 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2006-12-11 21:59
This is my conscience getting the best of me... this can't be kept from clarinetists forever. We just arrived back from an extended trip around Chile. We had made arrangements ahead of time to visit Luis Rossi's shop while there, and it turned out to be within walking distance from our hotel.
The shop is amazingly tiny and has no signs whatsoever to indicate that there's such craftsmanship happening inside. Probably just as well because of where it's located. We stepped around the weekly farmer's market to arrive at the address and were welcomed in by one of the workers.
Luis showed us the process from the raw wood to the finished product. The wood is aged outdoors for several years before being bored and shaped. Each of the clarinets is soaked in oil for 10 days before being fitted with the keys. None of them are stained. There's a choice of rosewood or the customary African blackwood, and a few different styles of bore. A workman cuts the clarinet tone holes at the lathe, the keys are adjusted, plated and polished by hand. As Luis explained, because there's no mass production any design adjustments can be done immediately without consulting a board of directors for approval. Each one is play-tested by Luis himself - his clarinet stand in the office had a Brahms concerto on it when we were there. He played two of the instruments for us, one of them was an Eb soprano that actually sounded good in the upper registers.
My husband is a General Machinist by trade and knows each of the machines that are used, and I was glad to see how impressed he was with the quality of the work. Really these are works of art.
I was hoping to breeze home with a pair of Rossi's - then I woke up. But just seeing the shop was one of the highlights of our trip.
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Author: William
Date: 2006-12-12 14:19
Other than "play test", does Luis do any actual work on his clarinets or is that all done by his tech staff. In particular, who is the accoustician??
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2006-12-12 17:54
The 4 or 5 men who work with him have all had their own technical background but are specifically trained by Luis to finish clarinets. One man was a jeweler and so now does the detailed work of polishing and finishing the keys. The others are machinists, etc. and actually shape the clarinet and cut the tone holes. Luis told me that they don't play clarinets but are skilled at their specific job and just follow the 'blueprints' or his suggestion for a needed adjustment. The shop is the size of a very small house, barely big enough to allow a picture to be taken, so he can easily oversee things. Whether he actually gets his hands in the work I couldn't tell you. He travels as a soloist and wouldn't spend all his time working in the shop.
A couple things I forgot to mention: he's designed his own Bb key mechanism to eliminate the customary fuzziness - it's an option available on any of the models. The Eb soprano is designed to allow for even tone throughout the registers to avoid the harsh sound of the altisimo. Because of it's being so small he's made a different key arrangement for the alternate chalameu Eb to eliminate extra stuff on the left side that can get in the way of your fingers. And also because all of the clarinets are made from one piece instead of two sections, the C/G is positioned slightly lower to allow for better intonation.
Luis would be very happy to explain any technical details that you'd want to know. He's available by e-mail any time. He's planning to attend ClarinetFest in Vancouver this next summer, so you can talk there and try out a few models.
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