter as 'mush' and I hear it all too often- the player thinks they're making a nice sound, but it's 'mush' by the time it hits the audience's ear.
It's up to us as the player to make it project and be focussed, no matter what clarinet we play on. The hard part is choosing what instrument you want! There's so much out there!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: fmadison
Date: 2004-04-07 02:47
Hi LeWhite,
Maybe an example could help.
Think of a 14 inch plasmascreen that has a clear picture ( Focus )
You can see the image from 5 feet away but from 25 feet away you can not
see the details. ( Projection of image loses it's focus because of the distance.)
Now think of a 60 inch plasmascreen that has a clear picture and you are now 25 feet away but you can still see the details of the images ( projection ).
I know it is not a perfect explanation but I hope it clears things up a little.
-Frank
It's the wood that makes it good!
Post Edited (2004-04-07 03:00)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-02-02 22:19
Ok I play the Festival clarinet and I've tried R-13,R-13 prestige,RC and Tosca and I have to say that the resistance is more on the other 4 models than the Festival although I tried 2 Festivals and the one I didn't buy was a little bit more resistance than the one I bought. I also tried Leblanc Opus II and both the Opus and the Tosca were way to beautiful although the Tosca had lot more power. The Opus was very resistance even playing with Bay H2 model which projects a lot. My overal opinion on these clarinets was that with the Festival(specially the one I bought) I have like they say on the Buffet homepage a highly colorful clarinet that I can vary the way I want. With the other models specially Tosca and Opus the sound goes in there and out there and almost nothing between. I even can project very similar with Grabner AW-personal mouthpiece on my Festival as with Bay H1 and H2 on the R-13 prestige which I owned prior to my Festival. That's why saying that the tone of the Tosca is so focused I can agree to that but also have to point out that you can get as focused sound with the Festival but also way more flexible sound.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JTS
Date: 2007-02-03 06:42
fmadison: While you make a good analogy with the TVs, I don't think that focus and projection are contradictory aspects of tone. Of course there are many factors that go into getting the kind of presence you are looking for, but I would say many, if not most players find focus to aid in projection.
JTS
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alexis
Date: 2007-02-04 04:33
I don't really agree with the TV analogy.
Although I can't explain exactly why, I have a feeling that the concepts of focus between light and sound are vastly different. Perhaps its something to do with the sometimes particle-like behaviour of light and the complexities to do with colour, interference etc...
Like I said, not sure how to explain.
What I would say though, is that focus is a subjective and metaphorical term, to help understand a physical property (resonance perhaps?)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-02-04 07:02
I think it is very clear when a photo/TV is focused, while it is completely unclear what a focused clarinet sound is. It is also completely unclear what project mean. It is mostly impossible to communicate like this.....
I've tried total of 8 Toscas, 4 Bb clarinets (2 each wood/Greenline) and 4 A clarinets (2 each wood/Greenline). I tried them at the same place where I tried many other Buffet, Selmer, Leblanc and Yamaha models (and compared with my own Eaton clarinet). On the Tosca I was able to sound almost exactly like I sound on any good clarinet. Sure there were some differences in the sound between the all clarinets, but none really gave me what I would call more/less projection or more/less focus. The only differences were with the actual sound.
The main thing I didn't like about the Tosca at all is the keywork, which felt less comfortable than all other Buffet models. If I remember correct especially the register key design is different. Probably nothing that is impossible to get used to.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-02-04 23:52
clarnibass did you tried Buffet Festival clarinets? I ask because I find them compleatly different than any other Buffet model.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-02-05 04:54
Hello Iceland
Yes I've tried the Festival. At the clarinet festival they had several of each of these Buffet models: Tosca, RC, RC Prestige, Festival. Most had both Bb/A and wood/Greenline. So I tried all the models they had there.
I found that the sound wasn't that different between all models. Sure they had some small differences. The Tosca felt the most different mainly because of the keywork. Actually if I remember correct my favorite of the Buffets was the Festival.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: D Dow
Date: 2007-02-05 14:07
I tried several Tosca clarinets last summer and can honestly say they did not impress me as much as a fine Prestige RC or R13...sound wise they are fine ....but I am not quite sure if they are much better in terms of tone than the Prestige range..
added to that I found the Tosca in terms of set up a bit of a mess for an instrument straight from the factory. I am not sure whether the Tosca is for orchestra or soloist..
David Dow
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-09-30 23:16
Frank it's a bit funny but I have a totally different opinion on the Tosca vs Festival. For me the Festival has much deeper tone than the Tosca and it also projects more. But for the intonation and even scale the Tosca has the winning but nothing you can't live with on the Festival. And for me the recistance is bit more on the Tosca but not as much as on the R-13.I also notice that the extra key for the low f dosen't change much. The keywork on the Tosca is very comfortable and makes legato places a lot easier. When I bought my Festival clarinet I didn't know that it was on sale so the price was about 65% cheaper than the Tosca so afterwards I think that the price differents wasn't worth it.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-10-01 10:27
Somehow I am not surprised that 2 different people have different opinions about the same product?
Maybe I have bad DNA but it's no shock to me.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: claritoot26
Date: 2007-10-01 15:52
I'm off topic, just bringing up the fact that Icelandclarinet revived this thread from 3 years ago!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ryan25
Date: 2007-10-01 16:25
"I'm off topic, just bringing up the fact that Icelandclarinet revived this thread from 3 years ago!"
Yeah, he does that a lot.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-10-01 23:41
Ryan 25 said=
" "I'm off topic, just bringing up the fact that Icelandclarinet revived this thread from 3 years ago!"
Yeah, he does that a lot."
Is something wrong with that ?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-10-02 04:15
"Is something wrong with that ?"
No, but I wonder how your find these old threads?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: C2thew
Date: 2007-10-02 05:45
is it better to revive an old thread or to start a new thread just to revive the same point? I personally would favor reviving old threads as they centralize all the information as opposed to going post after post of research.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Morrigan
Date: 2007-10-02 10:39
He's just doing what Mark is always telling people to do - use the Search tool before starting a new topic, because chances are, its already been covered!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: marshall
Date: 2007-10-02 13:12
I havn't liked the Toscas I've played. They keys just don't seem to fall under the fingers like other Buffet models and I personly don't think it sounds any better or feels any better than models costing half the price. I've played four or five Toscas and countless R13 bore instruments (being the R13, R13 prestige, R13 vintage, and Festival) and I've liked almost every single R13 over the Toscas (excluding a few instruments that were absolutely horrible). I really feel like it's not worth the extra $2,000-$2,500 you pay over an R13 bore clarinet.
The only reason I'd buy a Tosca is for the case...seriously, the case that comes with the A Tosca is really cool. It's a pochette case but the velvet interior changes color between a dark brown that matches the wood of the clarinet and a nice tan that compliments it really well.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
