 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2012-03-11 23:21
Well, I'm in an Army Band so I've been playing their horns for the past year or so and just put mine aside (buffet festival, and R13 greenline for outdoors). Well today for kicks, since i have a small recital coming up, I decided to take out my old horns (two of them), blow the dust off the cases, and tried out my pieces on them.
And they sound great. Both to me, better than the festivals the band ordered. I expected them to, but it's just nice to rediscover those clarinets that were in the back of the closet (or in my case, the corner of the kitchen). It's just really nice to know I have two really great horns, better than a standard stock Buffet Festival, and both are good enough to perform on and keep forever.
If you haven't done so in a little while, go rediscover those old clarinets! Yes, I'm looking at you Dave Spiegelthal and GBK with your large collections!!!!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ttay1122
Date: 2012-03-12 04:31
I have like six Bb and one eefer. I agree, it is fun to pull out old instruments and try them again! I usually just play my Yamaha CSG-H but one day I didn't feel like getting it out so I pulled out my 1970's R13 and took it for a spin. I didn't remember it playing that well, and could have sworn that it's intonation was horrid the last time I played that horn. Keeping in mind that my setup changed completely, my new setup made this horn much better than I remember. Fun times...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-03-12 14:28
Variety is usually a good thing. The exception is when you discover that your old clunker of a clarinet actually sounds better than the new one that you paid a horrifying amount of money for. I remember when one of my bandmates "upgraded" from an older Leblanc LL she had been playing to a brand new Buffet R13. Most of the other players were pretty convinced that she sounded better on the LL but there was no convincing her of that.
A fun activity is to record yourself practicing on different clarinets and then playing back the resultant recordings in randomized order to see if you consistently prefer your sound on one instrument versus the other. It can be an eye-opening experience. I find that the identity of the clarinet annointed as my "best one" seems to change periodically.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-03-12 15:18
I usually rotate my clarinets if doing pit band work just to blow the cobwebs out of the ones I don't play very often, playing a different one on a few performances but going back to my main instrument at the end of the run.
But a few years back I used my Leblanc LL one evening and didn't get on as well with it as I hoped to - it didn't feel right and made me nervous. Even though it played well, I just wasn't used to it and felt restricted by it. It didn't live up to my expectations so it was back on safe ground with Selmers from then onwards.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
