 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2013-04-02 19:32
The alto clarinet seems to be the target ridicule and generally garners little respect. I believe it's because it doesn't lend itself to solo playing, and seems to be used hardly at all, with the exception of in a clarinet choir.
So it made me wonder how musical instrument companies sell this horn. I see that Leblanc has a Prestige model selling for just over $10,000.
Under what circumstances would someone want to shell out that much money for an instrument that is rarely used, and even then in a purely backup role?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-04-02 19:43
Have you got a link to the Leblanc one? I'm just interested to see if they've done much development on it to bring it up to date, ie. if they've finally added a LH Ab/Eb lever.
I've pimped up my Yamaha alto clarinet by adding a LH Ab/Eb lever and floor spike fitting to the bell, as well as removing the lyre box and sling ring to mke it appear more like a concert instrument compared to a marching band one (even though Selmer fitted their low C basses, A basses and basset horns with a lyre box, when would you ever want to march with them?). The last thing to do is fit a metal tenon ring on the middle tenon as it tends to rock a bit - my lathe table isn't long enough for an alto top joint so I'll have to do this elsewhere. I can turn up the tenon ring easily enough, but can't turn down the end of the tenon to fit it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-04-02 20:26
Chris P wrote:
> Have you got a link to the Leblanc one?
I suspect he was referring to the Buffet Prestige model that lists for ~$10,400. The only Leblanc alto clarinet I have seen for sale in recent years is the L7165 which is a plastic Vito model. If a higher end model exists it isn't listed for sale anywhere and isn't on the Conn-Selmer website.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-04-03 15:23
There are some retired musicians with enough money to buy such things. I know a gentleman who owns various Wurlitzer Reform Boehm clarinets, including (at least the ones I've personally seen him use) a basset horn, Bb clarinet and Eb clarinet. That's probably $50K worth of instruments right there. This guy is not a professional, he's an amateur player.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-04-03 23:52
Kalmen Opperman liked the Selmer Series 9 alto and tweaked one to play amazingly well. I also tried and loved a Buffet Prestige. The keywork felt like a Bb.
Ken Shaw
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-04-05 15:29
In fact, the alto clarinet is BEST suited to solo playing, in the confines of one's home, as few people are interested in hearing it performed on in public, and nobody is willing to PAY to hear it performed on in public!
I'm being only slightly facetious. Alto clarinet is fun to play, and nice to listen to in those EXTREMELY rare instances it is well played; but for the most part, it's a dead-end instrument and the people who play it sound lousy.
I personally would never (and have never) spent more than $150 on an alto clarinet, for the little use I get out of it.
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Author: davyd
Date: 2013-04-05 18:29
The alto clarinet also has its place in some of the more advanced wind ensemble and concert band repertoire, though it's not usually soloistic.
A professional-quality oboe d'amore would probably set you back as much, if not more so, as a professional-quality alto clarinet. Yet such things can be bought. It must be nice to be able to afford such things.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-04-05 18:38
Funny what you said, davyd --- as it happens I used to play in an "advanced concert band" right here in our mutual state of Virginia, and the conductor of that group deliberately chose NOT to have an alto clarinet in the band, except for once or twice (Norman del Joio's "Variations on a Medieval Theme" comes to mind as one of the instances) when the alto clarinet had a brief solo part and he HAD to use an alto clarinet (I was the lucky one given that grand opportunity).
I also play alto clarinet occasionally in a semi-pro clarinet choir, although the parts are usually covered by our two basset hornists (who must obtain transposed parts as they are pitched in F rather than Eb). Often in concert band music alto clarinet parts are cued into the 3rd clarinet and/or bass clarinet parts if they need to be covered in the absence of the actual instrument.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-04-05 18:39
The only pro level alto clarinet that comes somewhere near the cost of an oboe d'amore is the Selmer.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: alto gether
Date: 2013-04-05 19:40
Well, David Spiegelthal, I agree that if you plan to play other people's arrangements, all but about twenty instruments are dead-end prospects. And given that situation, a musician might as well concentrate on something with more future in standard orchestration.
Somebody should tell Wolf and Eppelsheim and the ghost of Sax to stop wasting their time developing new instruments.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-04-05 20:09
Right you are, alto gether (or whatever your real name is). Good luck in your lucrative future pioneering solo performances using unusual instruments. Might I suggest you develop a "plan B" to help pay the bills? Oh, sorry, we're talking about "art" here, not business. Please forgive my outburst.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2013-04-06 04:33
Who said anything about "paying the bills"? Not that it's a problem, but mentioning it that way suggests this should be the direction as a musician, which IMO is a pretty gloomy approach...
Anyway, some clarinet players don't do only what they are asked to do and/or stick with more mainstream music. Some of those players are successful and have the option to decide what instrument and music to play a lot of the time. Some musicians are asked to play with others because of who they are as a musican, their ideas, etc. and not because of a specific instrument they happen to play.
Post Edited (2013-04-06 04:35)
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Author: alto gether
Date: 2013-04-08 05:43
I apologize for being rude.
People only pay to hear me play alto and contra alto in the sense that if they come to my concerts or buy my CDs they can't avoid it. I'm a terrible clarinetist, a passable mandolinist, and a professional songwriter - or at least, retired from my day job.
My name is Zeke Hoskin.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-04-08 13:35
Zeke, I too apologize for being rude! I'm going to blame an excess of coffee this time (yes, I know that's a lame excuse). Sounds like you're an eclectic sort of musician who plays a mix of instruments, kudos to you.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-04-08 14:20
And may the civility you've both shown prove highly contagious!
Oddly enough, I just bought my second nerd-credential on Saturday. I love alto clarinet and I've been playing quite a good one, a pro-quality wooden Selmer from 1979. The one that turned up at the flea market on Saturday is a plastic Bundy with upper and lower key stacks on one long section. I like that configuration: chalumeau G-sharp in the right spot fr decent intonation (I hope ...) and no pesky bridge key. I bought it in order to have an alto I could play outdoors if the occasion arose.
It's got no mouthpiece except an old, hard rubber one for a soprano clarinet (might turn out to be something nice), but I've already got a Selmer mouthpiece I like. The clarinet needs corks, a full re-pad and other work I can do myself. The case is filthy but intact.
Price? $75. That's one of the cool things about altos. Almost nobody wants them, so for those of us who do, they're the bargain of the clarinet world. I'm not expecting miracles from a student-quality alto, but I'll be curious to hear how it sounds.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-04-08 14:30
I found my Yamaha alto on that auction site - it came from Greece and I got it for the reasonable sum of £1500 considering it had been repadded as well, so that was something I didn't need to do (apart from fit a few cork pads in strategic places). I realise £1500 may not be much to some, but I do hope it went some way to give the seller the financial security they needed at the time.
I had a plastic Bundy alto, but didn't do anything with it so I sold it on that aforementioned auction site to someone over in East Europe.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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