 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: clarinet_mike
Date: 2003-09-18 00:22
Hi everybody. I'm in the market for a new clarinet, a professional one at that. I've played on my student Normandy for a while, my 6th year, and have gotten everything I can out of it with new mouthpieces and everything. I would like some advice on a good one to get, what in your mind is a really great one to get. I didn't need it so much till this school year, mainly cause I was accepted into Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts and International Studies, most kids there have awesome clarinets, playing on a few of them I see why and how they get such a great sound and that's what I want and actually need if I want to continue to college and beyond with it. Thanks, Micheal.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Fred
Date: 2003-09-18 01:17
Michael, this is a huge topic . . . full of controversy and opinions
Buffet is the lead dog. Others may be as good or better, but more pro players play Buffets than anything else. Advantage to you is acceptance.
LeBlanc makes awesome clarinets; many like them better than Buffets. Selmer also has its fans, as does Yamaha. That covers the Big 4. There are certainly others, but for your stage in your career, I wouldn't venture into other waters yet. Conventional advice is to try out many clarinets and pick the one you like the best. Pay close attention to intonation - use a tuner.
You want my honest opinion? Talk to the clarinet teacher with whom you will be studying and ask him to help you select a great clarinet. He will lead you into a brand that is accepted as top-notch where you will be studying, and you will have a pro helping you cull out the dogs. Your teacher will probably consider it wise of you to ask, and it could help solidify a good teacher-student relationship.
And remember, chances are it won't be the last clarinet you ever buy. You are still allowed to grow, learn, improve. And the day may come that you show up for rehearsal with an obscure Yugoslavian clarinet and send the rest of the section scurrying to buy one. But not today, Mike . . . not today.
P.S. - Don't ask for your teacher's help if you don't intend to follow their advice.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-09-18 04:53
In my land there is perhaps less 'fashion' for brands, and included in the big 6 would be Peter Eaton and Howarth.
Every make has its down-side. Be aware that whatever you choose, perhaps following the worthy advise above, refrain from imagining that whatever you choose is 'perfection'. You may well need to do some post-purchase spending to get the best out of your selection in performance and reliability. A good deal of the servicing I do is on new or almost new instruments.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-09-18 06:07
My comment is one which may seem uncommon (because it is) but worth considering.
You are on your sixth year of playing a Normandy. That's a big investment of your time. I suggest that a Leblanc might have a feel similar to that Normandy, to which you have become accustomed -- perhaps much closer than would any other maker's Clarinet.
Regards,
John
.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2003-09-18 14:32
You make a good point, John, since "we" become accustomed to the feel of the horn we play the most and anything else has a different feel.....that can be interpreted as undesirable.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2003-09-18 15:08
Fred--Great Posting (and excellant advice)
JMcAulay--just want to agree with you. It took me about a year to get used to my first Buffet R13 Bb after playing Selmers for seven years. And, upon switching to a set of Bb and A LeBlanc Concerto's, I experianced almost a two year period, before I really felt comfortable playing them. Different clarinet brands and models do have their own peculiar "feel" so switching from the LeBlanc family to another member of the "Big Four" (Selmer, Buffet or Yamaha), you may need some time before you truely feel comfortable with your new instrument. Trying (auditioning) new clarinets can be extreemly confusing and frustrating, so the advice of other, more experianced players, can be very helpful (as the commercials say, "Pricessless")-- but expecially, the teacher you will be studying with. One bit of advice I would recommend, when auditioning clarinets, request the largest room available. The accoustics of small "cubby hole" rooms can be quite misleading as your clarinet may sound better than it really is. Also, if at all possible, take your final choice instrument out on approval and actually play it in a live ensemble to ascertain how it "really sounds". I have often played clarinets in store "practice rooms" that sound great--but in a live rehearsal outside the store, sound lousy. (This also goes for mouthpieces)
(BTW--for what my opinion is worth, if I were not playing an excellant set of LeBlancs, I would most likely be playing Buffets)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: hans
Date: 2003-09-18 22:45
William' advice above is excellent: "The accoustics of small "cubby hole" rooms can be quite misleading as your clarinet may sound better than it really is. Also, if at all possible, take your final choice instrument out on approval and actually play it in a live ensemble to ascertain how it "really sounds".
This is similar to Artie Shaw's comment (from his biography) regarding his endorsement of the new Conn 280N Connstellation model: "All true. Unfortunately it just didn't work out on the job."
Hans
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: LeWhite
Date: 2003-09-19 06:32
I have a friend who got into college, went out and got an expensive new clarinet, then started at college. Our teacher told her it wasn't the greatest clarinet she should have waited until she started the school year and then he would have helped her pick one out.
Enough said. Can you hold off until you begin studying with your new teacher? Might be a wise idea.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-09-19 11:37
It also bears mentioning that buying from a teacher may manifest a conflict of interest.... particularly if you pay higher than retail prices.
******
If you intend to have the instrument hand tuned for best performance -
say at the Brannen shop, or with other capable aftermarket treatment, buy the cheapest version available and spend the difference.
Tom Ridenour is making a clearly superior instrument in hard rubber, sold through Brook Mays. You could easily have a matched pair of clarinets, with all the trimmings, for around $2000 USD.
- and his horns don't crack!
*****
The bottom line is play testing with a tuner on hand.
Believe your ears, and play what you like. No sense in having a "great horn" that you can't stand to play!
*****
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND second hand - and Dave Spiegelthal has a real winner available on the classified section from Couesnon...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-09-19 12:28
All the old hard rubber items (manly mouthpieces and clarinet bodies) I have seen have turned greenish, and smell, and the vapours tarnish silver plating.
I am surprised to hear a modern, quality instrument being made of hard rubber when there are other, superior, (even resonant) polymers now available.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-20 13:44
The hard rubber technology has improved over the years also. I still consider it to be a thermoSET "resin", with some elasticity left, but not as flexible as [some, but not all!] thermoPLASTICS, polyolefinic, acrylic etc "resins". Glad they solved the brown-green-ing problem!! If interested in an older pro wood horn, contact me off-BBoard. OK, MC? Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-09-20 14:45
"Have you played one of these?"
No. That was not the issue about which I was writing. I was writing about the qualities and suitability of a construction material.
If the traditional problems have been solved, that is good, but I still see modern hard rubber mouthpieces that green and deteriorate.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ClaRiNeT_CaNdY
Date: 2003-09-20 16:48
i havent really tired many clarinets.. but i tink mouthpieces are more important than the instrument itself.. why dont you invest on mouthpieces first? Vandoren is a good choice i guess..
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-09-20 20:42
I hope this doesn't initiate a storm of controversy, but with so many writing of teachers recommending (or insisting on) certain instruments, that seems almost frightening. I would be loath to continue studying with an instructor who insisted that my stick had to be a specific brand.
Do some instructors really complain that a student has the wrong brand of instrument?
Don't get me wrong... at Costco yesterday, I saw a young prospective student (apparently with father) checking out one of the $149-or-so Clarinets sold there. Y'know, the kind Brook-Mays recently advised in writing they will not attempt to repair. If I were her teacher, it would take me very little time to suggest a replacement. But telling a student with a high-level Selmer that some other brand would play better? I don't think so.
Regards,
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-09-20 21:45
I wonder how many such teachers base their recommendation on the commission they can get from the supplier of such brand after every recommended sale.
I have met this practise in NZ, and in almost every case the teacher has been an immigrant from Europe, where it is perhaps common. That, to me, is a fraudulent recommendation. I have not hesitated to expose them for what they are when I have concrete evidence.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-20 22:56
AH , Gordon, you have touched a very tender nerve. Yes, here in USA's Heartland, and I'm very sure elsewhere, what we call payola [remember the quiz shows of times past??] is apparently The Way to do Business in marketing of insts, rentals, supplies and repairs by the larger music stores. Looking at the practice from the standpoint on moderately prosperous, but inexperienced, parents of musically inclined students, its a "ripoff", similar to out-right bribery ."Nuff of my soap box ire. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarinet_mike
Date: 2003-09-21 23:23
Thanks you all for the great advice. I'm going to take all your advice on this problem I have and also wait till I start up with lessons again. I had to stop lessons with my old teacher (Dr. Raphael Sanders, Clarinet instructor at UNLV) cause it was way to much hassel getting to UNLV for my lessons everyweek. Once again thanks to all. Micheal
For those who mentioned about a mouthpiece I've already invested into a great mouthpiece which has done wonders for me. Vandoren B45, which my old teacher picked out for me.
Post Edited (2003-09-21 23:25)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: wyatt
Date: 2003-09-22 14:05
why not go back to your old teacher (dr.sanders) and seek his advice. he has not ax to grain.
he knows you better then whoever your new teacher will be.h
bob gardner}ÜJ
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
