 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2009-06-18 16:37
If you guys havn't checked out this site...you should. A series of dazzling photos of a fabulous Marigaux clarinet that will make your mouth water! There's some other interesting stuff and photos of clarinets and the Swiss clarinet lover. Have a look;
http://www.hochstrasser.org/
Clarinet Redux
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-06-18 17:12
Yes, Ben is indeed The Man (or Der Mann, or l'Homme, or however one might say it in the various languages of Switzerland).
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-06-18 17:19
Marigaux clarinets play REALLY WELL (in my limited experience). Darn shame they don't make them anymore.
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-06-18 17:24
Well that’s nice. Do they show up on the market from time to time or are they so good that the owners never (well almost) want to part with them?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-06-18 23:13
> Looks nice, but how does it play?
By itself, it doesn't. Just like any other instrument. You have to squeeze the right touchpieces at the right times. While blowing, that is.
> Well that’s nice. Do they show up on the market from time to time or are
> they so good that the owners never (well almost) want to part with them?
They pop up every so rarely. As an average owner I see no compelling reason to part with it. Besides, there simply aren't that many of them, and I've been hunting that one for over a year. (Thanks be to Richard Scotto (of Quintette Musique's fame) for play-demonstrating it via the phone for me)
But I'm an off-brand person. Too much popularity makes me shy away. I haven't seen Batman Nor Pirates Of The Carribean nor have I read a Harry Potter book. The next best instrument in my vault is a 29$ Vito VSP. Good grief, what a honker! Now go figure...
--
Ben
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-06-18 23:32
From looking at the photos I can clearly say that for me the obvious improvement over Buffets is the adjustment screws for the left hand bottom joint keys were Buffet has nylon pins that are pain in the ass. Had the pin for the Eb/Ab key brake 3 times on my Buffet Festival Bb clarinet in three years and I took it off a year ago and said no more using this key and no more replacing the pin. Then I also had the pin on my R-13 Prestige A clarinet broke 1 time and also 1 time on my R-13 Prestige Bb which is my backup clarinet now.
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-06-19 20:00
>By itself, it doesn't. Just like any other instrument. You have to squeeze the right >touchpieces at the right times. While blowing, that is.
Well that’s amazing to hear, I thought one just had to look at it and it would play - whatever you wanted it to play!
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-06-19 20:09
aero145 wrote:
> > By itself, it doesn't. Just like any other instrument. You
> > have to squeeze the right >touchpieces at the right times.
> > While blowing, that is.
>
> Well that’s amazing to hear, I thought one just had to look
> at it and it would play - whatever you wanted it to play!
Yeah, I was a bit disappointed when I found out. But tone and tuning leave nothing to be desired. The roller keys come in very handy and the ergonomics are superb. (did I mention that the LH spatula keys (with the adj screws) are sprung up so that they don't clatter if you play the note with the RH pinkies?)
--
Ben
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2009-06-19 20:27
TKS, O G, what an interesting site, lots of cl "revisions" in what I viewed, a straight Alto cl inter alia. Makes me want a Marigaux to experience some of thes "goodies" . Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: soybean
Date: 2009-06-19 21:16
Great photos of a very nice looking clar. On first glance, I thought it was an Albert system horn from the rollers.
~Dan
(Leblanc Bliss, Buffet R13 key of A, Yamaha 250 Bb)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-06-20 05:10
>> (did I mention that the LH spatula keys (with the adj screws) are sprung
>> up so that they don't clatter if you play the note with the RH pinkies?)
Stepped lever are good. Another way to achieve the same is by carefully planning the weight balance of the lever (in relationship with the hinge) so they don't come up when playing with the right pinky keys. The levers might rattle if you play with the clarinet pointing up (I don't so irelevant, but for someone else maybe). The advantage is that there isn't more resistant from even more springs considering what and how they operate.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-06-20 05:55
By "sprung up" I meant that the stepped LH levers follow when you press the RH touchpieces, as they would with the traditional pin and hole construction.
Edit: BTW, my director thought it was a "Reform Boehm" because of the rollers. They seem to puzzle people to no end...
--
Ben
Post Edited (2009-06-20 05:57)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-06-20 07:02
Oh, so it's the opposite. I thought "down" would mean "pressed" so by "up" you meant "not pressed". In that case there isn't more resistance but this method might have a few other disadvantages. That's probably why there are so many methods used for this, since each one has advantages and disadvantages. I guess the stepped keys with weight balance just seems to me like the solution with most "finnese" and the least amount of disadvantages (as long as someone doesn't play with the instrument pointing almost foward or higher).
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-06-20 08:09
I don't see any disadvantages except maybe one step more in production. The springs are so light that they just compensate for gravity. Magnetic tips (opposite end of the touchpieces) would have the same effect.
--
Ben
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Author: Hatten
Date: 2009-06-20 23:38
How is the tuning on this clarinet? And how is the egality in the registers? This is something i really want :D
BuffetCrampon RC, Vandoren B45, Vandoren v12 #3's
A & Bb clarinets
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2009-06-21 03:56
Hey, Ben, you have my address . . . just post that Marigaux this way and I promise to be nice to it. Eu
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-06-21 04:35
>> The springs are so light that they just compensate for gravity. <<
Isn't the opposite, that they help follow gravity? I don't think it's to "compensate" for anything, simply to prevent the bounce they get from the keys. Unless the levers, without the springs attached, don't move up at all when pressing right pinky keys. But I guess not (which means, they do move) because otherwise you wouldn't need the springs since the levers wouldn't move, so no bounce (the correct weight balance).
>> I don't see any disadvantages except maybe one step more in production. <<
I guess it's just a matter of how significant (or not) those disadvantages are depends on who is considering them. If someone prefers this method, then no problem for them.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-06-21 15:08
> How is the tuning on this clarinet? And how is the egality in the registers?
Expect no miracles. The tuning is very good, but as in every clarinet there are stronger and weaker notes. There are abberations in pitch and volume, some cents here, some centibels there.
The artistry of the player (partly) consists in learning these weaknesses and compensate them while playing.
I'm not one who tunes by needle. I play in a concert band where blending in is key, in tone colour, pitch and volume. I can say that I can achieve this goal, certainly partly because of my great instrument.
--
Ben
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-06-21 15:12
Nitai,
I've had clarinets where the LH spatulas stayed put, some where they followed the RH movement. This isn't really the problem unless you have fast passages where their inertia interferes with fast passages and start clattering (the LH spatula is only halfway up when it is hit by the released RH touchpiece), regardless of their idle position. Here the springs (or magnets, as I have seen in some other clarinet) definitely help, unless you have "pinned" instead of shouldered levers. But we all know the stories with clattering and breaking pins...
--
Ben
Post Edited (2009-06-21 15:13)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-06-21 16:28
Have you noticed the bell on these clarinets look very much like Marigaux musette bells, only larger?
And how some key shapes (especially the LH F/C key) have found their way onto the 2000 and M2 series oboes?
http://www.marigaux.com/english/?marigaux=instruments/
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2009-06-21 16:29)
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