 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-10-09 20:50
Does anybody know the name of a good and reliable Turkish G clarinet? I would like to use it for playing Klezmer and, why not, some jazz?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2013-10-10 01:01
Amati Kraslice.
It's wood though, not metal and the usual Albert (Simple System)
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2013-10-10 01:07)
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2013-10-10 02:46
I have a metal Turkish G. It's RKOR (I think...)
I don't like playing it because the external diameter is narrower than it would be on a wooden one. My right thumb slips around like crazy, and since it's a little longer, I have a devilish time keeping my fingers where they need to be and still be able to hit the pinky keys...
If I had the money I'd get a wood one.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-10-10 12:09
There are quite a few Turkish brands, but who knows how good they are unless you're a specialist on the matter! I'm all in favour of changing instruments when playing different types of music. As Proust put it, you change style when you change fountain pens. Benny Goodman played jazz and Classical music with pretty much the same tone. I'm not sure that was right for the whole repertory.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2013-10-10 12:24
I was in Istanbul this summer and had an opportunity to try several different brands, both wood and metal. Wood is definitely the way to go.
If you want that authentic Turkish sound, be sure to get a mouthpiece that is very open. I generally us a 3.5+, but a 1.5 felt comfortable with those mouthpieces.
I don't know what they are charging here in the US, but I could have bought a decent wood instrument for about 1200 Turkish lira (about $600).
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2013-10-10 13:34
I have worked on a couple of metal ones. The quality was the worst I have ever seen on a clarinet.
The soldering was failing on most tone holes. The keys were way out of alignment with tone holes, and cast from pot metal, so they could not be re-aligned. Very wobbly pivots. Etc.
I have no idea whether this is standard for metal ones.
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2013-10-11 17:35
Martin Foag Klarinetten. He made one before for Florian Stubenvoll. What's more, he is the only maker who offers all sorts of metal clarinets in his catalog.
Josh
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2013-10-25 14:38
"R Kor" stands for Ramazan Kor. Based on the research I did that led to my finding mine, they're the top maker of pro-quality metal clarinets in Turkey. Many of the best professional Turkish clarinettists play these. Ramazan Kor is a family-owned and operated shop, in business for four generations now.
This video about clarinets in Turkey features footage of the RK shop hand-making their clarinets -- very interesting!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CDc8w5Se_w
(see 2:29-6:20)
Their instruments are made to order. I wasn't able to find how to contact them directly, though I did find a music store, Rekor Müzik in Setbaşı / Bursa / Turkey, that keeps RK clarinets in stock:
http://www.rekormuzik.com/gp/nefesliler-yan-flut-trompet-sib-klarnet-sol-klarnet-alto-saxafon-tenor-saxsafon-soprano-saxsafon-pikolo-flut/klarnet/sol-klarnet/ramazan-kor.html
They offer a choice of nickel (US $504.73) or silver plate ($555.20).
Here's a video Rekor Müzik has posted with a demo of a RK clarinet:
http://vimeo.com/30225253
As even those prices were beyond my budget at the time (plus I don't know a lick of Turkish!), I decided to hunt down a used RK. I found a Turkish classified ad website, Sahibinden, and joined it (optimistically hoping that a seller might deign to correspond in German, or even French, if not English), and was happy to find that RK G clarinets appear there regularly, often at good prices. But contacting these sellers in Turkey is nearly impossible from the US, because you either need to do this through their Turkish cellphones, or you need a Turkish citizen's ID number to email them! So I gave up that route.
Finally, a friend in France altered me to one being sold on German eBay. I contacted the seller in German, only to find that the seller was in Bulgaria, and answered in English (talk about your international transactions)...! I got it at a pretty good price.
Mine is nickel plated, and came with a mysterious mouthpiece that behaves a lot like a Vandoren 5JB. It's a solidly made instrument, with the main body in two pieces and a detachable bell that screws on very snugly to the lower joint with beautifully done threading. It has 12 keys (no patent C#), 2 rings.
I love its tone and response! When I first played it I thought the tuning was excellent, but more recently I tried it again and got to wondering... but it could use a repad and I think I need to try a better reed.
One warning I do have is to watch how you play the long left pinkie keys, as these really need to be pushed towards the body of the clarinet and not straight down, or they may fall out of their slots. Once you get used to that quirk, all the keywork behaves well (of course it's true of all Alberts, but these especially so).
The advice posted earlier to avoid the no-name Turkish metal clarinet-shaped-objects is well-taken. I had the misfortune of trying out a couple of these some years ago, and they had pot-metal keys -- one of which broke while I was trying it out! In all other ways they were equally disastrous. I checked with Lark in the Morning when I was searching for my RK, and specifically asked if their current Turkish metal Gs had a maker's name and was told that they don't. So I'd steer way clear of these, especially since the LITM markup puts their price ($825, *shudder!!*) way out of line compared that of to a real RK.
I've read that there are highly-regarded Turkish makers of wooden clarinets, but these tend to be more expensive than the RK metals. Since many top pros play the RK metals, though, I felt confident getting mine -- and I'm very happy with the results.
So: save an online auction search for "Ramazan Kor" set at "Worldwide." And happy hunting!
About wooden G Alberts: I've read very mixed reviews about the Amatis. Some people swear by them, others swear at them! The complaints have been especially that their wood is very unstable and prone to crack unless you handle it with care worthy a religious artifact. Even then, some aren't happy with the musical performance...
I've read many good things about Hammerschmidt G Alberts, but have never played one for myself:
http:/http://www.hammerschmidt-klingson.com/?page_id=21
These are strongly promoted on the Greek Turkish Klezmer Clarinet Forum:
http://www.gtc-music1.com/forum/
There's a Hammerschmidt representative there who offers a substantial discount to GTC forum members! And used instruments come up for sale from time to time here as well (I don't see Ramazan Kors offered here much, though members that mention having them all seem quite happy with them). These do tend to cost quite a bit more than the metal RKs, though.
I'd say that if you're prepared to get a metal G Albert, go ahead and get a RK since the cost is a lot less. If sometime later you try some wooden one that you like better, go ahead and get it, but keep the metal for your outdoor gigs!
Klarnetisto
Post Edited (2013-10-25 15:08)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-10-25 14:50
Dear Klarinetisto:
Fantastic, exhaustive, but not exhausting answer! Thank you. Specialists have also told me that one is better off buying metal than wood. This bears out your experience.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2013-10-25 15:05
My pleasure! I really went through a lot trying to track down a quality used metal G Albert, and I actually very much enjoyed the adventure in the process! So I've been eager to share my experience s as to help others avoid the pitfalls I encountered along the way.
Klarnetisto
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2013-10-25 15:12
Another warning: there are many Chinese-made "Turkish" G Albert clarinets on the market now! These have a legion of stencil names, often Greek or Western-European sounding. My sense is to avoid these strenuously...!
Klarnetisto
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2013-10-25 15:16
I just looked again at the Lark in the Morning listing for their Turkish G clarinet. They say it's "Rekor made." I don't know if this means "Ramazan Kor," or something else, if it means "made in the style of," made by, or what.
But as I said earlier, when I wrote to Lark last year or so, they assured me that there was no maker's name on these.
Even if these are actual Ramazan Kors, Lark's price is absurd.
Klarnetisto
Post Edited (2013-10-25 15:18)
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2013-10-25 16:31
I played on an acquaintance's Orsi wooden G a number of years ago. I found it incredibly superior to my R Kor....
If you can find one of those, snap it up...
YMMV etc.
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2013-10-25 19:55
On Orsi's website they only list a Boehm system G clarinet. Do they also make an Albert?
Klarnetisto
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2013-10-26 03:29
I haven't looked on their website lately. The one I saw/tried was way back in 2000 or 2001 and I think the guy had gotten it used somewhat prior to that so you might have to search for a used one...
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