 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Justin
Date: 2000-05-21 23:46
Does anyone know what kind of equipment Benny Goodman used? I am doing a project on him for my music class and I would like to go in to technical details. If anyone knows what kind of clarinet, ligature, mouthpiece etc... that good ol' Benny used, it would be extremely helpful.
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Author: ron b.
Date: 2000-05-22 07:29
I'd betcha money, marbles or chalk, Justin, that Benny Goodman, like so many other musicians, changed his likes and preferences from time to time. I think you'll find the answer to your question difficult, at best, to really pin down.
But, there are people far more knowledgeable than either of us at this moment who can probably answer that for you. It may be interesting to know that for a report but Benny could have blown into a garden hose and made it sound great.
ron b.
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Author: William
Date: 2000-05-22 14:57
I agree with the "garden hose" theory which is true for so many great musicians. As far as I know, Benny played Selmer clarinets for most of his career, but for a time, may have played Buffets. He also used a variety of mouthpieces over the years. Clarinetists, no matter what level, tend to be equipment addicts, always looking for something that works better. I often wish that there were a "Mouthpieces Amonomus" chapter that I could join. :>)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-05-22 15:11
Ron and Williams comments I agree with. We had some threads/posts earlier re: B G, look them up. I have heard that he played the 1930-50s big bore Selmers and have seen his record covers with both hard-rubber and glass mp's. Having played glass O'Briens in that time period, I'd guess they were the more-open ones than my #2's. Not sure when Selmer made the first Clarions, but mine I prefer to the O'B's, otherwise Selmer-Bundy made lots of mp's. Don
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Author: RJ
Date: 2000-05-22 17:01
There's an interesting mention of Benny at Affordable Music. Look in the articles, under "Benny Storch and Benny Goodman"
http://www.corkpad.com/
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Author: Mike
Date: 2000-05-22 19:36
I agree with Don re: BG using big bore Selmers. I believe the "Radio Improved", "Balanced Tone" and "Centered Tone" cover the pre-War through post-War periods, followed by the Series 9. I have the notion (un-documentable, of course) that he played mostly the Balanced Tone model. I recall getting a lot of info from the Klarinet pages.
msj
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Author: larry
Date: 2000-05-22 19:47
Although I think it's true that BG played Selmers for the most part, he did play a Buffet at some point. In fact, his 1964 R13 with mouthpiece and specially designated barrel (it has a piece of white tape on it so that he wouldn't confuse it with other barrels in his collection) are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York city, along with quite a few other historical clarinets (a clear plastic Buffet, for example!). If you are doing a research paper, maybe you could contact the curator at the Met and ask if you can inspect BG's clarinet outside the display case (I couldn't read the serial number or the label on the mouthpiece). You never know.
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Author: Contragirl
Date: 2000-05-22 20:15
I know Benny also played cornet, Soprano ( or was it bari) saxphone and he sung some. I believe he sometimes played on metal clarinets. I heard a story of how he would go on tour and play on metal clarinets, and after a performance, he would give it away. I don't know if that's true, but I'm sure he did try metal clarinets. They were "hip" back then, so he couldn't just ignore them.
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Author: John Dean
Date: 2000-05-22 22:47
Try contacting Ralph Morgan the mouthpiece manufacturer. He told me he was in charge of Benny's mouthpiece latterly and gave me the exact measurements. He is a very helpful guy. John Dean
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-05-23 06:08
I remember seeing an old 8x10 glossy of Benny and his band taken at some big club. The clarinet he was playing had a small metal emblem on the bell like the older Conns. Judging from the dresses and hair styles of the ladies, it was from the early 30s or late 20s. Just a guess.
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Author: Jim
Date: 2000-05-23 09:23
In the late 50's I talked with Peanuts Hucko in Columbus,O. and he told me Goodman was playing a stock mouthpiece and a #2 reed, on a Selmer. "We all know that's wrong don't we?" said Peanuts and that was that. Conn made a very special horn and gave him one to try. He used it for some time, but thought it too heavy for him. That particular model was a really fine instrument, but the shop union established a very high job rate and the story goes that Conn lost about $52 a horn. If memory serves me, they only made 12.
Jim
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Author: larry
Date: 2000-05-24 13:48
Re: Contragirls post above:
According to legend, it was Benny Goodman who gave Lester Young a metal clarinet, which Pres used on his Kansas City 5 recordings in 1938 (Commodore Records). Pres got a beautiful sound out of his metal clarinet back then.
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Author: ron b.
Date: 2000-05-25 05:29
Guys like Lester Young would likely get a beautiful sound out of just about anything he decided to make music on.
ron b.
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-05-28 15:35
A couple of quick clarifications.
I've been told that Benny Goodman had a VERY open facing, and this would probably go along with the amount of lower lip padding that he incorporated in his younger days.
Goodman himself, though, told an aquaintance of mine that it was important on clarinet to have a resistance to blow against--otherwise the pitch would suffer. This would've been in his later years, though.
On the Lester Young thing:
The story is that Benny offered Lester his own horn, after hearing Lester play in a jam session on the metal clarinet. Supposedly Lester kept Benny's horn as a keepsake, but continued using the metal horn because he liked the sound.
BTW, any of you who have not heard Lester Young on clarinet need to do so ASAP. You'll quickly see why Benny was impressed.
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