 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2008-08-13 13:01
i was wondering....if the cocobola bells and barrels are so good , why dont they just make the whole thing from it? or do they?
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2008-08-13 13:30
The Chilean Rossi clarinets make them as well...if you have $5,500.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2008-08-13 13:32
I will stick with my Lyrique. I was just curious. why are they so much?
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-08-13 13:44
The material used to make a clarinet is always a compromise between what makes the best sound and what provides the most stable anchorage for the keywork.
Barrels and bells don't have any keywork on them, which allows the use of materials that might be unsuitable for the main joints.
Not to say the Cocobolo is unsuitable, but it's a point to bear in mind.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2008-08-13 13:54
Janlynn,
You'll find many good reasons in Tom Ridenour's "Grenadilla Myth" from his website. Since you like his clarinet so much it might be a good idea to give it a read (it isn't very long).
Norbert is right on the money.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2008-08-13 14:35
According to his website, Rossi uses Honduran Rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii) rather than Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa). Cocobolo appears to be a bit closer in density to mpingo (the degree depends on whose chart you look at).
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2008-08-13 14:40
Thanks for the clarification...sorry for my misinformation!
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2008-08-13 22:45
Actually, Rossi used to use both, in addition to grenadilla. He has stopped making clarinets from cocobollo, though. I played one once, but it had some serious intonation problems, so I sent it back.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-08-13 22:51
I never can keep all of those woods straight in my mind.....even after they are described. "African Black Wood" is the generic I guess. And then there's Grenadilla which I always think is a cocktail or a relative of the Armadillo. Then there's that thing the Argentinian cowboys throw at steers....I think that's a cocobolo....but I could be in error. Anyway, you got the real answers to your query above. Facts always confuse me.
Bob Draznik
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-08-14 01:25
Stephen Fox can make a cocobolo clarinet. Here's a snippet from his website....
Quote:
Body material is normally grenadilla (the recommended wood for its stability and playing properties), but other woods and synthetic materials are available on request.
Other Dalbergia species with fancy colouration, such as cocobolo, are popular for their attractive appearance (not a bad reason for making the choice, as long as we don't confuse aesthetics with musical qualities!); they tend to carry a penalty in terms of dimensional stability and potential roughness of the bore surface unless it is carefully sealed, and involve considerable extra work for the maker. (The much-discussed allergenic properties of cocobolo should be a concern mostly to the instrument maker, who is dealing with the dust.) (can be found at http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/Custom_Artist.html)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: CocoboloKid
Date: 2008-08-14 01:27
In addition to Orsi & Weir, Howarth also makes clarinets in cocobolo (I own a pair), and if you take a quick gander at http://www.backunmusical.com/wall.html , you'll see that Morrie Backun also makes them on special order. (If you click on the photo of Ricardo, he is holding a cocobolo Legacy - there is also a cocobolo clarinet with gold mechanism being built in one of the photos on the Backun Musical splash page). Orsi (Not to be confused with Orsi & Weir) also makes them. If you go to the clarinet page on their website (http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/clarinets_list.htm) and scroll to the bottom, they state that for an extra 3%, you can get your horn in cocobolo.
Many of the German makers, such as Hammerschmidt and Schwenk & Seggelke also make clarinets in cocobolo.
Oboes and English horns are also offered by many makers in cocobolo, as well as violetwood (also called kingwood) and rosewood (which Patricola, Rossi, and Hanson also offer clarinets in, and for a time Leblanc produced a Honduran rosewood version of the Opus).
They're out there if you know where to look
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-08-14 01:29
CocoboloKid wrote:
> In addition to Orsi & Weir, Howarth also makes clarinets in
> cocobolo (I own a pair), and if you take a quick gander at
> http://www.backunmusical.com/wall.html , you'll see that
> Morrie Backun also makes them on special order. (If you click
> on the photo of Ricardo, he is holding a cocobolo Legacy -
> there is also a cocobolo clarinet with gold mechanism being
> built in one of the photos on the Backun Musical splash page).
> Orsi (Not to be confused with Orsi & Weir) also makes them. If
> you go to the clarinet page on their website
> (http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/clarinets_list.htm) and
> scroll to the bottom, they state that for an extra 3%, you can
> get your horn in cocobolo.
>
> Many of the German makers, such as Hammerschmidt and Schwenk &
> Seggelke also make clarinets in cocobolo.
>
> Oboes and English horns are also offered by many makers in
> cocobolo, as well as violetwood (also called kingwood) and
> rosewood (which Patricola, Rossi, and Hanson also offer
> clarinets in, and for a time Leblanc produced a Honduran
> rosewood version of the Opus).
>
> They're out there if you know where to look
And he's the cocobolokid!
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2013-09-27 11:44
On different timbeds, this is an interesting good read http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/grenadillamyth.htm
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Author: Chris J
Date: 2013-09-27 13:39
ignore, posted in error mixing up cocobola with cocuswood!
Post Edited (2013-09-27 13:41)
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-09-27 22:10
Mr. Laubin was quoted as liking the sound of Honduran rosewood the best.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2013-09-27 23:05
Oboists have been known to like Tulipwood and Kingwood as well as the other usual suspects.
Rosewood species are varied, just like mahogany.
True ebony is also another possibility, although I do not know of anyone who is producing an entire instrument from it. Perhaps it is too valuable as a fretboard material.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-09-27 23:12
Recorders are often made from ebony - Yamaha offer it on their pro level ones.
Oboes and clarinets were sometimes made from it in the Classical era, but it's usually used in decoration or for fittings on stringed instruments (tailpieces, end pins, fingerboards, nuts, frogs, pegs, purfling, etc.) and keys on keyboard instruments.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2013-09-30 15:12
@Allan
>True ebony is also another possibility, although I do not know of anyone who is producing an entire instrument from it. Perhaps it is too valuable as a fretboard material.
it is also much less dimensionally stable.. shrinkage rate for most ebonies is worse then for boxwood
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-09-30 16:13
In my shed somewhere I have a couple of pieces of lignum vitae. When I get my lathe back in operation I'm thinking of turning some barrels from them. Anybody worked with this before? Might be good for mouthpieces too, it's absolutely rock stable. Very hard to work with, though.
Tony F.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-09-30 17:36
I don't know if it's still the practice, but in the past lignum vitae was used for bearings for heavily loaded, slow-moving shafts such as ship propeller shafts and the like. It must be a bear to machine!
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2013-09-30 17:40
"late father had set of highland bagpipes made from this wood in 1925 by a maker in otago n.z. wood came from propeller bearings in old ship. beautiful soft mellow sound commented on by several piping judges over the years."
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/lignum-vitae/
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-09-30 18:19
While I was at Howarth someone wanted a set of instruments made from several pieces of hornbeam which he supplied, but initial trials weren't good as it wasn't stable. So he had his instruments made from cocobolo instead.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: jack
Date: 2013-10-05 07:03
Checked out a Rossi cocobolo at the Fest in New Orleans a few years ago. Loved it, took it home. Relationship still perfect. Other then my opinion that it plays effortlessly, beautifully, looks really great - the greatest contrast with other clarinets is that it is so light in weight.
Jack
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Author: kilo
Date: 2013-10-05 17:46
Quote:
...but in the past lignum vitae was used for bearings for heavily loaded, slow-moving shafts such as ship propeller shafts and the like.
It could be apocryphal but I've read that lignum vitae was used for railroad ties in the building of the Panama Canal — and the ties outlasted the steel rails.
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