 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2012-06-26 00:40
My Bb Malerne clarinet (45 years old at least), has been back to the shop now three times to assist in allowing the C #, B and C above the break play with less resistance. I honestly feel the tech has done everything he can including raising pad heights, correcting leaks and tightening linkage. The horn still has what call excessive resistance in those notes. I would estimate that those notes are 25% more resistant than the notes just under the break (not including a rather stuffy Bb which is not resistant but hopelessly stuffy as many clarinets are). Those three notes are even 20% more resistant than the rest of the clarion all the way up to C above the register. In other words, the horn requires more air right in the middle of its playable range. Is this old horn not worth sticking with anymore?
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2012-06-26 00:47
sounds like you need a register tube with larger bore/diameter. This will improve the B flat (though it will also sharpen the pitch) AND make the lower clarion B/C/C# speak more clearly with less resistance. It will also make upper clarion A/B/C sharper and increase the likelyhood of "grunt" on those notes.
dn
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-06-26 01:25
I won't speculate on what the problem might be on your horn but to answer your question the answer is that some clarinets are indeed fundamentally flawed and will never play well without major alterations.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-06-26 01:42
Garth -
Almost all top players of French style clarinets go with Buffet, Selmer, Leblanc or Yamaha. The reason is not that there's some sort of mafia. It's that those clarinets are better than other brands.
To put it kindly, other brands are less playable. For more about Malerne, see http://www.clarinetpages.net/vintage-odd-brands/malerne.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-06-26 02:26
I've overhauled well over a hundred clarinets (including quite a few altos and basses), and out of those have run into maybe four or five instruments that, no matter what I did, would not play well. They drove me nuts. Two of those instruments were bass clarinets (a Moennig Brothers and a Leblanc), nothing I did could get rid of the stuffiness and 'dead' response of those two. And I recall a couple of little-known older Bb clarinets that wouldn't respond to any of my usual tricks, but I can't remember their brands at the moment. I've worked on a fair number of Malerne instruments (in soprano, alto and bass sizes) and, while they're not the greatest clarinets in the world, I haven't encountered a real dog with unfixable problems among them.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2012-06-26 02:56
Have you tried some other clarinets to give yourself a basis for comparison? In my experience some clarinets are fundamentally flawed. (And perhaps you've heard the one about the silk purse and the sow's ear?) Also, in my experience, some players are fundamentally flawed. (What does your teacher say about this clarinet?) And, finally, some repair techs are fundamentally flawed. (Anyone around you can take the clarinet to for a second opinion?)
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2012-06-27 02:00
I have not tried any other clarinets in years. I feel strange about going into a store just to see how my clarinet performs in relation to a standard. The only clarinets I'm considering now are used ones like a Yamaha 650, a Leblanc Sonata, a Selmer 9. If someone had one of these or similar used and in good condition, I could in good faith take up a store's time. Otherwise I would feel like I'm a nuisance customer. I have a budget in my mind of about $800. I don't know why, but that seems right to me.
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-06-27 04:12
Garth Libre wrote:
> I have not tried any other clarinets in years. I feel strange
> about going into a store just to see how my clarinet performs
> in relation to a standard. The only clarinets I'm considering
> now are used ones like a Yamaha 650, a Leblanc Sonata, a Selmer
> 9. If someone had one of these or similar used and in good
> condition, I could in good faith take up a store's time.
> Otherwise I would feel like I'm a nuisance customer. I have a
> budget in my mind of about $800. I don't know why, but that
> seems right to me.
>
Out of those options I'd probably looks for the YCL-650. They are good instruments and you could probably find one only a couple of years old for your $800 budget.
The Selmer Series 9 clarinets can be phenomenal but the problem is that most are approaching 50 years in age and finding one that is still in good condition is becoming increasingly more difficult.
The Leblanc Sonata is pretty comparable to the YCL-650 but they don't seem to come up for sale nearly as often. I would still probably go with the Yamaha.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2012-06-27 10:04
Does a Yamaha require it's own special mouthpiece? I'm currently using about a Legere 2 3/4 or 3 on a Vandoren B46 mouthpiece. I'd like to test out a Yamaha using what I have but I understand that some clarinets are mpc specific.
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-06-27 12:47
Garth Libre wrote:
> Does a Yamaha require it's own special mouthpiece? I'm
> currently using about a Legere 2 3/4 or 3 on a Vandoren B46
> mouthpiece. I'd like to test out a Yamaha using what I have but
> I understand that some clarinets are mpc specific.
>
You should be fine with that setup. Relatively few clarinets are really mouthpiece sensitive. The only time you might run into an issue would be with very large bore clarinets (B&H 1010, Peter Eaton Elite, etc.) or with German clarinets that typically require a completely different mouthpiece size.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-06-27 13:51
I have two German-system clarinets (an F. Arthur Uebel and an old Kohlert) and both work just fine with my favorite "French-style" mouthpieces. They also work fine with Oehler-type mouthpieces (though admittedly I've refaced those with a semi-hybrid facing curve that's probably more French than German). I'm of the opinion that in general, the mouthpiece has to be matched to the player and his/her style, much more so than being matched to the instrument or barrel.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
