 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Elkwoman46
Date: 2011-10-14 14:20
Has anyone else seen his documentary movie touring Europe with his jazz band and playing in various European countries?
It was on television recently, and I very much enjoyed it.
And of all things, he was at the Buffet company and tried an old metal museum clarinet they had on display. I particularly enjoyed that scene and was educated by it.
I get the feeling a lot of these metal clarinets for sale over time on eBay don't play very well; some sellers state that they can only get it to play a note or a few notes at best. Howbeit, I don't think I have ever seen a Buffet metal clarinet for sale on the internet.
Anyone know why that is, the not playing very well and only a few notes? I am very ignorant about metal clarinets.
WOULD LOVE to know more about them!
Anyone own one and would like to comment about their experiences with them and so forth?
Thanks so kindly.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-10-14 14:50
Elkwoman46 wrote:
> Anyone know why that is, the not playing very well and only a
> few notes? I am very ignorant about metal clarinets.
> WOULD LOVE to know more about them!
>
> Anyone own one and would like to comment about their
> experiences with them and so forth?
>
> Thanks so kindly.
The movie you mentioned is "Wild Man Blues".
In any case, if you search for threads about metal clarinets on this board you will find quite a few of them.
Basically the reason why most metal clarinets are regarded negatively is that the vast majority of them were low quality student instruments. Most metal clarinets were made before 1940 during a time when good quality plastics were not yet available so metal was used instead.
The thing to remember is that not all metal clarinets were low quality. There were a handful of professional models that can actually be quite good. I have a small collection of these myself and enjoy playing them.
Here is a list of metal clarinets I have personally played and consider worth owning:
Penzel-Mueller Clari-Met - Early (1910-ish) double-walled 5-piece model. Very high quality and a very nice player. My favorite out of the ones I own. This model is usually in the argument for the best metal clarinet ever made.
HN White Cleveland - This was an intermediate model but I think it plays above it's station. A bit more resistant than I like but still a fine player.
H. Bettoney Columbia Model - Another intermediate model. Very well built and a decent player. Not quite as good as the HN White Cleveland but still a decent intermediate level instrument.
H. Bettoney Military clarinet - I have a couple of these. One is marked USA on the bell and the other USQMC. They are slightly different designs (different bore sizes ond tonehole diameters) and both have double-walled barrels. Good players. As good as or maybe a little better than my Cleveland, not as good as my Clari-Met.
There is a pretty good website about metal clarinets that you may want to check out: http://www.silver-clarinet.com/
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Author: BobD
Date: 2011-10-14 22:14
I have 3 of them and all play well.......and sound like any non-metal clarinet.
No fear of cracking in any weather. Quality of for sale ones on eBay varies from low to high. Some made by Haynes are highly valued. I enjoy Woody's playing style.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Elkwoman46
Date: 2011-10-14 23:17
Thank you all for all the comments and information...I read the article at the website you gave, Steve. It was great! All the rest was absolutely great too!
Thanks so much.
Also, regarding the Couesnon of Paris...there is possibly a lack of information about them because a factory had burned down in Paris a long time ago and with it went a lot of information, I don't know how much, but I do know it definitely affected the information about their Euphoniums. But I do perceive that even instruments made by them for beginners would still rate pretty high today.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-10-15 02:35
Elkwoman46 wrote:
> Also, regarding the Couesnon of Paris..
As you probably noticed Couesnon was primarily known for their brass instruments although they did make clarinets for several years. The Monopole clarinets made by Couesnon are supposed to be pretty good and several people have posted about them here in the past. Couesnon is also known for having made the "A. Fontaine" clarinets during the period when Gretsch was using that as one of their trade names. I have heard that these can often be nice playing instruments although probably more on the intermediate level. It should be noted that earlier A.Fontaine clarinets (before Gretsch was the importer) were almost certainly not made by Couesnon and are much lower quality.
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