 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BbMajorBoy
Date: 2015-10-24 03:14
https://youtu.be/-4788Tmz9Zo?t=18m18s
In this video, what material clarinet is the 1st player playing?
I can make out a Buffet logo but I didn't realise they did custom order, special material clarinets.
Leonard Bernstein: "To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time."
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2015-10-24 03:37
For a worldwide renowned player like Olivier Patey, Buffet can use whatever material he wants. The material is boxwood I believe.
Lee
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-24 05:38
Wow, and what a wonderfully spirited performance from the Concertgebouw Orchester!!! We had a thread recently sort of pointing to the difference between American musicians and those of Europe. This is certainly "exhibit A" for how well the Europeans make music. They played as an organic whole. It is a seamless tapestry of sound. Bravo!!!!!
Oh yeah, and I really dig the boxwood clarinet.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-10-24 09:39
Attachment: bc01.jpg (184k)
Attachment: bc02.jpg (167k)
Attachment: bc03.jpg (194k)
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I saw a 'missing link' clarinet on the famous auction site recently - a 19th Century boxwood Buffet in really bad condition (bell socket ring was missing from what I could see) which had the usual simple keywork of the time, but the RH rings were for fingers 1 and 2 only instead of 2 and 3 as you'd expect, so that gives the Boehm fingerings for Bb/F (xxx|xoo) and B/F# (xxx|oxo and sliver key fingering xxx|xo/o).
See attached photos - I've only seen a couple of simple system clarinets that have been converted to Boehm fingerings/ring keys for RH 1-2-3, but never anything that was originally built like this. So this is an interesting clarinet in terms of evolution.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2015-10-24 09:42)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-10-24 10:58
I had a boxwood tenor recorder that I bought new in Germany many years ago. It was OK until I came to Australia in 1969. It obviously didn't care for the move and within a couple of months it warped and twisted far beyond recovery. I took it along to a flute guru who said that there was nothing that could be done except to use it as a decorator item. He said that he'd seen a lot of boxwood recorders that had warped and cracked. Looks good though.
Tony F.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2015-10-24 17:48
Boxwood warps like crazy. Years ago I saw a recorder with the middle joint warped into a 90 degree curve. I have a boxwood baroque flute with an epoxy-sealed bore, and even that has warped slightly.
Worse yet, the bore warps into an oval shape, making museum instruments unplayable an un-measurable. A 1-key flute is fine that way, but a Boehm clarinet is not.
Bill McColl of the Soni Ventorum Quintet has a boxwood Buffet R-13. See http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=419020&t=419020. Kal Opperman told me it needed constant attention both to the bore and the key fitting.
BbMajorBoy: I couldn't see the trademark on Patey's clarinet. Are you sure it's not a Schwenk & Seggelke?
Ken Shaw
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Author: modernicus
Date: 2015-10-24 18:33
I didn't watch the video, but Buffet Crampon made Boxwood Boehm clarinets in the 19th c. They turn up from time to time for auction and some are in museums. As mentioned Schwenk & Segglke has made them more recently. Edit: just watched the video, definitely a modern instrument. I couldn't see any logo.
Post Edited (2015-10-24 19:14)
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Author: KenJarczyk
Date: 2015-10-24 19:05
It is a lovely looking instrument in that video!
Ken Jarczyk
Woodwinds Specialist
Eb, C, Bb, A & Bass Clarinets
Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones
Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-24 19:10
Definitely a modern clarinet and looks pretty much like a Buffet. It must be a custom order. I didn't know Buffet did that.
....................Paul Aviles
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2015-10-24 21:41
Attachment: SAM_0640.jpg (88k)
Boxwood was widely used until about mid 19th century. Indeed it is said to have less dimensional stability compared with grenadilla. Anyhow, Schwenk & Seggelke ( http://www.schwenk-und-seggelke.de/klarinetten_holz.php ) offer Buchsbaum amongst their choice of woods, and Sabine Meyer advocates it on this homepage.
I have four boxwood clarinets in my little collection (see foto): one Goulding, London ca. 1805; one Carl Kruspe, Erfurt ca. 1830, two Carl Kruspe ca. 1875: none is grossly deformed- however I hadn't the time to exactly measure the inner diameters.
Post Edited (2015-10-24 21:45)
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2015-10-25 00:01
I remember doing some research in my college days pertaining to the materials (historically) used in the manufacturing of clarinets. I remember quoting one of the manufactures from the late 1800s/early 1900s - something to the affect of: "boxwood.....is seemingly better suited as a hygrometer than it is a material of which to make clarinets..." I always thought that was a funny way of putting it. I have no first-hand knowledge of boxwood, but that statement definitely painted a vivid picture for me. 
Fuzzy
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-10-25 01:20
I've got an old boxwood Riviere & Hawkes Bb flute/fife that's banana-shaped, but it plays really nicely and more powerful than I gave it credit for.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2015-10-25 02:41
Yes, I have a 1840s Firth, Hall, and Pond clarinet at A440 which is boxwood and has not distorted. The video is great!
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Author: derf5585
Date: 2015-10-25 03:12
Due to its high density and resistance to chipping, boxwood is a relatively economical material,
Boxwood was a common material for the manufacture of recorders in the eighteenth century, and a large number of mid- to high-end instruments made today are produced from one or other species of boxwood. Boxwood was once a popular wood for other woodwind instruments,
from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buxus
fsbsde@yahoo.com
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-10-25 03:27
Olivier Patey admitted publicly that fitting into the Concertgebow clarinet section was going to be a learning curve for a "French player" who would be playing with clarinetists, some of whom use Reform Boehms, but he was going to make any changes in choice of equipment etc. necessary to blend in. Judging from this performance, he has done so well as to pass for a native of the Netherlands and a life-long member of their best orchestra. He even lifts the clarinet up like the oboe players do during their phrasing. He really seems "to the manner born" playing that new clarinet.
It will be interesting to watch when he uses the light wood (boxwood?) clarinet and when he uses something else (I won't necessarily assume that the something else will be his Tosca.) Or will he use the new clarinet for everything? I'm glad he didn't just switch to a Reform Boehm by Wurlitzer or L & K. Is it possible that other members of the section will soon be seen playing light wood clarinets also?
Post Edited (2015-10-25 03:31)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-10-25 03:42
The 2nd clarinettist is playing a Tosca in that video.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-10-25 07:13
Would look good if it had gold plated keys as that would give the impression of having unplated brass keys as they would've done when Boehm systems were new to the world.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2015-10-26 14:36
Well, despite the use of this special clarinet and the known superior playing of Olivier Patey, I am not very impressed by this clarinet sound.
I would rather prefer the sound of the Wurlitzer/Leitners reform-boehms here in Beethoven.
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