 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: joevacc
Date: 2001-01-14 03:51
Hi all,
Tried out some new horns this week. I learned buying a NEW clarinet is much harder than I thought it would be. If you play high quality horns it it easy to see that it will be an improvement over an old beater. I didn't see it coming but it was a tiny bit like cheating on your girlfriend in high school. ( I was wondering if MY old clarinet was gonna come strolling around the corner!) ;~) That aside I played three horns, a Selmer Signature, Buffet R13 and a Greenline. The Selmer had the most amazing low end I have ever heard and also the intonation was impeccable. It was a bit heavy compared to the other clarinets and I think I needed to play that one for a longer period to get used to it. The R13 felt great in my hands and the throat tones were very smooth and easy to voice but it took some doing on my part to keep it in tune in the upper register, it was very well balanced in my hands. The Greenline impressed me, I liked the way it played and felt in my hands, then I played the Signature again and could not get over the sound - but was struggling to get my fingers to the right place. It was all very intimidating for me to play in a store where people can hear you - I felt very out of sorts and it must have sounded I was killing some cats in there. (At home my family are all hard of hearing now because of my playing and really don't mind anymore!) I don't think that I can buy a horn that way, I think I'll do the mail order route next audition. Maybe some of you who have successfully bought brand new horns can tell the story of finding THAT horn. For now I'm hoping that the clarinet fairies will come to me with the perfect one!
My Best,
jv
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Daniel Bouwmeester
Date: 2001-01-14 13:18
Hello Joe,
Here's my story....
I played for 8 years on a buffet E13 (student clarinet).... Was very happy with it...
For my 18th birthday, my mother said she would pay me the instruments I wanted...
It took me a year to find the one I wanted...
First, I went to the local store in Geneva (which is an excellent store who makes custom parts for clarinet and trombone)...
Anyway... I was trying different models and I liked the Buffet RC prestige, and the Elite.... But I was still not happy.... I didn't find what I wanted... So I went to Mantes la Ville (near Paris) at Buffet and spent three days trying RC's .... I played probably more than a 80 same model instruments (Rc's and Rc Prestige's)... I finally found the ultimate ones in a corner of the factory.... and went for this pair...
I spent then a couple of hours adjustring keys with the engineer, and I was the most happiest man on earth.... I'm very proud with of my new instruments, and have been very succesful playing them...
My advice on choosing an instrument is to choose the right tube.. First you have to find the right model... and then choose the right instrument out of these models.... (I tested 80 RC's and found only 2 good ones).
Then get the keys how you want them with a good engineer... needing maybe to have some custom parts made.
I don't recommend doing mail order. A clarinet is a product made of natural wood and is made by man, and therefore not two instruments are the same. Do you buy oranges through mail order ? I don't, I go to the Market and select them.
Anyway, I wish you good luck in finding a new horn.
Best wishes
Daniel
p.s.
Selmer makes very good instruments especially the signature.. Good choice.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-01-14 14:34
Dan: you are a very forunate man. How many of us have the chance to do what you have done. Go to Paris etc, etc. The best we can hope for is to fine the right horn by luck or a good friend.
I just found my horn. I traded my Opus (which is really a nice horn) for an R 13 Prestige.
To me this is the nicest sounding horn I have ever played. I have owned maybe 8 clarinets and this is the best.
It comes down to time and money. I want to leave this world a poor but happier man. In the game of life those who own the most Clarinets Wins.
Peace
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2001-01-15 15:03
Before I picked out my Concertos (at LeBlanc from over a hundred with T Ridenours help and "Tweaking") the best two clarinets I ever played were an older Buffet (#12000 series, in college, owned by the same person I bought my BA Selmer alto sax from) and a Selmer BT (owned by a Chicago "first call" pro player). Bottom line, the best clarinet is often not the newest and shinniest. I still wish that I had purchased that old Buffet which, by the way, was eventually purchased by my college clarinet professor who played it for the next twenty or so years. Good luck with your eventual choices, and then practice your heart out--no instrument playes itself.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lynn
Date: 2001-01-16 02:43
When I was in high school, the local music store guy brought **13** Buffets and one Selmer 10G to my school for me to try out. LOL No credit card, nothing. Try that these days!!!
I remember they were all still in the boxes from the factory (had been played/adjusted, the store just kept them in them) and my mom was just shaking her head, we kept carrying boxes and boxes out, then boxes and boxes up to my room.....I had 14 clarinets on my bed.....boxes all over the room (I doubt they all got back in the right boxes LOL)
Suffice it to say I weeded them out relatively quickly. Down to the 10G and one Buffet. The final choice was not *too hard.......the Buffet had a very sweet tone, really Gorgeous. There was some screwy stuff going on in the right hand and it bugged me. Intonation and technical. But the sound was too gorgeous to just weed the horn out.
The 10G, however, was perfectly in tune, and is a hell of a horn. I felt like I found what I was supposed to sound like, I found myself. That is how you will feel when you find the one you want. My husband would kill to find a Buffet as good as my horn. I found out later that it was one of the first batch of 10Gs out, #333, that Gigliotti himself picked out.
Don't just try out one of each. Try out a few. Do you have a local repairman who specializes in pro horns near you? They often times have the best stock. They've hand picked what they bring back to sell.
And by all means, do NOT just buy a Buffet because everyone says they are the best. LOL I know better.
Lynn
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: joevacc
Date: 2001-01-16 13:21
Lynn,
You know it's very funny that you say -
> "And by all means, do NOT just buy a Buffet because everyone says they are the best. LOL I know better. "
When I went into the store to play some clarinets, the one that I really wanted to play was the Selmer. Before I had finished asking the salesman he gave me a sideways look and said "You don't want to try that clarinet you want to play the Buffet R13."
I guess the salesman knew me better than myself! ;~)
William,
You are so right and I don't know for sure that I will buy a new horn. Playing these horns validated my notion that my old horn is just as good an instrument as any - and that it is not the instrument it's the head behind it.
Best,
jv
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Anji
Date: 2001-01-18 14:23
The rendering of cats is a necessary sacrifice to appease Vitriolcalyx, the Norse god of stopped pipes. He was also known as Arundo among the Maya.
Seriously, the Selmer Sig is a killer horn. It is also alot of work to play, didn't you find it a little resistant?
I certainly hope you are also looking around at "vintage" and gently used instruments. These things take a huge depreciation the moment you step off the show room floor.
I had a 10G from the Z series that was wonderfully in tune and dull as yesterday's toast. I'm still trying to justify more than the $500 I have invested in an old Master Model.
The sales staff steer you toward the R-13 as it produces the defacto symphonic standard tone, not because it is any better overall. With a well adjusted R-13 you have a good chance to blend in with most orchestral groups.
Like my MM, it has some weaknesses but more endearing qualities than many horns. The biggest names are not always the best players. anji
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
