 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Alicia
Date: 2000-03-20 15:48
I'm absolutely new to the world of clarinets, and the 1st thing to do is to get a good clarinet. So what kind of clarinet should I buy? Should I plonk down the most money for what I can afford? What is the difference between beginner, intermediate and professional? Isn't it better to buy the most expensive so that I won't have to think about upgrading?
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Author: Meri
Date: 2000-03-20 17:18
Alicia:
Click on the link here on Sneezy on Young People's Pages, and look for the "What to buy a beginner" article.
There are several reasons too, why you might not want want to get the most expensive instrument. First is that depending on the make, model, and whether you want to buy new or used, you can spend anywhere from $350 to over $4500. Second, what if the person you're getting the instrument for decides to quit? Then if you got the most expensive instrument, you'd lose a lot of money, and you might even have a hard time selling it, because most people cannot afford an expensive, $4500 clarinet. Third, professional-level instruments have features which are negligible for a beginner. (hence the higher price)
I can't think of other reasons why you should not buy the most expensive instrument, but I hope this convinces you why you should not.
Meri
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-03-20 17:43
Take an advanced player with you to help select the clarinet. Even the top instruments vary from each other.
My son is very well pleased with the used Vito we picked from a field of six. It has a lovely tone and is easy to play.
Ginny
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-03-20 17:57
Ditto, for reasons listed below...
1. I love my pro grade clarinet, but it took me years of practice to get the %^&*( horn to play! But who's fault was that? The adult novice's or the pro grade horn's? It was me, the novice. My pro tutor could get that horn to do anything he wanted, and much much more. Chalk up a lesson in humility, every single week for years. Lesson learned: A good pro grade horn takes years of concentrated practice to get it to play predictably. You see, it takes two to tango, and I had yet learned how to dance. After a few years, I finally got to be friends with my pro grade Buffet Festival horn with all of its bells and whistles.
2. Student and intermediate grade horns cost much less and are extremely forgiving of mistakes (in breath control, fingering accuracy, etc.). You trade off a quality of tone (not tuning, tone) for the easier playing horn. My Yamaha YCL 52 was a bit bland in tone, but it was very easy to play and was a real joy to work with.
3. Student grade horns and a few pro grade horns come in plastic instead of wood. The student grade horns are very tough. They are made for high school marching band and for kids. They are much less expensive, very forgiving, and some of the better ones actually can stay in tune. You don't have to mess with wood and all of the almost velvet glove care that a premium wood horn requires.
Here is the progression of horns that I've had thru the years. High school: Cheap plastic beater of a horn, Adult novice, round one: Yamaha YCL 52, Adult novice, round two: Buffet Festival
In a nutshell, go for nothing more than an intermediate horn. It will serve you very well for years and years. It will also produce music for you a lot quicker and keep you happy with it during the most crucial time - the first year.
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Author: Drew
Date: 2000-03-20 18:43
Some very good advice above! If you're really serious about playing the clarinet, take your teacher with you and look for a good, solid student or at most intermediate grade horn. If you have any doubts at all, try renting a clarinet for a month or two (much cheaper than buying and then deciding you've lost interest).
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Author: Justin Silber
Date: 2000-03-20 20:05
First ask yourself, or whomever the clarinet is for, some questions:
1. How serious am I about playing?
This will greatly affect what you are willing to spend.
2. How long do you intend to play?
Are you going to play just in private, or depending on your age, through high school? Also, do you want to become a proffesional.
3. How large is your bankroll?
As a begginner, this is a very minor thought, but it still counts.
Now, what I would reccomend at first is to rent a clarinet and get weekly lessons until you can play reasonably well, meaning you know at least the chalumeaux register, the first one you play in, and you feel fairly confident about yourself. Then I would reccomend purchasing a begginner model, for example the Buffet B12 (sorry I am a buffet fan and not familiar with other companies) The reason I suggest this and not an intermediate instrument like the Buffet E11, is because I bought one on saturday and although it plays beautifully, initially I found there to be more air resistance. Now I assume this has to do with the shape of the bore, and that resistance only gets tougher through professional instruments. It only took me a few days to get used to this, but until your lungs, ombechure, and genrally anything having to do with air power are conditioned properly you may find it extremely difficult. After that, if you are serious about playing and possibly wishing to be a pro, bet yourself an instrument such as the Buffet R13, RC etc... I would also suggest you purchase your own mouthpiece. This can get expensive, but usually you will get a better mouthpiece than the instrument would come with and you will sound better. In regards to reed selection, as a begginner not wanting to invest much, you can purchase a box of Rico Symmetricut reeds. These are supposedly the "standard" begginner reed. In Canada where I live, they go for $10 for a box of 10. If you want a little better quality reed, go for the Rico Royals. They are about $15, again in Canadian dollars. Ask your teacher what strength they would suggest, or buy a few single reeds of varying strengths to see which one you like the most. Now that I play quite well, I use Vandoren reeds, the V12 model in a strength of 3. These are VERY stiff if your not used to them, andare quite costly, about Canadian $30 for a box of ten. Initially I had problems with the stiffness (see "A lot of hot air" posted earlier), but I guess I got used to the new strength. Despite all the advice you recieve from me and others, the choice is ultimately up to you. If you have any other questions feel free to post again, or e-mail someone, me or another reply.
Good luck, I hope you continue to play and practice. If you do I can almost guarantee that you will become a really good player. So once again, good luck and happy playing!
Justin Silber
(aka. The walking Buffet ad)
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-03-21 05:01
If you are looking for pro-level clarinet without future tuning up, my suggsetion to you is to include Selmer 10SII or a little cheaper PROLOGUE in your list.
Reason:Price does not speak. Quality does. They can be used all your life without changing to handmade mouthpiece, or, barrel. No need of purchasing a mouthpiece, Selmer is a specialist for mouthpiece also. The one coming with the instrument is very good. My personal feeling at present Selmer is the best in its quality vs price level. (cf.I had used Buffet RC and Buffet RC Prestige.)
One thing you should know is that every new instrumenst should be adjusted at the shop. Because at the shipping from manufacturers spring is too strong and not well balanced, pads position may be changed during transportation. Select a good shop who have a good repair shop near you.
p.s.
1.Pro models have much range. 4500$ is only needed for handmade ones. The most popular pro-model R-13 is some 1750$. Selmer may be cheaper than this.
2.Grenadilla wood clarinet sounds far better to my ears than plastic ones even when it is played by me,an long amateur.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-03-21 13:51
Hiroshi wrote:
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... Grenadilla wood clarinet sounds far better to my ears than plastic ones even when it is played by me,an long amateur.
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Evidence to date indicates that material has no effect. What you are probably hearing is the difference between beginner grade instruments and intermediate/professional grade instruments. With the exception of Buffet's Greenline series (and perhaps an instrument made by Howarth), all the plastic clarinets currently available are beginner models. If you search the bulletin board, you will find references to studies where the audience (who was not allowed to see the instruments being played) could not tell the difference between plastic and wooden instruments.
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-03-21 16:19
I would invest in a Vito or Yamaha plastic clarinet. These two are probably two of the better beginner clarinets out there.
I would not buy an intermediate or pro horn because they can be quite costly and how do you know how long that person is going to play. Also, beginner's can put a lot of stress on their instruments. They are not as knowledgable about the break-in period for wooden instruments and care.
It would be easier to get a Vito or Yamaha plastic clarinet because they are more forgiven of the early years of playing. If the person wants to pursue playing, then I would buy an intermediate horn later.
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Author: Tom Boyd
Date: 2000-03-21 19:41
I find that wooden instruments have a softer, more consistent tone than plastics. If plastic was equal or superior to wood, than don't you think that there wood be more pure plastic instruments available at the intermediate and pro levels?
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-03-21 19:56
Tom Boyd wrote:
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I find that wooden instruments have a softer, more consistent tone than plastics. If plastic was equal or superior to wood, than don't you think that there wood be more pure plastic instruments available at the intermediate and pro levels?
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Have you never heard of consumer resistance? Good products fail due to this factor more than any other.
Right now no one is willing to risk the investment for the tooling for pro grade plastic instruments. You can't run them on the same tooling as wood ones. The makers would have to build an entirely new manufacturing line with all new tooling, very, very expensive proposition. The volumes of pro grade instruments sold is much less than that of beginner instruments so the risk is much higher. Although Buffet is selling their Greenline for the same price as the wooden ones, right now it costs them *more* to make it than the wooden ones so they should be charging *more* for the plastics. I'm sure you can imagine how people would resist paying a higher price. So Buffet is gambling that they can change peoples' mindsets and get a better volume going. The other makers are waiting to see if that gamble pays off.
If I were a Buffet fan, I would buy a Greenline in a heartbeat. But I don't care for Buffets. I'm waiting for Leblanc to come out with a pro plastic.
As far as wood sounding better, get hold of one of the old student grade wood ones floating around. That will disillusion you. I would far rather play one of today's Vitos, B12s, Bundys, or YCL-20s than an old student grade Pan American (I had one and that thing was junk).
And remember that not all student plastics are created equal either. Outside the "big 4" the quality is spotty as is the tone and intonation.
Another thing to remember, is the effect of reed, mouthpiece, and player. These make far and away more difference than the instrument itself. Search the bulletin board archives. The "blind experiment" has been done, check it out.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-03-21 20:59
Very interesting discussion, I pretty much echo Dee's comments. For me there is a psychological factor in that I "just play better" on my best horns, a top Leblanc clar. and a Selmer Mark 6 alto sax. Guess I just have to try harder!! Don
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-03-22 03:25
If your in school and subject to "Marching Band", then I definately recommend a plastic student model. Some of the more modern plastic "horns" are pretty good, especialy if you up-grade the mouthpeice/ligature set up. I don't know of any clarinet that comes with a mouthpeice that is befitting of the quality of the particular horn. I put a 5RV on my daughters Henken (plastic) and it was better. She got a Pyne polycrystal this Christmas and the improvement of her tone on this horn was tremendous. Keep in mind that may be just the opposite on another horn. They are all different and may respond defferently.
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Author: Brad
Date: 2000-03-23 06:08
Justin is pretty much right about the Buffet models. My teacher told me that he gets his students either the B12 or the R13, and he doesn't bother with the intermediate clarinets(intermediate meaning in the middle). I guess this is because the B12 and R13 are made of the same type of bore, only the R13 is of higher quality. Both instruments are similar in shape, and are very consistent. The E's have been known to have great tone, but are more difficult to play. Whereas, it is fairly easy for an experienced player to switch from a B12 to R13. Also, as you get better, consider getting an R13 as it has a very sweet bore, better than the rest of the Buffet models(even the ones comparable to the R13)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-03-23 11:39
Brad wrote:
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I guess this is because the B12 and R13 are made of the same type of bore, only the R13 is of higher quality.
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I've never seen this claimed in any of the Buffet advertising.
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Author: Brad
Date: 2000-03-24 04:45
Would they want to? Anyway, it's just what my teacher said, and I think both clarinets feel very similar, more so than the E series.
Mark Charette wrote:
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I've never seen this claimed in any of the Buffet advertising.
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Author: Florence
Date: 2000-03-24 21:11
I have been playing an old clarinet that cost me $35. It doesn't have a very good tone, but is easy to play, which is important to me as I have mild asthma. I have been playing for a year with a band and also taking lessons. I have a line on a relatively new Boosey and Hawkes for $600.
I would appreciate any help on making a decision on this.
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