 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-01-10 20:07
I've always wondered why there are no really premium hand made clarinets as there are with other instruments. I am only a hack flute player, but I can easily see the difference between a top line factory flute from say Yamaha or Gemienhart and that of a hand made Brannen or a Powell.
Yes Buffet, Selmer and Leblanc make good instruments, but isn't there sufficient demand for a really top flight instrument made with the same level of craftsmanship available on other instruments. Yes these hand made instruments are expensive (I know, I recently purchased a Brannen for my wife) and they often have waiting lists that extend a year or more to get one, but I know I would be willing to pay the price if an equivalent quality clarinet if it was available.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-10 20:41
Tim,
There <b>are</b> hand made clarinets - Rossi, Fox, Wurlitzer, Hammerschmidt, and more.
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Author: Mario
Date: 2000-01-10 21:05
Hand-made is a misleading word. Essentially all clarinets use a combination of hand-made and machine-made parts, sections, and the like. A more accurate perspective is to compare mass-produced to custom.
Mark just mentioned several of the best known custom clarinet manufacturers. I am sure there are a few more specialists out there, but essentially the list is complete.
These special clarinets are more expensive than their mass-produced counter parts. They have many benefits that contribute to a tool that makes it easier to produce beautiful music. I use two Rossi (A and Bb) and the feeling of musical freedom is incredible.
BTW, the brand Wurlitzer is a common name in the musical world. I understand that there are two different Wurlitzer clarinet builders (one in West and one in East Germany - not that this distinction means anything now), plus piano builders (one in America, one in Europe). The Clarinet builder that we all admire for the incredible quality of its custom instruments is the one from West Germany. The other one builds mass-produced instruments for students at low price.
This is a key piece of info that I got, in Dusseldorf recently (at the Musikhaus a fine music store in the center of the city), from a elderly clarinet technician who knew much about the clarinet (an unbelievable source of information about our favorite instrument). You can imagine how accomplished and meticulous as a trademan a silver-haired German gentleman who has fixed clarinet all his life can be. Well, he looked at my Rossi inside out (he had never seen one before) and gave it its full approval mechanically and tone-wise. He actually was quite impressed by the use of ABS plastic in the upper portion of the bore, by the smooth ergonomics of the key work, and by the overall quality of the craftmanship. Coming from a German expert, this is quite an endorsment and a vivid testimonial of the excellence of the Rossi clarinet.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-10 22:32
Mario - If I remember right it was Herbert Wurlitzer that I spoke to (and tried one of his clarinets) in Columbus.
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Author: Hans
Date: 2000-01-10 23:09
In Germany there are a lot of Wurlitzers as clarinet makers or as brand name active.
The famous ones are Fritz Wurlitzer, active from approx. 1935 till 1970 in Erlbach/Vogtland (formaly East-German) and his son Herbert died in 1989 in Neustadt a/d/ Aisch. The brand Herbert Wurlitzer still exists, i don't know if the firm is continued by a son.
I'm playing Fritz Wurlitzer clarinets (E-flat till bass) and indeed, the quality of wood, design and keywork and above all the sound is top quality. Although the soprana clarinets are still 50 years old, the key work is in superb condition. I hope that such firms will stay in future - although the high proces - because of they make the making of clarinets so interesting!
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-01-11 05:02
Who plays on these. At least in America. 90% of the players in the major symphonies in this country play on Buffets, with the remainder playing Leblancs and Selmers (though the new Leblancs are gaining some ground). The same can be said for the clarinet faculties of most universities and conservatories (with a little more representation from Leblanc and Selmer here).
Why is this so? Are American players just too set in their ways to give anything else a chance (flutists are always trying out the latest and greatest of more than a dozen fine hand made instruments and new ones seem to pop up every year). Or are these instruments just not significantly better to justify the additional cost?
Another thing, I can go into any large music store in any major city and try out any of a number of hand made flutes (both new and used), but I've never seen anyting but the standard fair for clarinets. Seems the only way to try any of these instruments you mention is to travel to one of the few clarinet conventions (when they happen to be held in this country).
It just seems that if these instruments were really good, anyone who made their living on the instrument would give them serious consideration and we would see more of them. Having not played on one of these, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but there seems there should be a better answer than just a lack of willingness to try something different to explain why the top professionals don't play these.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-01-11 06:25
I play flute(Sankyo handmade silver),clarinet(Selmer 10SII),sop-sax(Selmer serie III),alto-sax(Selmer 80A/II),and trumpet(Calicchio)
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1.To your first question:
So,you spent at least 8070$ for a Brannen.
<A HREF=http://www.brannenflutes.com>Brannen Flutes</A>
Rossi price is around 3500-3800$.If a price means
betterness you can find higher priced reformed Boem system
(Vienna bore) at 5500$ clarinet at:
<A HREF=http://www.schwenk-und-seggelke.de/englisch/index.html>Schwenk&Seggelke</A>
Their U.S.Dealer is:<A HREF=http://www.olivacr.com>Oliva</A>
2.To your second question:
Customizer has his own shop.Many pros brings his clarinet to them to be customized.Customization means tone holes correction for better pitch,replacement of pads to more durable cork pads,bell throat adjustment for improved long-B,barrel change for better tones,and register tube replacement for better throat tone and improved high tones,etc.
For example,Tom Ridenour has his own shop.There if you designate a specific off-the-shelf clarinet,customized clarinets can be offered to you.He even offers customized reeds made of your favorite brand and thickness.
I have a same feeling why clarinet maker does not try to improve present design. I think Selmer Signature is the one.
The numbers of their users seem to increase in U.S.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-11 12:18
My take is that the incremental differences aren't enough to warrant dropping what you play now and picking up a different one. Maybe clarinetists aren't quite as deep into the "equipment junkie" syndrome (at least as regards the main instrument - we won't mention reeds, mouthpieces, and ligatures here :^) as flute and trumpet players ...
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Author: Mario
Date: 2000-01-11 17:01
Buffet has about 70% of the so-called pro-horn market, with the rest split between the other big three (Leblanc, Selmer, Yamaha) plus a number of specialists.
Within the Buffet line proper, there are several models with the R-13 being the entry level Buffet pro-horn. At the upper end (the Elite model), prices converge to the Rossi level.
There are many kinds of professionals out there. Players with an active solo or chamber music life will tend to have equipment that is more personal than people who teach as their main calling, and maybe play in the local symphonie as an add-on.
If you take this select group of active soloists, you will find that they use instruments that are essentially custom in nature (although the starting platform is often a quality well-known model).
Let's count them: How many people in the world earn most of their income playing classical clarinet. A few hundred maybe. They use work-on buffet, Wurlitzer, Hammershmith, Leblanc, Rossi, etc. In this group, the market share of stock Buffet is very small, if not nil.
Stoltzman, for instance, has his horn constantly adjusted by Opperman. He uses boxwood barrels that need adjusting once a week. He changes horn quite often (I saw him on PBS saying that clarinets essentially wear out after a few years of playing). I beleive he uses a Buffet as his starting platform, but his instrument is essentially unique.
By the time you have factored in all the improvements made to your instrument, you get pricing up there with the custome instruments. It is therefore not entirely true that professional players do not see value in higher price instruments.
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