 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Joe Spencer
Date: 2000-08-14 21:13
I would appreciate some help, please.
could anyone tell me where I can get a fingering chart that covers the special keys of the Mazzeo. I just purchased a Bundy Mazzeo and am told the special throat Bb keying can be disengaged, but can't figure it out.
Or, does anyone have an e-mail address for Bund/Selmer in Elkhart. The Selmer website only has a PO box, not an e-mail address.
Thanks.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-08-15 00:28
If your Bundy-Mazzeo is no more complicated than mine, the only linkage that needs disabling is that which actuates the side trill key to get the mid-staff Bb by means of a finger, left-ring, and/or right 1,2,3 plus the A key. Any good-mechanic repair-person could do it! Mazzeo did have many more change-additions which, as far as I know, were included on the costly, wood, Selmer Paris models. Those are quite rare now. I have copies of the patents [4 or 5] which give some fingering info, and will post them here if you request, and suggest how to get copies. Luck, Don
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-08-15 18:27
You are very welcome, I enjoy talking clar!! Forgot to mention, Jack Brymer in"Clarinet" gives a fine run-down on the Maz, and other "unusual" cl's, well worth reading. Mazzeo's basic patent no is 2,867,146, see your reference librarian [or your state's Pat. Depository Library]. Don
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-08-16 18:48
Joe Spencer wrote:
-------------------------------
I would appreciate some help, please.
could anyone tell me where I can get a fingering chart that covers the special keys of the Mazzeo. I just purchased a Bundy Mazzeo and am told the special throat Bb keying can be disengaged, but can't figure it out.
Or, does anyone have an e-mail address for Bund/Selmer in Elkhart. The Selmer website only has a PO box, not an e-mail address.
Thanks.
Joe -
Rosario Mazzeo was for many years the bass clarinetist in the Boston Symphony. He was a great personality and a great tinkerer, who invented a number of improvements in clarinet keywork.
The worst acoustical problem with the standard clarinet is the throat Bb. For reasons of history, and ease of fingering, it is fingered with the A key plus the register key. For the best tone quality on Bb, the thumb key should open a hole the size of the Ab and A key holes, and just a bit higher (in exactly the place of the hole covered by the next to top trill key). However, such a hole is too big and too low to be used for the register key.
Also, for reasons of history and ease of fingering, the thumb key also has to serve as the register key. For the best response and intonation in the upper registers, the hole should be very small and very high. However, in its ideal position (smaller and higher than it is on the standard instrument), the hole would produce a completely unusable Bb.
The standard hole placement is a compromise. It makes a barely usable Bb and hurts upper register response and intonation only slightly.
The Mazzeo clarinet has a mechanism that attaches the right hand ring keys and the next to top trill key, through a second bridge key between the upper and lower joints. Thus, pressing the throat A key plus any or all of the first three right hand fingers gives a good throat Bb. Since the left thumb is not used any more for Bb, the hole can be moved up and made smaller to be a better register key.
Mazzeo got a patent for his mechanism, which has now expired.
The Mazzeo mechanism never caught on, I think for a number of reasons.
- The standard fingering is "good enough" and can be greatly improved in tone by putting down extra fingers. The standard fingering improvement is to add the left ring finger, the right ring finger and the low F key with the right little finger.
- The good fingering with the next to top trill key can be used for exposed passages.
- There are many competing mechanisms for improving the throat Bb, and most of them require no change in fingering habits.
- The Mazzeo mechanism requires a change in fingering and removes a standard fingering.
- The Mazzeo mechanism is complex and very visible. You need a special case with space for the extra rods and posts. There are lots of connections and springs to get out of adjustment.
- There's no step-up instrument except for the Selmer, which hasn't been made for 40 years. Mazzeo's own Selmer instruments were hand-made, but I believe that the off-the-shelf Selmer Mazzeo model was adapted from the Selmer Centered Tone instrument, which is a large-bore model that is out of favor today. When the polycylindrical small-bore Buffet R-13 came in, it displaced the large-bore models such as the Centered Tone.
The Selmer Mazzeo instrument had a number of additional keywork improvements. However, the Bundy had only the Mazzeo Bb mechanism. There were also a few small changes that did not affect fingering. The thumb hole had a plate rather than a ring; the register key had an extension that curved around to the right of the thumb plate; and the bell had straight-line profile, without a flare or ring at the bottom.
Most Bundy Mazzeo instruments had the extra mechanism disabled, or even cut off, to permit standard fingering. On yours, if you press the right hand rings and the next to top trill key hole does not open, the mechanism has been disabled.
Sherman Friedland was a pupil of Mazzeo and played his instruments for many years. He has a number of postings in his area (Sherman Friedland's Corner) on Sneezy about the Mazzeo system and, I believe, about repair technicians who can disable or re-enable the Mazzeo mechanism.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Joe Spencer
Date: 2000-08-17 14:33
Don and Ken:
Thanks again for the feedback. Ken's piece answered a lot of questions. I have indeed read Sherman's items on Mazzeo (and most other topics) and find them informative and entertaining. thanks.
Joe Spencer
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Author: Jill E.
Date: 2000-08-20 19:26
I have a Bundy and a Selmer Series 10, both Mazzeo models, that I have played virtually all of my playing life. Ken did a very good job of explaining the system. However, no special case is needed--there is very little extra hardware on the Mazzeo. Most people notice the bell, which has no outer ring, instead of any extra keys or springs. Mine has never needed adjustment or repair--after 29 years!
My Bundy doesn't have a "clutch" that can disengage the system, but my Series 10 does, perhaps to let the older learner go back to his/her original fingerings while learning. It looks like a little rod that can be pushed up and down, just under the right-hand g# key.
Are you a new clarinet player? If so, and you intend to play this Bundy, I suggest learning the system. You'll have a better Bb sound than anyone else around, and you won't have to work for it. Finger the Bb depending on what comes before or after it. For example, if you're going from a Bb to an Eb, then finger the Bb with your A key and the keys of the right hand that will form your Eb. It really is smoother. Bb to F would be fingered, Bb-wise, with the A key and first finger of your right hand.
To me, there's no disadvantage. The system fell out of favor probably because of the exclusivity with Selmer.
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Author: Joe Spencer
Date: 2000-08-22 17:41
Jill E.
Thanks forteh additional advice. Yes, I am a new player. I am currently using a regular Bundy which has a really terrible Bb, and a lower joint that is no so great in terms of key allignment. I had a chance to buy a Bundy Mazzeo on e-bay at a very reasonable price. Horn is in for repad/recork but seems in good shape otherwise. I am looking forward to trying it soon.
Thanks again,
Joe
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