 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2006-01-19 16:41
In browsing a certain online auction site, I came across a photo of a young man with his metal clarinet. He was about to become Yale's youngest graduate
at 14 years of age. The photo was from 1945. The young man's name was Merrill Kenneth Wolf, and he planned to continue study of music in New York under Arthur Schnabel.
I decided to see if google had any info on him and found this link.
http://www.umassmed.edu/cellbio/faculty/wolf.cfm
Apparently music didn't work out.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-01-19 16:48
John O'Janpa wrote:
> I came across a
> photo of a young man with his metal clarinet. He was about to
> become Yale's youngest graduate
> at 14 years of age.
> Apparently music didn't work out.
Things might have been different if he had played a Buffet ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif) ...GBK
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Author: Mark G. Simon
Date: 2006-01-19 18:28
Maybe his idea of studying clarinet with a great pianist was not as brilliant as he originally thought. GBK wrote:
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana--Mediocrates (2nd cent. BC)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-01-19 18:39
> The photo was from 1945.
> Apparently music didn't work out.
In 2006, for many, music still doesn't work out...GBK
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Author: susieray
Date: 2006-01-19 19:11
Hey guys, I emailed Dr. Wolf, and he says he never got very far as a clarinetist. He says he's real good on piano and keyboard though.
Sue
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Author: diz
Date: 2006-01-19 20:57
GBK (and this is slightly tongue in cheek)
Buffet is nothing more, nor less than a mass produced instrument (like LeBlanc, Yamaha or Selmer).
Amazingly ... unlike string players, woodwind players seems to feel comfortable being sheep and not searching out handmade, crafted instruments (with rare exceptions).
Are you afraid that if you turn up to orchestra with a Stephen Fox clarinet (this is purely an example off the top of my head) that you'll be an outcast??
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-01-19 21:07
diz - this is maybe off-topic, but I think it's interesting all the same.
You say that string players are not sheep, and they seek out handcrafted instruments.
Do all professional string players seek out OLD instruments - and bows for that matter - in preference to newly crafted ones? Or is it acceptable to play a new instrument in a pro orchestra?
If - as I suspect - an older instrument is de rigeur - is that not also evidence of a sheep mentality?
I wondered about this some while ago when you mentioned how much your bow cost. I couldn't help wondering whether it was really impossible for you to have it exactly copied by a modern maker, and then sell the old one at a profit.
-----------
If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2006-01-19 21:22
Impossible to duplicate. Factors such as the varnish can not be duplicated.
It's amazing what string players pay for their instruments!
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2006-01-19 22:09
They get corporate sponsors.
Even the Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra David Kim doesn't own the violin he performs with - a Corporation does.
That's straight from his own mouth to me, not a rumor.
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Author: ClariBone
Date: 2006-01-20 01:44
So, that would REALLY stink if it broke, or was stolen... sheesh, no wonder they're always a little on edge!!!
Clayton
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Author: diz
Date: 2006-01-20 02:01
yeah, at string player's wages it's amazing that they even afford their Strads or whatevers.
The wonderful Richard Tognetti (concertmaster of the Australian Chamber Orchestra - one of the world's TOP ensembles) has an Italian master violin on loan from the Commonwealth Bank ...
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2006-01-20 02:06
There was a big story last week about a Violinist who was borrowing somebodys very valuable violin and reported it stolen.
It was a fraudulent report that it was stolen. Happened in LA if I recall.
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Author: bawa
Date: 2006-01-20 10:18
Yes, and not just at pro level.
While strings esp. violins sound great to parents when you can start off with a a 150$ Chinese made student kit which can be made palyable with just a few changes (a new bridge: 3 euros, new strings, 30-40$ and some rosin that works for about 8$).
Compare that to a clarinet; in my case an Eb because daughter was so small, a LeBlanc for around 900 euros, and all those reeds, then the mouthpiece etc.
But after they get any good at strings comes the horrible revelation...the skys the limit...I was extremely "lucky" to have bought a violin for a 1000 (had been undervalued) and am dreading the eventual change to a full-size one, where I can expect to be setback by about 4-5000 euros if I am lucky..add the bow (starting from 600-700 and you are talking bottom end)...plus all those strings that break/erode away at 90 euros a set...
Compared to that, the Buffet RC (at 1900 or so), with a Vandoren mouthpiece and the recently added optimum ligature is just....well, how can put it...so Cheap, you know...
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2006-01-20 10:23
But you can get a "kinder clarinet" which is pitched in Eb and has modified keywork for little kids for only about $250.
I wouldn't play Daphnis on it, but maybe Bolero
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2006-01-20 12:49
diz wrote: "Amazingly ... unlike string players, woodwind players seems to feel comfortable being sheep and not searching out handmade, crafted instruments"
Well, I decided to jump out of the box and buy a handmade, crafted instrument. (I won't say who made it) It has some wondeful qualities which are better than my Buffet. But it has some other problems too, which my Buffet doesn't have. After 6 months of playing it every day in the orchestra, I realised that the problems on the instrument where taking much too much work to solve, and that I actually had a much easier time and got overall better results on my Buffet.
Anybody interested in buying a handmade, crafted instrument from me?!
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Author: bawa
Date: 2006-01-20 17:22
David, nice about the Bolero.
What I meant was you can get a beautiful professional clarinet (like my d_'s RC) for under 2000 euors new, and improvements will not take more than a couple of hundred euros.
But its not only the old instruments, any top quality modern string luthier's instruments are also up in the stratosphere somewhere...
Hey, but I suppose I still haven't counted that she will "need" an A clarinet in a couple of years :(
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Author: BelgianClarinet
Date: 2006-01-20 17:51
Recently heared some violinist talk on the radio : it seemed some are abandoning the search for the 'old beauty' and start to like modern (ok, maybe still hand made) instruments.
I'm not saying the 'age of stradivarius' has gone, but new, modern strings seem to become more and more accepted, even sought after.
I wouldn't mind buying a new 'machine made' Festival, (ofcourse after testing and trying several) :-)
Peter
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Author: diz
Date: 2006-01-23 04:20
Abondoning the search for the old beauties might just be practical ... there is a finite number of them, afterall.
Granted, I've also played some wonderful modern Australian made violins and violas ... and they were cheap $30,000 to $45,000 (cheap compared to their Baroque Italian cousins, that is.).
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-01-23 05:13
Liquorice, I know another player (a great soloist, not an orchestrral player) that also got back to their Buffet after about a year (I think) with the hand made clarinet.
If I'm not mistaken in my guess I think it was also the same company hand made clarinet as yours.
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