 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: czaucer
Date: 2009-06-07 23:11
I'm trying to identify this clarinet.
Is it a "German System"?
From the serial # (F 1224**) I believe it was made in 1971 for the European market. The A flat key is on the lower joint, with a hole to accommodate this in the upper tenon of the lower joint. Also it has an extra ring key on the left hand G and a small extra padded key just above. Looks like images I have seen of an Oehler system, except it has all of the four keys that are controlled by the right hand pinkie, rather than just two.
It has all the right markings for a Paris Buffet of this vintage and the wood is in great shape.
Anyone know what I've got here?
I'm a repairman who sees 100's of clarinets a year, and I haven't seen anything like this for some time. A customer wants to give this to her young child to learn on. On the face of it, this seems too much clarinet for a kid, but will there also be learning issues with the fingering system?
Post Edited (2009-06-08 00:56)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Katrina
Date: 2009-06-08 02:17
Sounds like a regular Boehm system with an articulated G#/C# to me. Those have that key on the lower joint, with the corresponding hole in the tenon. Unless it only has a couple of LH pinkie keys then that's what you're describing.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-06-08 04:28
>> Is the articulated G# a good or a bad thing? <<
It's both good and bad.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-06-08 11:03
The basic fingerings are the same as any Boehm clarinet so there's no problem in learning on it, but this one has some additional keywork - forked Eb/Bb mechanism (the ring for LH3) played as xox|ooo in both registers, and articulated C#/G# with the extra trill lever for RH2 which is used for lower C-Db, upper G-Ab and altissimo E-F trills.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-06-08 14:32
>> Is the articulated G# a good or a bad thing? <<
>It's both good and bad.>
Huh? Why?
The only complaint I've read about articulated keys is that they're more likely to get damaged or to wear out, but I have no personal experience with that problem. Some of my older clarinets have articulated keys. They work well. I like them.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2009-06-08 14:33)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: oliver sudden
Date: 2009-06-08 15:17
Articulated c'#/g''# pluses:
trills/tremolos with that note as the upper note are possible and many slurs/runs become much easier; I believe the hole being on the tenon means it can be in the 'right' place acoustically (is that right?); the hole being on the top of the tube probably means it's less likely to gurgle.
Minuses:
you can't play the long fingering for f''' or the normal fingering for b'''b (I'm told you can use the throat g'# key instead of the c'#/g''# though); it's one more thing to go wrong; your fingers can get lazy.
I suppose over the years clarinettists have for whatever reason de facto voted to keep the key the way it always was, or we'd see more of them. I'm amazed that more German clarinets don't have them since there's some very difficult sliding involving that key and its neighbours (the f# and e keys) which it would obviate (you could just plonk the little finger on both, in the way that's automated on saxophones). I think once we've laboriously learnt to get round quirks in the mechanism we tend to keep things that way! What does not kill us makes us stronger...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: czaucer
Date: 2009-06-08 19:36
Thanks for all the input.
Am I to understand, then, that this horn is basically an R-13 with some alternate keywork? And would its value be about the same as an R-13 of similar vintage?
I think I should advise my customer to go out and buy a used student model, and hold on to the Buffet until her daughter is a bit older.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-06-08 23:06
As it has the extra keywork, the value would be more than a standard model R13 - probably nearer the value of an R13 Prestige if you're insuring it for the current retail price.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Avie
Date: 2009-06-09 20:59
Made in 1971. It sounds like an interesting clarinet. View some photo's ? Thanks.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-06-10 11:44
>> It's both good and bad. <<
> Huh? Why? <
MAybe I shoudl have said that it's good or bad. Good if you prefer the possibilities that it allows, and it's bad if the things it prevents are more important to you.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
