 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-20 06:05
My first clarinet, in a bizarre initial encounter with clarinetistry at age 31, was an all-wood "Leon Trotte." I used this instrument, with a profound crack in the bell and lubricating the corks with lip balm, until I upgraded to a Noblet and then, never looking back, to a mid-1980s Buffet R-13. I sold the Noblet and the Leon Trotte. I had arrived.
In the years since then, just because I wanted to know how they sounded and felt, I collected a few other better-known brands. So that today I can fumble through the sheet music of the Weber quintet on a variety of Buffets, mid-century Selmers (including an early "Winged Globe" Henri Selmer), and even (as I did this morning) a B&H 1010. Today was, after all, Sunday. It is a day for noodling.
Yet late tonight, I had the most fun playing the same quintet on a Leon Trotte I picked up about 10 years ago out of sentimentality for my earliest clarinet. Despite a fairly disastrous intonation (the result of a faulty overhaul in which the technician subjectively 'undercut' the tone holes), this instrument sings with a lusty, smoky, oval tone quality. I fastened an *ancient* Guy Humphrey mouthpiece to it. My God! It outplayed the B&H 1010.
I couldn't sell it for $25 on any famous auction site.
I guess I'm a Leon Trotte player. Perhaps I'm a piece of junk myself. But the sound is good.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-20 07:43
OK, thank you Ken. I will watch out for icepicks to my head. No idea what that means, but I appreciate your concern.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-06-20 07:59
It may refer to early brain surgery in the early 20th century when ice picks were inserted in the frontal lobes from the eye sockets and the brains were scrambled some in order to cure some mental disorder. It was mostly dangerous and unsuccessful.
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Author: Peter B
Date: 2016-06-20 11:29
It rather refers to Leon Trotski and how he ceased to be. I learned it from the song No More Heroes by The Stranglers, but plenty of real history books will confirm it.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-20 12:51
Peter B wrote:
> It rather refers to Leon Trotski and how he ceased to be. I
> learned it from the song No More Heroes by The Stranglers, but
> plenty of real history books will confirm it.
Yes! Well noted!!!
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2016-06-20 16:24
Loved the story, and I identify with it, too. The Washington, D.C. area is a target-rich environment for finding non-professional-quality clarinets -- always a temptation, and I've kept my first clarinet, the wooden Conn Director my dad bought for me new in 1957 that I've mentioned here before. It's still in good condition but it may support the "many worlds" theory in quantum physics, because the clarion and the chalumeau seem to occupy parallel universes where the pitch differs by about 2 Hz.
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: 2016-06-20 17:43
Attachment: selmerctfullboehm.jpg (330k)
My favourite clarinet was effectively 'junk' when I bought it. No-one else bid on it as it looked so far gone so I got it for a very good price and with its original case, but despite the poor condition, it all scrubbed up well and with a very extensive restoration it's one of the best players I know of.
It's a 1958 full Boehm Selmer CT.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-06-20 18:09
My favourite clarinet, and the one I mainly use, is a hard rubber B & H 926 Imperial which I bought on EBay for $30. It was listed as an "Old Japanese Clarinet". I think this was because the mouthpiece was a chipped Yamaha. It had gone green with oxidization and was covered in cobwebs and verdigris. It now looks as though it was made last week and plays beautifully with a Clark Fobes San Francisco CF+
Tony F.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-06-20 18:40
If it outplayed the 1010, you're probably not using a Pillinger mouthpiece on the 1010.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-20 19:00
dorjepismo wrote:
> If it outplayed the 1010, you're probably not using a Pillinger
> mouthpiece on the 1010.
My 1010 still has the original leather pads -- really needs to be re-padded at this point. I've never tried a Pillinger. I use B&H 1010 mouthpieces with it.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-06-20 20:51
Mine do too, but they didn't get any use for a long while, and still hold a vacuum well. The Pillinger was like dying and going to Neustadt-Aisch or something. The mouthpieces really should be experienced. It's like playing a different instrument.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-20 21:47
dorjepismo wrote:
> Mine do too, but they didn't get any use for a long while, and
> still hold a vacuum well. The Pillinger was like dying and
> going to Neustadt-Aisch or something. The mouthpieces really
> should be experienced. It's like playing a different
> instrument.
>
I went to the Pillinger website and was interested to note the 1010-style mouthpieces they offer are divided into three styles: pre-war (1930s), transitional ("middle period"), and modern. Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to have Ramon Wodkowski work on one of my 1010 mouthpieces and he told me that it was from the "transitional" period.
Love my 1010 but find it difficult to play after French instruments. I have to play it for a few days to get back into the energy required.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-06-20 22:08
I asked Ed about the periods after confessing that I didn't know how any of them actually played, and we ended up with me just describing what I was after. One thing I have to do with the 1010s is turn the upper and lower joints a little off from how the bridge mechanism wants them. The finger holes on mine are a little offset with the left hand holes a bit left of the right hand holes as you're looking down your nose at them, and since I was used to Buffets, where they're pretty much in line, I kept missing notes because a hole wasn't getting covered. Turning the joints makes the crossover less difficult for me. I can do stuff on 1010s I never could on Buffets, especially with sound and dynamics, so the rest is sort of beside the point.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-06-20 22:14
I also have a 1010 with the original leather pads. I have a Selmer mouthpiece refaced by Ed Pillinger and also a couple of B & H 1010 pieces. The Pillinger is the nicest to play but the 1010 pieces are louder. I can almost drown out the brass section with those. I don't use it much, I prefer the sound I get from the 926.
Tony F.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-21 01:15
Chris P wrote:
> My favourite clarinet was effectively 'junk' when I bought it.
> No-one else bid on it as it looked so far gone so I got it for
> a very good price and with its original case, but despite the
> poor condition, it all scrubbed up well and with a very
> extensive restoration it's one of the best players I know of.
>
> It's a 1958 full Boehm Selmer CT.
>
That 1958 full Boehm Selmer is a thing of beauty, BTW.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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