 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-08-08 21:26
First off the 2017 ClarinetFest is will be in Orlando, FL so try to make it. This was kind of in the middle of of nowhere, in Lawrence, KS, a 45 minute to drive to the festival. With this in mind about 1000 plus players still showed up and it was jammed up from about 8:30 AM on Wednesday through 11 PM on Saturday, with most of the events ending around 6 PM on Sunday.
I met some amazing people from talented students to military band musicians with Doctorate degrees. So this shows how hard it can be to get into the military bands now. These were not the top Washington, DC bands either.
It seems like there is sort of a contest going on with sounds. It's still the German sound V/S the French sound, but we now have the Backun sound with the sound of soft wood and I left the festival a bit confused still very much preferring the the old old Marcellus and Harold Wright sound. Am I getting out of touch? I don't think so. I sold out of mouthpieces and reeds, which tells me that people are looking for that special sound. It also told me from talking with people they are dang frustrated with the horrible reeds and maybe with the sound of the horn situations from all of the assorted brands.
Sadly, I fell at the airport when renting a car and cracked a rib or 2, so I couldn't test any horns. I did hear 3 players using the the Yamaha CSG's the German bores and they were dark sounding for sure.
As for concerts there were several concerts going on at the at the same time during the day, so I missed most of them due to attending the booth. I did hear Shifrin, with the cocobola horns and the legere reeds, in a quartet and piano setting and also a quintet setting playing kind of the history of Brahms. It was amazing. I heard some BS remarks that he was out of tune, playing flat. This is so far from the truth. If anything he was on the sharp side, but not often. There were some pitch issues with the strings being tuned higher than the piano, so when everyone was playing there is no way for David to play in tune. He actually was leaning to different directions of where the instruments were playing so he could hear the pitch and match it. His sound was still big and full with wicked fast fingers, and I mean wicked fast, and he played with such emotion that several people had tears in their eyes. So screw those that were too worried and hung up about his pitch and didn't enjoy this amazing concert. He is so sensitive to the emotions of the music and this is surely why he brought tears to many during his 5 minute standing ovation. I could write so much more, but I'm sure others may share their experiences.
So many players from this Bboard stopped by! Thank you! Actually, a special thank you for taking the time for stopping by. It was surely fun putting faces to the names! We had such a good time. Some folks had to wait several minutes because we were so packed at times.
Please everyone, if you can, go to Orlando. You will have a blast! I saw so many friends there. Oh, I didn't see this one concert, but everyone was talking about this French clarinetist that can circular breath and double tongue at the same time at this one concert. There's simply so much talent coming up.
With the cracked rib or ribs I couldn't take play the horns so sadly I cannot give any advice on anything new. Yamaha has some new horns coming out in about 6 months. They were very nice and offered to let me take some horns home with me, but I refused because I couldn't lift much weight.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-08-09 03:24
So jealous I didn't get a chance to go. I'm gunning for 2017 though! Hope to see folks there and I look forward to trying out a bunch of stuff! I promise I won't play the Mozart clarinet concerto to try things out!
US Army Japan Band
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-08-09 09:31
Dear Bob: I went to the ClarinetFest in Assisi three years ago: the world's most breath-takingly beautiful town. I had a wonderful time there representing our firm, meeting people and attending concerts, but came to the conclusion that it's the worst possible place to try out an instrument. The noise was deafening and the acoustic conditions were appalling. The temperature was about 40° centigrade with no air-conditioning. One is better off trying out equipment in the comfort of a shop. I hope that you get better soon!
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-08-09 16:39
Very nice meeting you, Bob. Had no idea about the ribs, but did notice you weren't moving a lot. Didn't get to try the CSGs, but the Uebels also sounded pretty dark. They couldn't say anything about the bore, though, because Uebel won't tell them. They were told that it's like going to a nice Italian restaurant; you enjoy the food, but don't ask them for the recipe. I suspect they'd do a little better here if the information were more forthcoming. It was especially fun to play the solid gold Silverstein ligature I'll never be able to afford!
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Author: Richie
Date: 2016-08-10 04:26
Too bad about your ribs. I am going to do my best to save some money and see if I can go next year, because it sounds like an amazing experience.
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