Author: ghuba
Date: 2007-06-22 11:06
Hi Sherman,
As you know, I have been able to secure both "regular" and full Boehm examples of the Mazzeo Series 9* and Series 10 Selmer Paris instruments. I had never thought to compare the bells of the full Boehm models to those of the standard models. My impression is that the bells on both the regular and full Boehm instruments (and both Series 9* annd 10) are the same, but I will pull exemplars out of their cases today and compare them and post the findings.
Because of all the focus on the on the Mazzeo mechanism for throat notes (and patent issues with Stubbins), I had never thought that there had been much design emphasis on the Mazzeo bell design, although Selmer certainly marketed the bell in their sales literature from the period and (as you well know) the bell made the instrument stand out from other instruments. From your post, I infer that I was in error in assuming that the bell design was something of an "afterthought." So far as I know, the bell design was never patented, although perhaps there was some attempt to do so.
As for the "sound" of these possible prototypes, to my (amateur) ear, there appear to be some differences, although this might be because I want to hear differences. In part these differences might be because the bells to have different weights (the smaller one is actually heavier because of its thicker walls) and the balance of the instrument is different depending upon the bell used.
George
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
