 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Zannah
Date: 1999-09-12 01:13
Just wondering, what is the overall best clarinet you can buy? I play a standard R-13, do you think a better clarinet would make a considerable difference in my playing? Thanks.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-09-12 01:54
Zannah wrote:
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Just wondering, what is the overall best clarinet you can buy? I play a standard R-13, do you think a better clarinet would make a considerable difference in my playing?
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IMHO - no, it most probably wouldn't improve your <b>playing</b>, but one may change your <b>tone, tuning, and such related to the instrument</b> proper. Meaning - the instrument doesn't make the musician. A excellent musician on a good instrument is to be preferred to a good musician on an excellent instrument. The former is much harder to achieve :^)
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-09-12 12:56
There is no one best. Each has particular characteristics. Some are preferred by one player and another is preferred by a different player.
Every instrument design is a compromise and each manufacturer selects the specific compromise based on what he thinks his buyers will want.
It is not possible to build a perfect horn. Take the mid staff Bb for example. The size and location of the register key hole is one such compromise. If you design it for a great Bb, register to register tuning is thrown off. If you design for good tuning, the Bb has poor sound quality. These two requirements conflict in the size and location of hole needed.
This is just one of many compromises in the design of clarinets. Each player selects what he prefers and then compensates when he plays.
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Author: Gary Van Cott
Date: 1999-09-13 02:23
Dee wrote: Take the mid staff Bb for example. The size and location of the register key hole is one such compromise. If you design it for a great Bb, register to register tuning is thrown off. If you design for good tuning, the Bb has poor sound quality.
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But it doesn't necessarily have to be this way. The Rossi has a compound Bb mechanism to avoid this problem. The trade off here is more complicated keywork. I have never tried one, but would love to.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-09-13 03:49
Gary Van Cott wrote:
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Dee wrote: Take the mid staff Bb for example. The size and location of the register key hole is one such compromise. If you design it for a great Bb, register to register tuning is thrown off. If you design for good tuning, the Bb has poor sound quality.
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But it doesn't necessarily have to be this way. The Rossi has a compound Bb mechanism to avoid this problem. The trade off here is more complicated keywork. I have never tried one, but would love to.
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Ah but you have used the operative word "trade-off." So once again you have a compromise. It's just a different one. To some people that's just one more key to check and keep in adjustment. I have no personal preference at the moment as I have never tried one.
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Author: Mario
Date: 1999-09-13 16:22
Speaking of tradeoff. I have an "A" Rossi with the special Bb mechanism. As far as Bb is concerned, the improvement is actually minimal and my Bb still sounds much better with some of the many resonance fingering available for this tricky note.
But, by implementing this mechanism, Rossi could fine tune the size, shape and position of the register key hole (esentially, making is smaller) thus improving substantially the response and intonation of the Clarion and Altissimo register.
So, you get more complicated (barely I might add) key work but you get a much better top half ot the instrument.
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Author: Ray Payne
Date: 1999-10-12 22:43
I recently started playing a Rossi. I previously played a Buffet R-13 and a Buffet Festival. If you've never played a Rossi try and get your hands on one. They are tremendous horns.
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