 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Frank
Date: 2000-05-30 19:53
Does Buffet still manufacture the Festival? I've only seen 2 Festivals in my whole life, and they were both quite nice. One of them was an A that was nicer than any Bb I've ever played. None of the shops in my neck of the woods seems to have them, and neither do any of the major mailorder companies.
Any info would be nice,
Thanks,
Frank.
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2000-05-30 20:14
There was a thread recently about the Festival. Search the Phorum for quite comprehensive information.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-05-30 22:19
I can personally vouch for the Bb Soprano Festival clarinet. It's a gorgeous high performance clarinet. My pro friends liked my Festival, to the point of trying to buy it from me at full retail price. As an adult novice, I'll never put that horn through it's paces like my pro tutor did. Boy did it ever sound great when he played it with a pro grade custom made Borbeck #13 mouthpiece. I was so impressed with the sound that I eventually got a Borbeck 13 mp for myself.
As far as I know, the Festival is still being made, both in wood and now in Greenline. The Greenline version has been available in the European market for a few years. Now, the Festival Greenline is apparently available in the US market.
Only a few select retailers sell the Festival. The few store chains that handle it are apparently very large volume Buffet outlets. From what I can tell, the Festival seems to be a reward to those retailers for helping Buffet sell a lot of horns. I personally know saw my local high volume retailer wipe out his entire stock of about 150 brand new Buffet E-11s in less than 2 weeks. That's what I mean by high volume sales.
Email me for more details on the Festival versus other pro grade Buffet soprano clarinets.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-05-31 02:12
A new Boosey and Hawks URL shows Festival introduction:
http://www.boosey.com/Instruments/Buffet/FrameBuffet.htm
It is impressive that Lancelot, Arrignon, and Depllus are collaborators for its development. I am interested whether sometimes pointed out R-13 intonation problems have been solved.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-31 02:50
Hiroshi,
Some of the intonation problems of the R13 have been "solved" with the Festival; however, as in every wind instrument, it leads to a new set of problems. Throat tones require a bit more work - they become "thinner" if compensations aren't made by the player.
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Author: William
Date: 2000-05-31 14:30
FYI--One of the nicest clarinets that I have played in recent years is a Rossi, Bb, "American bore" model that I tried at IMS in DesPlaines, Ill. Didn't take the time to try the A, however--maybe later this summer. I would have bought it one the spot if I had the cash with me. I also like the Buffet Festival. IMS probably has some of those in stock as well (they seem to have everything else a clarinetist could need). Good luck in your search.
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Author: Jesse
Date: 2000-05-31 20:58
I asked the WW&BW about a price, and they said they only sell the Festival through the store, and you have to go there to buy it. Are there any mail order store that sell the Festival?
Mark-
Where did you son get his pair?
Thanks.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-31 21:08
Jesse wrote:
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Are there any mail order store that sell the Festival?
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Not through mail order. That's the restriction.
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Mark-
Where did you son get his pair?
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ClarinetFest 1997, Lubbock, TX.
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Author: Frank
Date: 2000-06-01 01:29
So, we can't buy the Festival through mail order? What's the reasoning behind that? They are very good horns (in my opinopn) and this makes them less accessible to those of us who want them. Now I'm going to have to HOPE that my local instrument dealer can get his hands on a Festival A. Oy vey, this seems like a real waste of time and energy.
Frank
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Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2000-06-01 02:01
Frank, if you are ready to part with the cash needed for a Festival, is it not worthwhile to make a trip to a large centre (where you are able to get a discounted price)and hand-pick your instrument? That's what I would do.
Karel.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-06-01 02:25
Frank wrote:
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So, we can't buy the Festival through mail order? What's the reasoning behind that?
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A reward to their volume dealers, and a cachet of exclusivity. While the smaller dealers may not like this setup, it's the way a lot of companies (consumer electronics, etc.) do business.
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Author: Frank
Date: 2000-06-01 03:36
I would LOVE to be able to hand-pick a Festival. However, I'll have to drive about 500 miles to find a dealer that's probably large enough to have a Festival or two in stock.
One of my local dealers is trying to get the Buffet rep. to bring an R-13 or two for me to try. Perhaps I can find some way for him to brink a festival too.
Mark, you said that your son got his at a clarinet fest of some sort? Well, do you know where I can get a listing of such fests so that I can hopefully get one of the illusive horns?
Thanks,
Frank
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-06-01 12:04
Frank wrote:
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Mark, you said that your son got his at a clarinet fest of some sort? Well, do you know where I can get a listing of such fests so that I can hopefully get one of the illusive horns?
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<A HREF=http://www.clarinetfest.org><B>http://www.clarinetfest.org</B></A> has info on this year's ClarinetFest in Oklahoma. You might want to consider becoming a member of the International Clarinet Assn. - their quarterly magazine, "The Clarinet", has information about other festivals, too. <A href=http://www.clarinet.org><B>http://www.clarinet.org</B></A>
Ob. note - I'm Webmaster of both those sites.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-06-01 14:29
I picked up my Festival at the local Brooks Mays (large Texas chain) retail store as a "red tag" special. The store wanted to sell me the demonstrator horn at that price, but I asked if they had a brand new one. Asking that simple question was worth it. I got a new horn at the very good price instead. It had been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years untouched since it left the factory. Shelf space is the most expensive commodity in a retail store, so clearing out the "old" horn made sense to the store. It sure made sense to my wallet!
Let me emphasize Mark C's comment about volume sales and cachet. A couple of weeks before, as I stood there drooling over the demo model Festival, an apparently very rich customer walked into the same store and ordered 24 Festivals through a purchase order. Talk about clout! I guess they over ordered for this bulk purchase and I got the benefit of it. Fine by me. I got a new horn at a lower price than the bulk purchaser. A week later the demo horn was gone, too. Yep, that's 26 Festivals sold in a couple of weeks. This is the same store that sold about 150 Buffet E-11s in less than a couple of weeks, too. I bet good money that's why they get to sell the Festival horn.
So, surf the Web for Brooks Mays and take the time to contact them. I believe that you would probably get better professional equipment advice and service out of their Dallas Pro Shop, but you can try almost any of their retail outlets. It's at least worth a few phone calls.
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