 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Birch
Date: 2003-01-12 07:53
I bought a brand new Buffet R13 Prestige(ha!) clarinet about four years ago, and it cracked very badly about a month after the warranty ran out. When I stopped by the factory near Paris, they refused to help me out beyond grudgingly filling the crack with some gluey sawdust.
In fact, they treated me so badly, that I went to Selmer the next day, met Patrick Selmer himself, and was very impressed by their Recital model (much better than anything Buffet is making nowadays). I picked out what looked like a nice one, and it cracked about two months later. I sent it back and got it replaced on warranty. This took about six months. About three weeks after it returned, the replacement cracked. This while I was douseing the thing in bore oil every day!
I have gotten very good at filling cracks with bees wax, but this sucks! Three of the highest quality upper joints, and they have all cracked. I really don't want to send my Selmer back again because my backup - the Buffet - is not nearly as good, and six months is a long time to wait, espessially if it'll only crack again.
Has anyone else out there had as bad luck as I have? I don't know what to do, other than vent by wailing away on my old Albert clarinet. Is a cracked clarinet simply a fact of life for the modern clarinettist, to be endured? Or should I continue the daunting pursuit of the elusive crackless clarinet?
In exasperation,
--Birch
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2003-01-12 11:52
Never had a clarinet crack. Perhaps just "dumb" luck or probably due to the humidity level in our area (always above 50%). Now, I have repaired a few cracked (local) instruments. I really can't say what the difference is, but I do believe some wood is going to crack no matter what is done with it.
There is a retired oboist from the Houston Symphony that says there are two kinds of oboes, those that have cracked and those that will crack.
Your Recital did not need oiling on a daily basis and, perhaps, compounded the problem. New clarinets are well oiled at the factory. In fact, some warranties are not honored if the clarinet has been oiled during the break in period.
jbutler
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-01-12 12:18
You've just had a run of bad luck. If a clarinet is going to crack, it is most likely to do so in the first few months of its life. This is more than likely due to undetected flaws in the wood. Instruments that crack later in life may be the result of large humidity swings. Some places get down to close to 0% relative humidity in the winter.
By the way, where did you get the idea that it should be oiled daily. I've never heard of anyone recommending this approach to clarinet care.
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Author: James
Date: 2003-01-12 14:02
Hi-
I know how you feel about having a cracked clarinet. I had an open a few years back (I swear the best one ever) and I was forced to play it in the cold at a summer music camp, and it cracked all the way down to the bore on one of the trill keys. ha.. I cried for weeks.
The best explanation I have heard about this is that its because of these companies are dealing with the aging process. Before they used to take their time and let these the wood of these horns age for years even decades and now it's quick, they you new techniques to try artificially age the wood. Thus, this makes the wood more sensitive and even a slightly compromising situation will cause a clarinet to crack.
Honestly I have heard about cracks a lot, especially with Leblanc’s opus's and concertos, and the prestige line. I wonder if it happens to be because they claim to use a "harder" or "denser" wood. Either way in the last four years as a high school clarinetist, I have seen a lot of horns crack... But the R13's seems to hold up. Some have barrels that crack but they can just replace that.
My friend just had his new clarinet crack on him at the register vent. It wasn’t' that bad but he brought it to the Brannens and I believed they fixed it up for him. If you really want someone to do a good job. Send it to the Brannens' (brannenwoodwinds.com) or Rick Sayre 630.916.1525. They are both equally as good at what they do, and let me tell you, they are the best in their field. They will be quick to fix your horn. Brannens may or may not as you to as well get their servicing done on your horn as well but that varies from situation to situation.
Hope I was some help to you. Good luck with that situation. I know how you feel. Really...
-James
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Author: Synonymous Botch...
Date: 2003-01-12 14:20
Are you living in Northern Europe?
What sort of heating system is in your playing area?
You're experiencing far too many structural failures...
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Author: William
Date: 2003-01-12 15:16
I would simply advise you that if you like the clarinet before it cracked, simply get the crack repaired and forget it even existed. Usually, if the crack is repaired properly, it will never re-occure and will not adversly affect the clarinets playing characteristics.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-01-12 16:26
It is difficult to know whether clarinets are cracking due to inferiority of the current crop of wood, or not. A few years ago I started a thread on this board "Has your new Buffet recently cracked?"
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=66039&t=65813
I eventually compiled all the results by year and brand. (unfortunately I did not save it). A few years and models did stand out as having a slightly higher incidence of failure, but no conclusions could be drawn because the sampling was far too small. It is always dangerous to try and read too much into just a few numbers.
My own feeling is as a few have already stated: if a clarinet is going to crack, there is nothing you can do to prevent it. I <i>would</i> advise when choosing a new clarinet to examine the graining pattern of the wood <i>very carefully</i>. It is always nice to see dense tightly grained wood. I would avoid any clarinets with surface checks and wide open graining patterns (especially near the top of the upper joint).
As an aside - cracks can repaired so expertly, as to not affect an instrument's sound. (the resale value is another matter - as cracked instruments are the kiss of death on eBay).
A few years ago I bought my 11th R-13 from someone who could not sell it because of a very small (expertly repaired ) upper tenon (not through a tone hole) crack. The instrument was a 190xxx series and played very sweetly with beautiful coloration. I usually avoid any cracked instruments but this one was so special, that I bought it for the ridiculously low price of $300. As I will never sell it, I do not care of its perceived eventual resale value.
As to it's crack, I never give it a second thought...GBK
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-01-12 17:50
I have heard of many Buffets, whether well cared for or not, cracking while still under warranty and of another "many" cracking when just out of, or as they go out of warranty, but rarely, of a well cared for Leblanc cracking at any time. I haven't heard of very many cracking problems with Selmer, either.
Personally, I've never been a Buffet person, but if I had been, it would have been several years, as of this writing, since I would have already abandoned the idea of paying just under a couple of thousand dollars for an item of such poor physical quality as Buffet clarinets. And that they are, or they would not split nearly as much.
I can see myself repairing an old clarinet that cracked and living comfortably with the idea, but I can't see myself sleeping well at night, knowing that I just paid $1,600.00 to $2,000.00, of my hard-earned money, for a brand new instrument that had to be repaired because I liked it and it split on me. The math does not add up.
To me that is totally assinine and against any the idea I could have ever had of not allowing myself to be indiscriminately screwed by a large corporation with as poor customer service as Birch's experience might seem to indicate.
If clarinets were like cars, that you go to buy them and they send you the first one available as your order is put in, I could see that: I bought a car, the engine burned, the dealer installed a new one, meanwhile I got a loaner, and away I went. O.K.
But clarinets have to be tried out and accepted for sound and other playing qualities, if I have a new one that splits, I want to go through the process again to choose another that suits me, and if the manufacturer has a reputation for producing more than their share of instruments that split, I would expect them to foot the cost of my being thus inconvenienced by their failings.
Either that, or I would not buy their trash! Whatever happened to, "Buyer beware!"
I must admit that it's been several years since I had anything to do with Buffet, but as I remember, at least in the U.S., they used to have half-way decent customer service through Francois Kloc.
I agree that Birch is not doing something right, because that many split instruments is totally out of the ordinary, but still, as long as we are on the subject of cracked clarinets, that's my opinion (and we all know what opinions are like.)
Birch: I advise you to look up the many past threads about clarinet care here on the BB, and read up, old son, because, while one or more cracked Buffets are not at all surprising to me, two cracked Selmers in a row, and in such a short time, are strange, indeed.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2003-01-12 17:59
One famous repair person and player has written that some people have more cracked instruments than others. A large volume of body temperature air should not suddenly be blown into a cold or room temperature clarinet as this can cause the interior of the bore to expand with a resulting crack. If your habit is to blow a lot of air into a clarinet to warm it up before playing, you might get some cracks as a result. One can warm the clarinet with one's hands or put it under one's coat before playing it. Best of luck!
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2003-01-12 18:14
Peter,
It used be said that a Selmer would crack at the first sound. The CT's of the fifties were notorious for cracking. I've pinned more Selmers than Buffets for sure. Perhaps it is just my clientele, but you are also correct in that I do not repair cracks in pro line LeBlancs very often. I know I pinned an older LeBlanc last year, but that was the first one in a long time. On the other hand, I get more Buffets and Selmers than LeBlancs. So, the percentage might be the same, but not so obvious to me.
On another side topic, I was told second hand (supposedly they were told this by a renowned maker of mouthpieces and barrels that has been close ties with Buffet) that Buffet was buying their wood from independent suppliers so that they would not have so much money tied up in material sitting on shelves aging, and thus improving their cash flow slightly. Now, I can not confirm this myself, but if true, perhaps the wood is not "as aged" as it used to be. Perhaps someone else on the BB has heard about this also and can confirm (or deny) the truthfulness of the story. Therfore, it may be that the wood is not being aged as long or the material from which to chose is not very good quality material.
However, this does not relate to a Selmer Recital in any way. I would only hope that those who select the grenadilla, blackwood, mpingo or whatever, are doing a respectable job at their art, no matter the manufacture.
jbutler
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Author: judy
Date: 2003-01-12 20:28
This is what I put in GBK's previous post.
Buffet R-13 B-flat, bought in 1995 or 1996 cracked in 1998
Buffet Festival A, bought in 1997, no cracks
Buffet Vintage B-flat, bought in 1999, cracked in 2000 (after warranty was up)
Patricola E-flat, bought in 1999, no cracks
(The cracked clarinets played fine after they were repaired.)
Now we have cracked Selmer Recitals also. We bought a Selmer Recital B-flat and an A Spring of 2002. The B-flat, bought from Woodwind and Brasswind in NYC, developed several superficial hairline cracks almost immediately - some may have been there when we bought it. My son did not want to return it because he says it is the best B-flat he has ever tried out, and he had already spent money tweaking it. Woodwind and Brasswind repaired the hairline cracks without charge and offered to take the clarinet back, even though some changes were made to it, up to one year from purchase. The year is up in April 2003. The A - from Brooks-Mays - developed one hairline crack soon after it was bought - and it was easily repaired - and is fine. Given that having it repaired under warrunty would have meant sending it to Texas, we did not do that.
With respect to the Selmer Recital B-flat, we have a dilemma similar to the original poster's (Birch). I'm not sure that it won't deteriorate further - but if we send it back (Woodwind and Brasswind is no longer in NY) - who knows how long it will take to get another one - and will it be just as good?
So - in our experience, cracked clarinets are a fact of life - and you are not alone.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2003-01-12 21:02
For whatever reasons, cracks do appear to be happening fairly frequently. If I were buying today, I might do what GBK did and find a fine cracked/repaired one and buy it cheap; or, I'd buy a fine Greenline. Anyway, I agree that the thought of paying $1600-3,000 today, only to have my resale value drop dramatically with a crack is enough to turn me sour on the new wooden clarinet market.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-01-12 21:37
Dare I suggest that cracks may be less common with Yamaha than with Buffet & Selmer. BTW Peter Eaton has had their share too.
One cannot make conclusions form anecdotal examples, but a scientifically conducted survey would be interesting to compare makes.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-01-12 21:41
My solution to the cracking problem has always been to buy Leblanc!
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-01-12 22:01
Dee wrote:
"If a clarinet is going to crack, it is most likely to do so in the first few months of its life. This is more than likely due to undetected flaws in the wood."
Dee, do you have any data to validate this, or is it based only on your personal observation?
"Instruments that crack later in life may be the result of large humidity swings. Some places get down to close to 0% relative humidity in the winter."
Absolutely. Wide humidity variations can be murder to Clarinets that have not had *perfect* care. Around where I live, the extremely low humidity can happen at any season -- but most people don't live near a desert.
"By the way, where did you get the idea that it should be oiled daily. I've never heard of anyone recommending this approach to clarinet care."
Me either. My suggestion is to oil when the clarinet becomes slightly dry (before the humidity goes back up and the instrument absorbs more water), and oil again when more moisture leaves the instrument. Loose tenon rings and bell ring are dead giveaways that oiling is in order. In my view (maybe wrong), oiling every day may tend to keep water entrapped within the wood and cause problems, especially if the instrument is allowed to get cold. If the water in the wood expands too much, the wood can crack explosively.
And GBK wrote:
"...no conclusions could be drawn because the sampling was far too small. It is always dangerous to try and read too much into just a few numbers. "
That's for sure, but of course it's done all the time. Fletcher and Munson's old study on human hearing has affected audio design of everything from concert halls to hearing aids for decades, yet their conclusions (including the famous "Fletcher-Munson Curves") were derived from data taken on the hearing of thirty (30) college students. Seems to me, GBK, the only problem with your data is that they were taken from people who volunteered the information, which is hardly a bulletproof protocol.
Two final comments:
1) The old Flemish harpsichord builders were said to leave soundbosrds out to dry for very long periods, hoping to see cracks. They would then carve pieces to fit the cracks, glue them in place, then proceed to use the sounboards, secure in the knowledge that the major stresses had been relieved.
2) I still cannot understand why Buffet demands that their instruments not be oiled during the warranty period. I wish someone could pass along the company's logic in this. To me, it's tantamount to an automobile manufacturer telling you not to wash a car for the first year.
Regards,
John
who still uses "Bore Doctor" when require
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-01-12 22:31
JMcAulay wrote:
> 2) I still cannot understand why Buffet demands that their
> instruments not be oiled during the warranty period.
They do not "demand" that they not be oiled. They "recommend" that they not be oiled.
The billets are oiled at the factory and Buffet does not feel they need oiling again for quite some time. Oiling the bore will not void the warrantee against cracking.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2003-01-12 22:57
Too much oil can cause other problems. I have one here that has been oiled so much, it seeps out on the outside of the horn and tone ports, more noticably on hot days. Because it ruins the pads instantly, I disassembled (stripped it of all keys) then wrapped it in some old rags. I then left it in a nice warm place (our feed and tack shack) and let the rags soak it up. It still seeps abit but not nearly as much. It plays too darned good not to try and save it.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-01-12 23:23
One reason you see more cracked Buffets than other brands is simply because there are so many more out there to start with. i.e. If the percent of horns that cracked were the same for all brands, you would see a much larger number of cracked Buffets.
Why do I say cracks must be due to either hidden flaws in the wood or excessive humidty swings? Very simple. I looked up the strength data on hardwoods. Even in the weakest direction (parallel to the grain), the denser hardwoods will withstand a force of 1000 pounds per square inch. In its strongest direction (perpendicular to the grain), the strength is several times higher. So unless the wood is flawed or there are excessive humidity changes, normal handling can't result in cracking. Even extreme temperature changes result in stresses less than 100 pounds per square in a hardwood. So unless there is a flaw in the wood (i.e. resulting in an unusually weak spot), temperature differences alone do not cause enough stress to crack it.
Hardwoods are relatively strong. Unfortunately we have no way of determining if a particular piece of wood has flaws in it that compromise its structural integrity.
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-01-13 02:23
I say that the poor quality control of materials and labor are the problem with cracking in clarinets. This process starts with the decision on which tree to cut and how it will be processed. Things like water and temperature changes are only a small part of the equation.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-01-13 02:48
Cracking is a very difficult problem to analyze. The stress patterns in any piece of instrument wood are multifactorial. Most of the stress data is for a solid flat retangular shaped wood sample. There are tangential factors of a tube of a given hardwood with holes drilled in it, rigid keywork attached by posts spanning various lengths of wood, wood impregnated with oil, differential humidity factors between the bore and the exterior wood, etc., etc. which complicate the simple stress and strength data tables. Hydrostatic pressures - both the loss and gain of moisture can be several hundreds of pounds (kgs) per square inch (cm). The strength data tables are load to failure data for flat boards. Stresses much less than failure loads may be relieved by deformation and even by cracking patterns without complete failure.
I believe that some of the old axioms of treating wood instruments with care - avoid large humidity and temperature changes, maintain an adequate oil balance in the wood (similar to when the instrument was first manufactured), don't misuse the instrument in a physical way, etc. - are about the only human ways that we have to prevent cracking. Most of the inherent properties of the wood itself are beyond our control - it will crack, it may crack, it will never crack! If manufacturers are using substandard wood or taking short cuts in the time tested aging process - shame on them.
The Doctor
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2003-01-13 04:34
My repairman tells me that Buffets are more prone to cracking than Leblancs or Selmers because Buffet uses kiln dried wood rather than naturally aged wood.
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Author: Birch
Date: 2003-01-13 06:52
Wow, what a response!
First of all, I probably should have noted that I live in the Yukon, in a desert (less than 10 inches/year rainfall) that is quite frozen for much of the year. This year has been a precedent setting warm, moist, global warming year, but it's still pretty dry.
I took to oiling the bore of my last clarinet a lot because I was led to believe that this would help compensate for the lack of water moisture in the wood, which is much more prone to fluctuation than oil moisture. Also, unlike older clarinets I own, whenever I oil the bore of a new instrument, all of the oil is sucked right into the wood within an hour, leaving it once again totally dry to the touch. If this wasn't the case, I wouldn't have continued oiling it. I certainly had never heard that it might be bad to do such a thing and thought that if it wouldn't help, well it wouldn't hinder either.
Though I am careful to warm up my car on cold days before transporting my clarinet, and to let it acclimatize to the room before playing it, I do play very loudly, and put lots of hot air though the instrument. I also play in rooms that simply aren't properly insulated for -40 degree temperatures, and at outdoor summer festivals where I can be playing in 10 to 15C temperatures, which aren't that far off the normal 18C room temperature. But if I can't play my instrument in these situations, what good is it?
When I asked at the Buffet factory where they get their wood, I was told they get it from Germany, and that it is aged by being submerged in oil for 6 years. Then it is cut down on an incredibly high speed fully automated lathe, and almost immediately shipped off to all corners of the planet. No one seemed to know where the trees actually came from.
I remember, a few years ago, finding an article on the sneezy pages about the many dozens of different species of rosewood and ebony commonly used to make clarinets under the name 'grenadilla'. It was interesting to note that many of the more popular species were driven to extiction or very near it long ago.
I'm not sure yet what I will do about my cracked clarinets, but there are two things that I won't do. First, I don't plan to relocate my home to some drizzly, coastal, clarinet-friendly climate. I like the Yukon. Second, I have firmly resolved never to buy another new clarinet unless it be made out of steel, or some such sturdy material.
Thank you very much for the enlightening information.
--Birch
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Author: graham
Date: 2003-01-13 08:40
Your last mail says it all. Your climate is intemperate so you need a non-wood material, like greenline or the other synthetics certain other makers use. Playing loud shouldn't make the tiniest difference. That said, I know of a loud player who cracked two Peter Eaton top joints in short order so may be there is something in this unlikely point.
The idea of the clarinet sucking up the oil like a greedy dog is implausible. Oil penetration is usually very low.
Planas (now dead, once famous) recommended no oiling of the bore. He attributed most cracking to the inconsistency of the wetness of the wood as between different parts of the bore, so he was keen on people mopping out quite thoroughly. If all the clarient is uniformally wet, so he said, that would be fine. It was the inequality that did the damage. He also said that frequent oiling was prone to trap dampness into the wood (it keeps moisture out, but also traps moisture in). So, if you are oiling daily and playing daily, my guess is you trapped the moisture in by over oiling, and that cracked the wood.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-01-13 12:51
Hey Birch...
You'll get another set of problems playing single-wall metal clarinets in the same environment (there's many a reason that design is not common today)...
If you're a fan of the R13 design, the Greenline horns are exceptional, and nearly bulletproof.
One of the Woodwind.org regulars, Dave Spiegelthal, has had good results tweaking hard rubber clarinets. These have little snob appeal, but play particularly well and are suited to your conditions
even the modern Vito VSP or Ridenour hard rubber clarinets will be easier to play than an old metal horn!
See many moose (mooses? moosii?) this year?
Are the Whitehorse mosquitos still the size of hummingbirds?
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Author: Bob
Date: 2003-01-13 14:39
Hey Willie, maybe your horn is crying.....hmmm
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2003-01-13 23:16
Graham,
I do agree with a little bit of what you are saying, but I have witnessed with my own eyes, several times, when clarinets absorbed oil rapidly and the oil did "bead" on the outside of the instrument for a time. So I would have to differ with you on the "implausible" statement. This does not happen very often, but it does occur.
jbutler
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-01-14 02:59
Synonymous Botch wrote:
>
> You'll get another set of problems playing single-wall metal
> clarinets in the same environment (there's many a reason that
> design is not common today)...
Because the group was tarnished by the reputation of the large number of junk clarinet-shaped student horns palmed off on the unsuspecting public. People thought it was because it was a metal horn when in reality that had nothing to do with it. There were some fine single-wall metal horns made. I own a couple of Noblets that play beautifully.
>
>These have little
> snob appeal, but play particularly well and are suited to your
> conditions
> even the modern Vito VSP or Ridenour hard rubber clarinets will
> be easier to play than an old metal horn!
Again not necessarily so. There were some metal horns that played as well as any other instruments. Again Noblets were fine instruments.
It is unfortunate that the tons of junk that was produced so badly damaged the reputation of metal horns that it killed the market.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-01-14 02:59
(Disclaimer - I sell oil for woodwinds )
*For those that oil (and it depends greatly on the type of oil that you use - caveat emptor)*
I have been asked so many times by email that I should post what I recommend (IMHO)as an oiling regime. The wood will tell you when it requires oiling - the bore will become dull and the inside of the bore on the top joint just below the barrel will look a little gray and dull rather than nice shiny black. Oiling should be done in stages and never to excess. First I put little squares of waxed paper under each pad then I dampen a swab (actually I use a cotton 10 ga shotgun fuzzy head on a hardwood rod)with a little oil, not to the dripping stage and run it through the bore several times (this leaves a thin film that does not even run due to gravity). I let it sit overnight - at least 12 hr.(approx. 20 degrees C, 60-70% RH) and check to see if all the oil has been absorbed, if it has been all absorbed then I repeat until there is still an oil sheen on most of the surface after the 12 hr. wait. At this point I wipe off the excess oil with a clean swab and I am done - remove the wax paper squares of course. I apply oil about every three months - if it appears to need it (for my own main horn) but this depends on how much you play the horn, the properties of the wood of your horn, the environmental conditions that the horn is exposed to, etc., etc..
For wood that has been severely dried out due to long storage, etc. I use a different formulations of oil and a temperature and RH controlled chamber to gradually restore the oil and moisture balance to the wood - but this is a restoration process and not a DIY project.
The Doctor
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2003-01-14 05:24
Mr. Henderson
As soon as I get my credit card, I intend on ordering some of your products. I'm not sure whether that includes bor oil or not, as I have been told by my teacher not to oil my clarinet. No reason. I've done as I was told.
My r13 is three years old, and I still don't know whether to make my own decision to start oiling or not. The inside of my top joint looks quite grey. The temerature range here isn't extreme, and I'm not sure about humidity.
Are there any good, substantial reasons why I should start oiling, or continue not to?
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-01-14 10:47
Dear all,
Everyone must eventually make their own decision about oiling or not oiling their own horn. The woodwind community is rife with "old wife's tales" about use and care of instruments - most are not based on scientific evidence but still some end up being proven by scientific investigations while others are debunked by experimentation. Part of the problem with old recommendations is that they are based on materials or formulations that were not fully investigated or materials that were then available or had different characteristics at that point in history.
There is a new, and better to my thinking (it keeps us old teachers current), generation of students who question their teachers and demand logical and scientific answers to their questions. We have all had teachers who we think are infallible and who's word and recommendations must be always right. Their knowledge, talent, and training make them good resources for knowledge and training but not the absolute end word if there is creditable information to the contrary.
Therefore, everyone must do their own research and gather as much hard (verified) information from as many sources as possible and then make their own informed decisions. Many people do not believe in oiling, but my own research and experimentation has led me and others to the decision to oil their instruments. I believe, and have done a lot of experimentaion to prove, that more modern formulations of plant derived oils will help preserve the wood.
No absolutes here, just a challenge to make your own informed decision.
The Doctor
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-01-15 11:59
I mean to say that single-wall metal clarinets have difficulty maintaining internal bore temperature and fluctuate in pitch more than a wooden, plastic or rubber body horn.
Best Klezmer player in my neighborhood toots a metal Albert and he plays circles around me!
My best trading buddy loves the metal horns, too.
I'm just suggesting that in the extremes Birch must tolerate, a metal horn will have another set of problems in the mix, although cracking would not be one of those.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-01-16 02:37
A metal clarinet would have no more pitch problems from temperature than flutes, saxophones, and all brass instruments. Players learn to deal with it.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-01-19 00:59
Amen to what Dee has said.
I also have several metal clarinets that play very well and give me no more problems than any other metal instrument (Saxes and flutes)I own.
I play them all equally badly!
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The Clarinet Pages
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