 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bp (F)
Date: 2003-10-07 16:28
I plan to buy a new RC clarinet in A.
I am wondering if the best option is to go there and make my personal tests and choice, or to ask my teacher to contact someone he knows personnaly like Guy Deplus or Michel Arrignon to do the job for me.
My teacher says that he prefers let people who are professional in testing do the selection, even for him. Furthermore, someone like Guy Deplus has been working with Buffet for so many years.
If I go there alone, I'm not sure they will offer to me to try many clarinets, and surely not their better series, assuming that a first testing exists.
My Bb RC was selected by Michel Arrignon and it seems really good, but I am not completely convinced that it is the one I would have choosen for me. Maybe it is simply vanity...
Thank you to give me you opinion.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-10-07 16:34
I would personally rather have a proffessional choose it. But I'd make sure that it's a professional who plays similarly to me. Hmmmm. That sounds little odd, but what I mean is that one person may want a resistant horn whereas you may prefer one that's more open, maybe they have a tendency to play sharp and they compensate it with a new barrel, but if you don't, then the clarinet you receive may be too flat for you (if it was perfectly in tune for them). Maybe the best choice would be to go yourself and have another good clarinetist there to test with you and how you sound on it. But other than those few scenarios I can't really think of any other reason why you WOULDN'T want a professional to pick it. Cause you can certainly adjust to a more/less resistant clarinet and fix the tuning if there WAS a problem with it (I doubt there would be, but maybe).
Alexi
PS - I guess what I would do is ask if you can try someone's personal clarinet. If you like their clarinet fine, then chances are that they are going to pick out a great one for you since they will more than likely pick a clarinet that THEY feel comfortable playing on, which will be something very similar to their own.
Retired, playing more sax than clarinet, but still playing clarinet and still loving it!
Post Edited (2003-10-07 16:36)
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Author: ken
Date: 2003-10-07 17:10
Why not the best of both worlds? Your gurus proceed you (or you meet at the store), and they pre-select 2 or 3 keepers, then you follow and make your final choice from those. v/r Ken
Post Edited (2003-10-07 18:35)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-10-07 17:18
Ken - To me, thats the best advice yet ! May need to contact your friends again re: a couple of pieces. Will get it together. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-10-07 17:22
All top-line clarinets are tested by professional musicians. A tip from my teacher is to go to a store like Musique et Art, Le Menetrier or Feeling Music in Paris, all of which offer excellent service, and ask them who tests clarinets for them. You are likely to find a considerable difference between a clarinet tested by Arrignon, for example, and one tested by Jacques Lancelot. They are both wonderful musicians, but they are looking for slightly different qualities in an instrument. This is all terribly subjective, though, and in the long run it is your ear that provides the best guide.
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Author: LeWhite
Date: 2003-10-08 07:53
I recently bought a new LeBlanc Concerto, and was wondering the same thing.
It very soon came to my attention that there is no 'perfect' clarinet and indeed that's what I would expect if I were paying someone a lot of money to find one for me.
Surprisingly, I tried a few and found one that as soon as I played it I just thought "THIS is MY clarinet"
The thing is, I thought that a new instrument (and a better one than my last) would change everything, and make me a better player.
The truth is, it didn't. Only practise and experience will.
So my lesson is that you can't get a 'super-clarinet' that will improve your playing. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and has very little to do with what instrument you have, whether you chose it or someone else thinks it's 'better'.
What do I think? If you're paying someone a commission to find you one, don't; go and choose it yourself because no-one knows what you're looking for in an instrument until you find 'the one'. If you don't pay a commission, just go for it, no harm in getting a professional opinon.
When the new instrument comes in, do you HAVE to buy it? Because maybe you can send it back if it's not what you're after.
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Author: Phur
Date: 2003-10-08 11:34
I have always preferred to select my own instruments.
We all have individual mouth, teeth and differing oral cavity shapes. These can affect the intonation of an instrument. The player testing the instrument my use a different mouth piece to you. This will also affect the sound and intonation.
The player testing the instrument may have a different tonal concept to you. Reginal Kell, Stanley Drucker, Dieter Klocker are players who deserve respect for various aspects. Each has a dramatically different tone, and each is a fair distance from the sound I would ideally like to create(to be fair the sound I am creating at the moment is a fair distance from my ideal). So it would probably be wise not to let them select my instrument.
I think the sound of instruments change as they get worn in-other people may have ideas on this. As LeWhite said you still have to practice the things.
Chris
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