 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinet60
Date: 2006-09-07 15:10
I'm interested in hearing from any players who are currently using Reforme Boehm clarinets and how they feel about their response, tone quality, and overall playability. If you use them, what brands do you prefer and where did you get them. Also, in what setting do you use them?
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Author: Ben
Date: 2006-09-07 18:34
I got a pair of Wurlitzer RB a couple years ago, which are probably the best out there. I thought they were great instruments, but weren't what I was looking for in terms of sound and flexibility. I think this would be a pretty personal thing, of course. I ended up selling them to someone who's been very happy with them. It may be good to get in touch with Luis Rossi, since he's making a new style clarinet based on the Reform Boehm bore, with the extra key work. I would think it would be a very nice instrument, and certainly much cheaper than a Wurlitzer!
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Author: kenb
Date: 2006-09-12 13:31
Reform Boehm playability? Just listen to some CDs of those poor deluded chaps in the Concertgebouw orchestra struggling to get a decent sound out out of their instruments
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-09-12 15:29
OUCH!
I do like the Nederlands ensemble, and I'd definitely like to try out reform Boehms to see how they compare with my Selmers - and they have the extra gadgets as well which I like the sound of - they can do a B-C#(or F#-G#) trill by playing B and trilling LH3 (xxtr|oxo), doing away with an articulated G# key!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2006-09-12 17:26
I am pretty certain the "Reform Boehm" is the solution to the German ensembles that require "that sound" but have players that prefer the Boehm fingerings. That said, the German horns get there sound two major ways. Firstly, the bore is more cylindrical and more cylindrical longer down the bore. The taper at the end happens just prior to the bell on a German horn rather than starting at the last third of the bottom joint as in a standard Boehm.
The other MAJOR accoustical difference is the size of the mouthpiece. The German mouthpiece (and this applies to Reform Boehm) is smaller, more like a C clarinet (something in between an Eb and a Boehm Bb).
The sound is smaller, less overall volume is possible. Don't get me wrong, great players of these horns get substantial sound, it's just that if you're used to a certain limit and then switch to the German horn you are likely to feel constrained on this score - the reason I ultimately gave them up.
Then there is "that sound." The timbre is ............. (insert your metaphor here). I would say creamier, more subtley rich with overtones. My feeling is that it is a much better blend with flutes and oboes but that is only one man's opinion. Whatever "it" is, German orchestras require German horns to be played on their auditions because they still demand to have......"it."
...........Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-09-12 17:50
I'm a right ****er for the German sound, but miss not having connected little finger keys, long Bb, etc. etc. so Oehler system isn't a solution for me no matter how much I like the sound, and to give up playing Boehm system for that reason alone is a shame (I do own an Oehler system, but I find some things easier and also some things more difficult in the same breath), so reform Boehm is probably the best way forward for those, like me, that hanker after the German sound, but don't want to compromise dexterity for the sake of getting the sound they want.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-09-12 22:23
(i think kenb was joking- look at the smile thingy at the end...)
i tested a pair or these in January of this year, a very fine pair of Wurlitzer RBs that were used by a principal clarinet for many years (at A=440 btw)
sound? i loved it, very very easy to get a creamy sound that i fight for on my R13 (though i love it....)
keywork? even though it was the same system as i'm used to, i found the key placement would take some getting used to...
Intonation? using the German mouthpiece, pretty good though not as perfect as i expected.
dynamics? using the german mouthpiece i had no problem making a sound as loud as on my R13 with my french mouthpiece....
A number of people advised me that i'd find the sound wasn't very "flexible" and that i'd find i could make a great sound but would find it hard to vary it in different musical situations. After my first hour of play testing i had to agree with this, but found myself so in love with the sound that it was hard to care very much!
donald (who wimped out and stuck with R13)
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Author: kenb
Date: 2006-09-13 00:05
Yes, I was joking!
My experience (on Wurlitzers) matches Paul's and Donald's observations. But I burnt my bridges by selling the Buffets.
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