Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-10-13 15:31
I noodled on a couple of Bliss clarinets at ClariNexus at Eastern Washington University a couple of years ago. I liked the look of the black nickel keywork, and it worked very comfortably. In the crowded hall where I played it, it was impossible to get a good feel for intonation and tone quality, but it was quite responsive.
I purchased a Ridenour Lyrique A (hard rubber) a few months ago. I had to do a bunch of fiddling with the keywork to get things to quit banging together. The keywork set-up was pretty awful, and I filed and shimmed corks to get it to work instead of sending it back to Tom. Its intonation is pretty good --but its idiosyncrasies are different from those on my Buffet RC Bb, so adapting to the Lyrique is always a bit of a trauma.
The Lyrique is easy in the altissimo --better than the half dozen clarinets I've had over the years. The resistance of the Lyrique varies over the instrument, so it takes me some extra effort (not always successful) to keep notes from sticking out with a different volume or timbre.
The saxophone-style register key touchpiece wraps around the thumb hole. It is very "handy," too handy after being accustomed to the conventional reg key on the Buffet. Embarrassing, often.
I bought the Lyrique after several attempts to get a $1200 or so A, and find that it is more serviceable than the other candidates, but not a happy-maker.
I suggest you have great patience and be sure that you like what you get before spending the money, or you could end up like me --still in the market for an A that is more compatible with my Bb.
Bob Phillips
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The Clarinet BBoard
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