 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2013-09-24 05:16
Hi guys,
I'm considering to buy the OH840 bass clarinet from the Austrian maker Otmar hammerschmidt. Before proceeding to my decisions, I'd like to ask if there is any difference between the Austrian and German clarinets(which I am familar), particularly bass clarinets?
Josh
Post Edited (2013-09-24 14:25)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-09-24 06:44
Joshua: I have never heard anything but bad things about Hammerscmidt, from German players and, ironically, even from Austrian players. A fine Austrian player that tried out one of our clarinets at this year's ClainetFest told me they were awful. "What about the clainettists of the Vienna Philharmonic?" I protested. "They play Hammerscmidt." Acording to the person I was speaking with, when you play for the Vienna Philharmonic-most of us don't-they make a slight effort.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: donald
Date: 2013-09-24 10:05
Not to be confused with Frank Hammerschmidt, who makes excellent clarinets.
http://www.frank-klarinetten.com (though, as far as I can tell this website has only contact info)
Post Edited (2013-09-24 10:08)
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2013-09-24 12:30
When I saw Ottensamer playing a recital last year he was using a Gerold clarinet. If the principal players of the VPO are now not using Hammerschmidt then I think that is a very bad sign for the company.
I know we're not supposed to make grammatical corrections, but I think it's still important to recognise that the clarinet is feminine (not neuter) in German. So the title would actually read "Die Österreichische Klarinette"! :-)
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Author: Fraeulein Klarinette
Date: 2013-09-24 13:55
there are a few Hammerschmidt and Ernst Ottensamer (the father) and I believe Schmidl etc play Otmar Hammerschmidt, which I heard are very, very good instruments. I have tried instruments from the other Hammerschmidt and I wasn't impressed.
I think Wenzel Fuchs of Berlin Philharmonic used to play Hammerschmidt (when he won the audition and probation year), although he switched to Wurlitzer after.
Wiener clarinets don't have Oehler Mechanik, which some people prefer. Mouthpiece / reed setup and the bore are also different from traditional German clarinets and it's difficult to switch between the 2 IMHO. Fingerings at the top are also different.
Again, intonation could be an issue for you in Hong Kong playing at A=440Hz. In Germany clarinets are tuned to A=443Hz and sometimes higher - not sure about Viennese though, but definitely not 440.
And they may have a long delivery time (Wartezeit)........it could go up to 3 years like Wurlitzer a couple years back, you will need to ask them
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Author: The_Clarinetist
Date: 2013-09-24 17:46
Thanks for the correction, in my opinion it was appropriate.
I think the Austrian bore differs slightly from the German bore.
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2013-09-24 17:48
About the Hammerschmidts in Burgau ,Germany and Wattens, Austria, see (though in German):
http://www.klarinette24.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6186&highlight=hammerschmidt
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Author: donald
Date: 2013-09-25 07:32
Joseph Balogh used to play and promote the Frank Hammerschmidt clarinets- didn't the "Interclarinet" group (who recorded a CD of clarinet quartet goodies) all use the Frank H clarinets too? dn
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-09-26 15:44
I had some Hammerschmidt mouthpieces from years ago. This Hammerschmidt had the designation "Klingson" after it. Can anyone tell me which Hammerschmidt this was?
And as far as I have been able to gather from the times I've gone into the weeds on this topic, the Austrian clarinets tend to have larger bores and the associated difference is similar to what we know of this from the Boehm world.
..................Paul Aviles
P.S. There are no Gerold bass clarinets yet!
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2013-09-28 15:51
Some informations (I hope I got it right) from a German clarinet forum and Hammerschmidt homepages:
http://www.klarinette24.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6186
http://www.karl-hammerschmidt-klarinetten.de/index.htm
http://www.hammerschmidt-klarinetten.at/cgi-bin/frameset.pl?sid=208464393000&vid=616188288523&l=deutsch&f=home&id=
Hammerschmidt was founded in 1873 in Schönbach, Egerland (now Luby, Czech republic). Since then, they used the brand name “Klingson”. After WW2, the Hammerschmidt brothers, like all Germans, were expelled from Egerland. They refounded their “Karl Hammerschmidt” workshop in Burgau, Bavaria.
In 1952, one of the Hammerschmidt brothers, Otmar, went to Wattens near Innsbruck, Tyrol (Austria). The Wattens firm seems closely related to Burgau. They also use the brand name "Klingson". Another relative, Frank H., in later years founded his own workshop also in Burgau.
Hammerschmidt Burgau and Wattens seem to offer a “Vienna” model with wider bore (15.0 mm) and -compared with Oehler models- slightly modified keywork.
Post Edited (2013-09-28 15:53)
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