 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: TASH
Date: 1999-11-09 03:22
I'm very interested in basset horns and am going to purchase one in the near future. I don't have any idea what to choose. Buffet, Selmer, Lebranc.... I have a Buffet Festival and a Selmer Bass clarinet. I will play on a basset in my clarinet choir. What's tonal difference between bassets and altos?
Should I choose an alto clarinet, instead?
Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-11-09 03:29
TASH - whatever basset horn you get wioll most probably have to be special ordered - it's an unusual instrument today and as far as I know there's no running stock. WYOIWYG (what you order is what you get)
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Author: Eoin
Date: 1999-11-09 07:13
The Basset Horn is like an alto clarinet pitched in F rather than Eb, but it has a narrower bore than the Eb alto, giving it a distinctive sound. They are said to be more difficult to play than the alto.
Basset Horns are more normal in Europe, whereas Altos are normal in America.
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 1999-11-09 07:53
Besides the <a href=http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?id=7857>technical differences</a> (I allready posted there), I see two characteristic tonal differences:
1. the clarion register is less shiny (thus the tonal difference between chalumeau and clarion register is smaller)
2. the volume is less (you might have to play a 'jazz mouthpiece' to reach a Bb clarinet witch 'concerto mouthpiece' - with my most narrow mouthpiece I can easily play 'piano enough' the bass part of a recorder quartett - still sounding one octave lower)
At a weekend in spring next year there should be the next german basset horn meeting (I do not know the date until now). Last time (in spring 1998) there were some manufacturers, too, displaying their instruments (german system only, which usually is much more expensive then boehm system basset horns).
I do not know, if there is an comparable meeting of basset hornists in an area the boehm system is the usual one.
I remember, someone posted here, his friend bought a boehm system basset horn in germany, as it was much cheeper than the german system ones. (I tried, but I couldn't find the thread again.) Perhaps he can ask his friend to tell his experiences.
Otherwise, perhaps you'll have to do a long journey to europe (and try the basset horns at the different manufacurers) - and perhaps finally join to our german basset horn meeting.
Arnold (the basset hornist)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-11-09 17:42
Arnold certainly has more acquaintance with the B H than I, and likely more the other posters. I've played quite a bit of alto in comm. band and cl choir, and doubt you may find music in F even for cl choir [in the US]. If so, the major works are those of Mozart. In my brief, but pleasant, experience with a Selmer B H, I also found its potential volume level to be less than that of my Selmer alto, or an earlier Leblanc and others, but the playing, except for figuring out the fingerings for the low D, C# and C, and using a sop. cl mouthpiece instead of the larger-bore alto mp, was much the same [for me]. The difference in cost of the two is great 2 or 3 to 1. A while back, I inquired about new [or nearly so] asking prices which were well over $4000, while my alto cost about $1000 [little demand! and no basset key extensions]. You might wish to read about the B H, most cl books, like Brymer, discuss it. Luck, Don
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Author: Barry
Date: 1999-11-09 20:54
I noticed in a recent issue of Le Musicien that there are two makers of replica basset horns in Paris. If this interests you, I could get the addresses, and you could write to them directly. Regards
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 1999-11-09 23:00
TASH wrote:
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I'm very interested in basset horns and am going to purchase one in the near future. I don't have any idea what to choose. Buffet, Selmer, Lebranc.... I have a Buffet Festival and a Selmer Bass clarinet. I will play on a basset in my clarinet choir. What's tonal difference between bassets and altos?
Should I choose an alto clarinet, instead?
Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated.
Tash -
Every band piece will have a part for alto clarinet. Very few will have one for basset horn. If you want to do most of your playing in band, save your money and get an alto, but be sure to get a decent mouthpiece.
On the other hand, there is next to no solo music for alto. There's a good bit for basset horn. Also, clarinet choir music will usually have a BH part, and it's not difficult to transpose down a step.
Mozart wrote some wonderful BH parts in his divertimentos and serenades, as well as at least one aria with obbligato BH, the name of which escapes me. Also, Stockhausen has written a lot for BH.
Before you buy, you should investigate the three completely different types of BH.
The most common type (and the one made by Buffet, Selmer, Leblanc, Yamaha, etc.) is simply an alto clarinet, scaled up from Eb to F and with the added keys extending the range to written low C. They have the usual metal curved neck and metal turned-up bell and use a standard alto clarinet mouthpiece. Many of these play beautifully -- the way you would want an alto clarinet to sound. Listen to them on the Chicago Symphony players' Mozart CD. The instruments there are mostly Leblancs, with I think one Yamaha and one Wurlitzer.
However, the original BH had a clarinet bore, used a clarinet mouthpiece and had a distinctly different sound -- softer, sweeter and not at all "gutsy." The mouthpiece has to be altered to get the low tones out. Most of modern ones are made in Germany with the German fingering system. You can see and hear them on the video of the Mozart Requiem. At least the German models have a wood barrel with a sharp angle in it and a wood bell pointing down. It is possible that Buffet, Selmer, Leblanc or Yamaha make a narrow-bore BH, probably in the alto clarinet form with a metal neck and bell. I'm reasonably sure Steve Fox makes one.
The problem with the narrow bore BH is that almost everyone in the US plays the wide bore model, which overbalances the narrow bore. On the other hand, the narrow bore is much closer to the original sound.
The third possibility is of course a reproduction of an original instrument. You can hear this on records by Eric Hoeprich, who has a wonderful original instrument, of which he has made several copies. It's in a sort of angled half-moon shape, and at least as Hoeprich plays it, the sound is very soft and sweet. When you get used to it, you don't want to hear Mozart's BH music played on anything else. However, the instrument is pretty much limited to older music, and you have to make the commitment to learning and living with what is basically a 5-keyed instrument, with all the cross-fingerings and difficulties that entails. Also, the pitch in Mozart's time was, by current thinking, around A=427, a quarter-tone or so below modern pitch of A=440, and the serious players (i.e., Eric Hoeprich) make and play only instruments at that pitch.
If you're interested in playing the solo literature and are not up to committing to the original instrument and lower pitch, you should probably get the modern narrow bore instrument. On the other hand, if you want to play in a clarinet choir and mostly with modern instruments, you would be better off with a wide bore instrument. Also, as Mark wrote, it would be at least possible to try several wide bore instruments and pick the best, or even find one used, whereas a narrow bore or old instrument reproduction would be a special order item, where you take that or nothing.
Lots to think about. It's a great instrument.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-11-10 00:17
A fine discussion of the B H, Ken, many thanks. I have printed it off for my classical clar. friends. Earlier I mentioned Brymer's discussion, and want to add that Lawson and, in particular Baines, also are well worth reading. Having either a B H or an alto should not limit one's playing, IF he/she can transpose on sight, since most of us learn the piano-oboe to Bb cl [and vice versa] reading early-on in our careers, which of course is the same as the F to Eb transposition. At times I play french horn parts on my alto, if the accidentals permit! Don
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Author: TASH
Date: 1999-11-10 04:53
Thank you all, especially Arnold and Ken.
I could study a lot on Basset Horns thanks to you.
There are 3 different types:
(1)original German type
(2)narrow bore type
(3)wide bore type
If I want to play in a clarinet choir with modern instruments, I should choose a wide bore type. Alto's mouthpiece is used for BH of today. If I want to play solo, I should choose a narrow type. (Am I right?)
According to the catalogue, Buffet's BH has a little narrower bore compared with its Alto. Same thing is in Selmer. That means I can expect a softer and decent sound on BH, if I choose Buffet or Selmer.
Arnold the basset hornist wrote:
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Otherwise, perhaps you'll have to do a long journey to europe (and try the basset horns at the different manufacurers) - and perhaps finally join to our german basset horn meeting.
Arnold (the basset hornist)
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Yes, hopefully.
I will visit Paris next month to try and possibly to purchase one among some BHs. Every morning and night, I listen to Sabine Meyer's recordings. I cannot help falling love with the beautiful sounds.
I will report on BH later.
Thank you all.
Tash
Tokyo, Japan
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Author: Gary Van Cott
Date: 1999-11-10 14:42
I remember, someone posted here, his friend bought a boehm system basset horn in germany, as it was much cheeper than the german system ones. (I tried, but I couldn't find the thread again.) Perhaps he can ask his friend to tell his experiences.
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This was my story. The person in question is Bruce Edwards of Ensemble Clarinesque (they have 3 clarinet quartet CDs on the market). He had an older German system basset horn which would cost $10,000 to replace to with a new proffesional German system. He decided after playing it to get a new Buffet instead. Nearly half price.
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 1999-11-11 06:30
Just one correction to Ken Shaw's post:
Most german basset horns have the usual metal curved neck and metal turned-up bell, too. Only from <a href=http://www.schwenk-und-seggelke.de/deutsch/index.html>Jochen Seggelke (Bamberg)</a>, who makes the (modern) basset horn with the most narrow bore diameter I know, I heard he uses a wooden neck.
Arnold, the basset hornist
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