 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2006-12-17 17:15
recent posts caused me to think about it. And I don't know enough about pros and what they've played on, but I know maybe YOU (pointing at the screen right now) might!
Anyone know any pros that have been around a while (relative term I know) and still use the same equipment that they started out with? Or been on a piece of equipment for a VERY good portion of their pro career after trying to find the right one?
The one that comes to mind (from past posts on the board of course) is Stanely Drucker. I remember posts about him using the same chedeville mouthpiece that he started out on and just having it touched up every now and then, and hwo he may have switched clarinets every once in a while, but ends up always going back to a set of buffets that have his name/initials? written on them. (boy is THAT gonna be a great museum piece!)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2006-12-17 19:46
I know that David Weber LOVED the buffet R13 clarinets with blue box vandoren 3.5 reeds. He played on Vandoren mouthpieces too.
Burt Hara is loyal to buffet R13's as well, and also likes 3.5 vandoren blue box reeds. I think he played on a bettony for a long time, however recently switched to a vandoren M13 lyre.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2006-12-17 22:33
Define "pro".
I'm not in a major orchestra but I make about half of my income from playing and teaching. I've been playing the same Buffet R13 since my folks bought it for me in 1983. Of course I've gone through many mouthpieces over the years, but actually right now I'm on a Borbeck I got in about 85. It probably needs to be touched up, but hey...so far so good!
I must admit though that due to lack of time for what I call "adventures in woodworking," I play Legeres...
Katrina
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Author: bcl1dso
Date: 2006-12-18 03:18
Doug Cornelson, who is second clarinet in the Detroit Symphony has played R13's with a Inverted Bonade and a Pyne mouthpiece quite a while.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-12-18 04:11
I think that Giora Feidman has been playing the same clarinets and mouthpieces for very long. Even if they are not the exact ones (though I think they are), it's always Buffet and Pomarico.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-12-19 15:23
Giora Feidman has one of those clear plastic Buffets along with other equipment.
Does anyone know about Pete Fountain? Has he always played Leblancs?
Post Edited (2006-12-19 15:23)
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Author: Escsrc
Date: 2006-12-19 15:53
One of my tutors (who had a good 26 years under her belt) always played on R13, later R13 Prestige, a Vandoren 5RV mouthpiece, and White Master reeds (forgot the strength...4 I think?).
My current tutor plays on antique R13's, a Vandoren B45, and blue-boxed #3's.
I had a band director (Bill Crabtree... don't know if anyone knows him?) who swore by Black Master reeds if I remember correctly; I don't remember his mouthpiece, but he used a Bonade and a standard R13 Bb/A matched set. He anchor-tongued, and I remember in a discussion about it him bringing up that he hadn't changed his set-up since his early highschool days.
....So yes! Some people are very brand loyal. I'm currently actually trying out different set-ups _because_ I've been in a very R13/Vandoren-centric teaching environment all my life.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2006-12-19 17:39
I don't know if I'll ever be "mouthpiece" loyal or ligature or whatnot, but right now, my leblancs are serving me VERY well and I can't ever see getting rid of em
Now let's just see how long I last playing clarinet for a career. . .
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: cuscoclarinet
Date: 2006-12-21 23:57
Thoguh I'm not what most would consider a pro, I do a bit of session work for various ambient/soundscape composers in my area. Since I've started I've had a good number of instruments and equipment and there are definitely two items I'm dedicated to.
My LeBlanc Bb- though I've tried out a number of Buffets, Selmers, and others, I have this one LeBlanc that I just can't seem to shake the sound of. Perhaps it has something to do with my second entry which seems to be most compatible with this horn.
My "Maestro sound system for woodwinds" a rare and archaic piece of equipment made in the sixties. I've only found a couple of musicians who've made use of them, but for my purposes it's great. This box is an analog effects box that works very similarly to the stops on an electric organ. It's a very quirky piece of gear that has a tendency to crap out on some tones in some vocal ranges (it's hard to explain exactly which, as it's different with each effect, each range, and each channel) but seems to perform amazingly well with my LeBlanc.
I've heard that some LeBlancs have a slightly wider bore diameter than most other Bb horns, so perhaps that has something to do with why these two go well together. Maybe I should test the theory on something like a tarogoto. Does anyone know where I can get one?
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-12-22 05:36
"Giora Feidman has one of those clear plastic Buffets along with other equipment."
and one time he explained what's the difference between that one and his wood Buffet clarinet - when he plays the clear one you can see if he played the wrong notes 
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Author: bufclar
Date: 2006-12-22 14:29
I believe Mr. Greg Smith has always played Buffet R13's with his mouthpiece or a Kaspar/Chedeville.
As he is a poster on this board I'm sure he can tell exactally what he has used but I think he has been really consistent.
I'm pretty sure The late David Breeden of the San Francisco Symphony played R 13's with a refaced David Hite mouthpiece for most of his Career. He might have fooled around with different mouthpieces from time to time as we all do but he always came back to the Hite.
Post Edited (2006-12-22 14:37)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2006-12-22 14:36
Oh. And FYI, making half your income through the clarinet, yeah. I'd consider that a pro.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: 68fordfalcon
Date: 2006-12-22 14:46
I have tried a lot of different equipment, but I always come back to a regular (non-inverted) bonade ligature. Perhaps this is a crutch?
Campbell MacDonald
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Author: Ken Mills
Date: 2006-12-22 23:30
Brenda; I saw Pete Fountain using the Leblanc on Lawerance Welk in 1958, I think. The Dynamic 15mm bore has easy and powerful immission of the long pipe tones of the clarion register to get that fat sound that he was famous for, oh, better than the Symphony III or the other concurrent models. I love his sound, but I prefer to play with only a slow natural vibrato. My Leblanc clarinet too is, as Fountain said about his: no peashooter, Ken
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Author: Ken Mills
Date: 2006-12-23 21:08
Brenda; Fountain also used an O'brien crystal mpc and a 2 1/2 reed, he wrote somewhere. The crystal mouthpiece always has a shallow baffle extending down a little from the tip, of course being made of glass, and often a big throat to its bore so that there is strong air pressure against the reed tip to blow it back and off the table, so it vibrates in protest and makes a big sound even through to the long-pipe clarion notes on that Leblanc large bore instrument. He got a fat sound with a reed that is not so soft and better high notes of course. Vandorans have a small throat and so are therefore less "ballzy" I think. Ken
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Author: William
Date: 2006-12-24 15:54
After a brief twelve year defection to a LeBlanc Concerto Bb, for all of my orchestral and wind ensemble performances I have returned to the Buffet R13 Bb that I played from 1964 through 1994. With that, and my old Chicago Kaspar #14, it just feels like "home again". BTW, I use VanDoran traditional (blue box) 3.5 reeds and a VD Optimum lig with the parallel rail insert ala my old 1960's Bonade reverse.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-12-26 18:29
Thanks Ken for your information. I've owned one of the Leblanc Pete Fountain clarinets and didn't keep it (as is a typical scenario for me) because I didn't like the lower right hand feel. Keys were "clunky." So, I guess Mr. Fountain has always loved Leblancs.
clarnibass, as to the awesome Giora Feidman, that's interesting about being able to "see" his mistakes with the clear Buffet. Maybe I don't get it. How does that work?
To anyone who hasn't heard the fine sounds of Giora Feidman I highly recommend doing a search and listening to a sample. He is simply magnificent.
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