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Re: Bass Clarinets: Buffet or Selmer?

Author: lowclarinetman
Date: 2003-03-31 21:33

Hi there,
I haven't posted in some time, but this is a topic near and dear to my heart so I figure i need to say what i know on the subject.

For those of you who do not know, I got my master's degree in Rotterdam conservatory for solo bass clarinet performance with Henri Bok. I am currently playing bass clarinet in the Monterrey Symphony in mexico, but still trying to get that elusive solo career started.

I played on a buffet for many years, and have recently switched to a selmer. I have tried the newest models of buffet as well. I think the number one concern you should have in picking an instrument is what kind of music you are going to be playing on it.
I find that the selmers are really the only choice for solo and small chamber work. The tone has much more colour to it and versatility to it. Also I find that the slemers, unlike the buffets have very consitent registers. The tone remains the same from the low C to the super F. Now youhave to ask yourself how often will i really use that? well more often than u imagine if u start getting into the solo repertoire.

The buffets are good horns to start bass clarinet on. They play pretty simply plus the neck puts the horn at a more "clarinet" angle. The problems i had with mine were simply that it was not a solo quality horn.
It would have been well over enough to play in orchestras for the rest of my life, but it didn't have a consitent tone thoughtout all the registers and i found myself having to spend way too much effort on getting the sounds i wanted and then not having much mental capicity left over for musical intrepretations. Also my buffet prestige had some very atrocious tuning issues.. the long B, which is bad on every horn, was a bit worse than the standard. The low C# was stuffy and badly flat.

I have thoght that the new Buffets sound more like selmers than the old buffets to. They moved the Low C to the bell(am i remembering this correctly.. i think i am... i know i remember a vent down there.... )
I was happy with ti, i didn't get to put it through very many paces, but it seemed like a solid instrument.

My recommendation tends to be, if all you are interested in doing is orchestral music and maybe some bach cello suites and do not have a lot of experience on the bass clarinet... the buffet is a good choice.
But if you want to explore the solo repertoire and have flexibility in your bass clarinet playing, the selmer is by far the superior instrument.

Feel free to ask me any questions abotu bass clarinet... it is my first love.
Good luck trying horns.
Ciao,
bob

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