The Clarinet BBoard

Another try: Wood versus Plastic

Author: Rene  Date:   2003-03-07 10:01 I recently got the chance to compare the plastic B12 to three wooden clarinets, the Buffet Conservatoire, the Buffet RC, and the Selmer Odysée on a one to one basis. This is not easy deep in the land of the German system. I played all with the same mouthpiece, an M13 Lyre, the same good Vandoren reed, ligature and in case of the Selmer, even with the same reed position. First of all, the difference was not the sound! For a start, all were nearly perfect in intonation, the Convervatoire being on 440 Hz. The Odysée comes with two barrels, and the B12 playes on 442 Hz very precisely. People did love my sound on all of them in all registers, but voted for the B12, which gave me a shock. So, trying to impress your beloved with the sound of your new expensive wooden clarinet may not be the best idea. The most obvious difference was the size of the tone holes in the upper joint. The B12 uses pads around 8mm, while the others are like 10mm. But the B12 hasn't a smaller sound! Matters don`t seem to be that easy. The other obvious difference was the stability and quality of the keywork. Everything just looks more fragile on the B12, including the springs. The positive effect is the weight of the instrument, which makes it suitable for beginners. While the keywork can obviously be felt during the play, especially in the long little finger keys, I noticed another effect. The B12 collects much more water at the inside, though its bore looks like a mirror. The water even finally stopped the throat A and G#. I attribute this to the material, which stays a lot colder during play, and also to the smaller tone holes. I am not in a position to compare the wooden Buffet and the Selmer. Only, that I did not notice much difference between the Conservatoir and the RC, and that the Buffet impressed me with a nice C#/G#. Thanks for listening, awaiting your comments, René

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