 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-05-04 03:58
I need advise please. My daughter is going to play clarinet with her school marching band next year and I don't want her to "borrow" my wood clarinet! What would be a good brand of plastic clarinet that's fairly accessable on the used market? She hasn't played clarinet for 2 yrs. and her main instrument is oboe. Any help is appreciated. TIA beth
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2001-05-04 05:08
I always vote for the Buffet B12 (avoid the B10, however)
Have also heard good things about the Vitos. (the black ones, that is...)
Allen
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Author: David Kinder
Date: 2001-05-04 18:07
Just about any plastic (or resin, or whatever) clarinet should work for marching band. I'd recommend Bundy, Yamaha YCL-20, Buffet B-12, Vito (no "color" models though!) and other plastic Leblancs. Anything will do. Look at it as "cracking insurance"!
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-05-04 18:58
Beth -
I marched in the West Point Band in hundreds of parades with temperatures ranging from 100 degress to 0, and in drenching rainstorms, snow and sleet. All the clarinetists were issued plastic Bundys, which always worked perfectly.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2001-05-05 00:41
Beth, reference what Ken said. Check out eBay, there are several Selmer Bundy's on auction. You can check out the "completed auctions" once you get to the clairnet section to see what the going prices for these have been. Check the classifieds here, although most of them are not plastic instruments, but most of these folk may have one laying around the shop they will part with.
Bob A
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Author: Rina
Date: 2001-05-05 00:41
I found that "Olds" make very good instruments, both flute and clarinet. The key work on the Olds clarinet resembles that on a LeBlanc, so personally I'm all for them.
Of course - the best thing is to take her into a music store and play a few different ones. In the end, your decision is going to be based on affordability as well as quality, so make sure your daughter gets to try a few.
I've often found that students go to a store thinking that they want one particular brand of clarinet (because they have a friend who plays it or because of advertising) and buy another because they make a good sound on it.
good luck
Rina
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-05-05 02:01
Olds is a "stencil" company. They really don't make anything. In the early years they used to make some brass instruments (Fullerton, CA), but even stopped doing that. It could very well be a LeBlanc Vito. Some Olds instruments aren't very good IMHO. Be careful, or you might wind up with something inferior.
John
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Author: Jim
Date: 2001-05-05 04:49
As a Dad of a marching band kid and a former marcher myself, the sound of the instrument is not really very important (though it must be capable of playing in tune.) (An exception to this is an amplified solo.) The suggested Bundys, Vitos and student plastic Yamahas are the mainstay of marching band. My son uses a Bundy I bought used for $150 in 1994. I hope he gets one last year from it. Many marching bands take the field rain or shine and the instruments get soaked. Also, life on busses, in the stands and in the band room is quite tough. I watched a clarinet fall out of the cargo compartment of a bus, the case spill open and the sections roll accross the parking lot. Do however use a good mouthpiece and reed setup. These horns sound much better that way, and it will help sound volume which is a concern on the field.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-05-05 13:44
I'm about to open a can of worms . . . forgive me.
Though I wouldn't have done it when I was marching - nor appreciated the suggestion - I believe that the best clarinet to march with is . . . a saxophone. Let me explain why.
There are many more opportunities for players that can double on other instruments. It is a great opportunity to pick up the skill, cover the part as best you can, and add to the band's volume. Back when I was marching, I viewed this with an either/or mindset . . . it's not that at all. It's adding to your playing abilities a skill which is likely to be needed at some time in the future . . . and doing so at a very convenient time. Feel free to ignore the suggestion . . . I did for 35 years.
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Author: jerry
Date: 2001-05-05 14:10
Fred,
..............but while your marching in the rain, doesn't the *bell* on the sax fill with water?......I always wondered about that.
Couldn't resist.
~ jerry
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Author: joseph o'kelly
Date: 2001-05-05 16:14
I guess the tubas, baretones will have that problem as well.
At one time I was thinking of marching a metal clarinet. I found it funny that when I mentioned this to others they would always comment that, "if you are marching and it is raining it will rust, you could get electricuted if it is lightning and the instrument will get cold resulting in bad intonation." They didn't relize that every instument in the marching band is made of metal exept the clarinet.
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Author: joseph o'kelly
Date: 2001-05-05 16:15
I guess the tubas, baretones will have that problem as well.
At one time I was thinking of marching a metal clarinet. I found it funny that when I mentioned this to others they would always comment that, "if you are marching and it is raining it will rust, you could get electricuted if it is lightning and the instrument will get cold resulting in bad intonation." They didn't relize that every instument in the marching band is made of metal exept the clarinet.
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Author: joseph o'kelly
Date: 2001-05-05 16:16
I guess the tubas, baretones will have that problem as well.
At one time I was thinking of marching a metal clarinet. I found it funny that when I mentioned this to others they would always comment that, "if you are marching and it is raining it will rust, you could get electricuted if it is lightning and the instrument will get cold resulting in bad intonation." They didn't relize that every instument in the marching band is made of metal exept the clarinet.
most of the people that told me this played tuba and trombone.
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Author: joseph o'kelly
Date: 2001-05-05 16:59
Sorry. I hit the "post" botton too many times.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-05-05 18:49
Yes, Jerry . . . the bell would fill with water. (un)Fortunately, this does not affect the way a sax sounds.
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Author: Cass
Date: 2001-05-05 20:57
You are smart to not let that wood clarinet go marching! Anything played outdoors you have to figure might get trashed. People worry about wood cracking in the weather but that is not the half of it! Turn your back on it five seconds and somebody steals it, for one thing.
One time at a football game a crackhead junkie came up in the stands right into the band, telling everybody we were taking up his space. It seems he slept in the bleachers at night and this football game was in his way. The rent a cop came and got him but this guy tried to start fights with about four people before the cop got there. We were all backing away as fast as we could without falling down the bleachers and we were hanging onto our instruments for dear life. He just about fell into the bass drum, somebody grabbed him in the nick of time and he took a swing at the guy who saved him from falling!
My Vito has been a good marching clarinet. It is a sturdy all purpose clarinet, not fancy, not expensive but does the job. I have seen horrible things happen to instruments played outdoors. One time in high school somebody forgot to zip up the padded bag the cymbals go in. When we got off the bus at the curb a cymbal slid out and fell on the sidewalk. I never thought a brass cymbal was fragile but a big chunk sliced right off of the edge. So much for that cymbal. I saw a sax get dropped through the bleachers, equivalent of falling out an upstairs window. The body was bent and the keys were bent.
Playing outside is always an unfamiliar scene and when people are nervous about performing they do weird things. One girl sat on her flute. We told her she must have a hard butt because the flute bent where it was pushed against the open place between two boards in the bleachers.
I saw mouthpieces get dropped and broken. Another thing, I take a cheap mouthpiece to play outside. The tone is no good out there anyway because all they care about is you should play LOUD, so it might as well be a cheapee in case I drop it.
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-05-05 20:59
Thanks much for all your advice! I hit pawn shops and yard sales today to see what is out there. Most likely she'll either get a bundy or vito and I'll give her back her mouthpiece (she was using a larry combs LC3 - gives me a great excuse to get a new mp for me!) As for seconding on another instrument, she already plays flute and sax and she's got her eye on the local university's english horn if she can smooth talk her way into borrowing it! But she wants to play the clarinet in marching band becuase that's what they're light on. Thanks again. beth
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-05-05 21:10
I vote for the Yamaha YCL20. Tough and has good intonation. It'll last a long time through marching seasons.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-05-07 15:38
The Olds clarinets were, as John Butler says, all stencils. You never quite know what you're getting until you compare the details of the keywork to known models from the main makers.
One Olds clarinet to look for is the "Opera" model, their top of the line instrument from the late 1950s and early 60s. This is a Buffet R-13 stencil, which you may get for a low price from an unsophisticated seller.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Mike Irish
Date: 2001-05-08 04:56
for a horn in the weather.... rain, shine, sleet, snow..........
I would recommend a plastic horn.... bundy, vito, ....... use good mouth piece, and good reed.... get them matched up.... and have fun......
Mike
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Author: Aravinda Bhatt
Date: 2001-05-08 21:43
i saw use a clarinet made for a marching band, i am in a marching band but i play bass clarinet in it, anyway the clarinets made for marching, or the metal clarinets, few compnays make them, few of them are even around, but i'm sure u can get one on ebay, make sure the barrel is there and there are no missing parts, they are hard to replace
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