 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-12-09 02:27
When I was a youngster-and Calvin Coolidge was an up-and-coming politician-the German clarinet was still played in Hungary, most of the ex-Soviet Union, and other Eastern European countries. These days, its presence is pretty much limited to Germany and Austria. There is also the Netherlands, but in that country they tend to use Boehm-reform(ed) clarinets. Will German clarinets go the way of French bassoons; in other words, out the window, and if so, why?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-12-09 02:50
If you look at Oehler system sales in Japan, you might find them on the increase there! Several Japanese stores, I believe, routinely carry them, whereas in the U.S. there is scarcely even one retailer for Oehlers. Of course, Japan is anomalous in many ways. I've heard they sell a lot of the big multivolume Oxford English dictionary there too.
On the whole, though, you are probably right. The creature may well be on the endangered species list. I would think the German preference for expensive hand made clarinets and the relative lack of inexpensive, high- quality mass produced Oehler instruments might have something to do with it.
Then, there is the hybridization of the instrument even among the Germans themselves. Many Germans have dropped the traditional string ligature, turned to composite reeds, and begun to play on facings fairly or even quite open at the tip. So it is getting harder to tell what is really German anymore. Leister probably nudged the trend towards hybridization when he switched to French-cut Vandoren reeds some time ago. Wurlitzer seems to have added to that momentum when he changed the old Wurlizer bore to give his clarinets a more international sound.
Then there is the persistent influence of jazz and pop clarinetists, the majority of whom, after the early days of Albert system players, have performed almost exclusively on Boehm clarinets. Also, it is not unusual to hear from players who have made a valiant effort to master both Oehler and Boehm systems say that the Oehler is the more difficut to play, and the finger stretch is less comfortable than on the Boehm.
Finally, getting Oehlers set up properly and repaired can be a nightmare if you are surrounded by techs familiar only with the Boehm and lacking the necessary replacement parts and supplies.
Post Edited (2016-12-16 06:11)
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Author: patrica
Date: 2016-12-09 04:41
On the contrary, I have a feeling that German system will become more popular again. In my opinion, Boehm became the main stream mainly because they are easier to construct thus they cost much less than German ones. However, if we ignore the cost but only focus on making music per se. German system actually generally has a better intonation, particularly in the third register (which is also much easier to play). In terms of fingering, German system is indeed a little more difficult, but this is certainly not something unacceptable (just considering oboe and flute fingering). Probably a pretty terrible analogy here is: Boehm is something like Windows PC, and Oehler is like Mac.
Post Edited (2016-12-09 04:41)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-09 05:02
Simple/Albert, German and Oehler systems have evolved from the 18th Century instrument where more and more keywork and better manufacturing techniques have been added over time, whereas the Boehm (or to give it it's real name, the Klose-Buffet) system is a mid 19th Century redesign.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-12-09 05:59
Well, I started on a simple system clarinet and played it in a small five piece band through high school. Now, I have several to sell but they may not be easy to sell.
About a month ago, I went to a rehearsal for a new band in Los Angeles and a simple system player showed up. It isn't dead but who knows?
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2016-12-09 07:06
What I've heard from my teacher: German clarinet has slightly more difficult fingering, and, though it can sound amazing, is more limited in terms of flexibility. Supposedly the quality of German reeds is also going down (hence many German players switching to Légère.) The instruments are also more expensive, but aren't as good as they once were. My teacher plays old Wurlitzers, not newer ones.
It is quite nice to play though, I've tried it a few times.
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Author: patrica
Date: 2016-12-09 09:57
In fact, compared with Viennese horn and Viennese oboe, German clarinet is much more widely used. There are many technical problems for Viennese horn and Viennese oboe but people in Vienna still use them due to the sound they admire. The only downside of German clarinet is the sightly more difficult fingering. But as a player who changed from Boehm to Oehler, I would say once you get used to it, it is not a problem at all. A major advantage of German system I found is that Oehler system is way more easier than Boehm to produce quarter notes (as well as mutiphonics). So I believe it is more powerful for contemporary music.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 17:40
I think the main price difference stems from the production numbers - Boehm has the far bigger market share and thus R&D cost per unit is lower.
Per the sound - is there a clip somewhere where one and the same player plays on both systems? I believe that the variation/bandwidth between individual players is bigger than what both systems inherently produce. But I'd have to hear them side by side for a better educated guess.
--
Ben
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-12-09 17:58
Ben: There are very few players that play both systems. If they do, they usually haven't an equal level on both types of instrument, so it isn't quite fair to compare. I feel the German mouthpiece is probably slightly more responsible for differences in tone than the instrument itself. The Selmer Récital has a somewhat similar sound to a German clarinet, though it uses a far narrower bore. This , I suspect, is due to the flare of the bore, which is not polycylindrical, but flares out ever so slightly in the bottom joint towards the bell. The thick walls of this Selmer model also give it greater warmth. At any rate, the tester of the Récital, Guy Dangain, was aiming for a compromise between both systems, and I believe he achieved it.
I agree that German clarinets are more expensive because they are not at all mass- produced. The fact that they are hand-crafted adds to their appeal.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 18:21
Seabreeze,
I was told by a Taiwanese businessman in the '80s that Japan was the world's highest importer of Cognac per capita. Might be urban legend, though, and I don't think it's true now. In any case, the culture does value unique, hand-made stuff. I was stationed in a division band in Germany in the '70s, and switched to Oehlers. There was no shortage of low end instruments, and I bought one for outdoor gigs. Didn't want to bring the Wurlitzers to a beer tent, for reasons that should be obvious. Played Hammerschmidts first, and switched to Wurlitzers. The former were stuffy and didn't really seem to have the kind of German sound many of us like, though they did have a German sound. Boehms tend to have a standard number of keys and rings, but with "German system," the low end instruments have a lot fewer of them. In general, the more vent keys and rings, the better the tuning. Low end Boehms tend to have better tuning than low end German system. Internationally, price is probably a factor. You can play a solid professional Boehm for less than you can an Oehler.
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Author: wkleung
Date: 2016-12-09 18:21
Is it possible to find a Germany clarinet, new or old, that plays comfortably at A-440?
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 18:55
Most high-end German clarinet manufacturers (e.g. LK, Dietz) can make A-440 models without any problems. Just tell them what tuning you like, 440, 443 or whatsoever.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 19:06
Ben:
I think the main price difference stems from the production numbers - Boehm has the far bigger market share and thus R&D cost per unit is lower.
Per the sound - is there a clip somewhere where one and the same player plays on both systems? I believe that the variation/bandwidth between individual players is bigger than what both systems inherently produce. But I'd have to hear them side by side for a better educated guess.
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Regarding the price, one fair comparison can gain from some manufacturers which make both systems, like LK, Dietz and SS. The official price of model V320, top model of German clarinet from LK, is 8060 euro (including 19% VAT) while the top Boehm model 410F is 5500 euro (including 19% VAT). Please note both of them are hand-crafted. From this, we can clearly see the price difference is mostly due to the complexity of key mechanisms.
Post Edited (2016-12-11 00:46)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-12-09 20:22
Yamaha makes a good student German clarinet. The pitch in Germany no longer seems to be the very high A-445 of the Berlin Philharmonic in the Karajan days.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-09 20:25
I find playing in some flat keys much more difficult on Oehler system - especially when playing Eb and F in the lower register as both notes are on the side keys (or cross keys) which can make things tricky with the other notes around them. Forked fingerings for Eb and F don't work so well in the lower register when the forked upper register fingerings for Bb and C are stunning notes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 20:31
Most small workshops also make very good student models and the price is also quite acceptable (they are also hand-crafted). Due to a different arrangement of side keys on German clarinets, the transition from Eb to F in the lower register is not as difficult as you think once you get used to it (of course the side keys on Boehm are not designed to do this). To me, I feel pressing both side keys to play F sharp on Boehm is something equally tricky.
Post Edited (2016-12-09 20:50)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 21:20
Huh. Interesting, thanks! When he starts to switch instruments, it looks like he's taking the mouthpiece off. I can't really see, but it seems like he might be using the same mouthpiece and reed for both instruments, and it doesn't look like a German style mouthpiece. German mouthpieces and the corresponding reeds for German system instruments are way, way different from what we play with French style clarinets, and that's a big part of the sound difference. Mouthpieces for reform Boehm instruments with a "German bore" probably need to be worked out with the maker to some extent. The Kronthalers, for example, will make a Boehm instrument to play with whichever style mouthpiece you play on, but they wouldn't be exactly the same. Otto recommends using a German mouthpiece. It sounds like with Schwenk and Seggelke, they have umpteen kinds of barrels to work out the combination of bore, barrel and mouthpiece that sounds and tunes well. You wouldn't want to just order something on the Internet and hope for the best. Anyway, comparing Boehm and Oehler, unless the Boehm is designed for a German mouthpiece and has a similar bore, isn't really a scientific experiment where you can change one variable at a time.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 21:34
Mouthpiece/reed combination is becoming less and less different nowadays. Manufacturers like Wurlitzer, Playnick etc all make German clarinet mouthpieces matching French reeds. And, when you order a German clarinet from those top workshops, they would ask you which type (French/German) of mouthpiece you want to use for this clarinet. What they said is the only thing they need to change is the barrel. Certainly, mouthpiece/reed combination is critical for the sound but I don't think it is bore specific.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-09 22:03
I'm surprised the Barret mechanism with the single side key for Eb/F and upper Bb/C hasn't been used on German/Oehlers - Clinton system and some otherwise plain Albert/simple systems had it fitted so that meant the one side key could be used for both Eb and F. It makes playing in flat keys in the lower register very easy.
And a further development on that is the conservatoire action (as fitted to oboes) where lowering RH1 will open the Eb/Bb and F/C vents (with a link from LH3 to keep them closed so they won't open when they shouldn't).
So with that mechanism, Eb/Bb is played as xxo|xoo and F/C as xoo|xoo.
I don't know if anyone has ever been experimented with that on clarinets when it's been used on oboes for well over a century.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 22:15
Chris, the oboe fingering you mentioned is way more difficult than Oehler fingering.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2016-12-09 22:29
If I have an opportunity to play the Wurlitzer and Buffet side-by-side (which may happen), I'll try to get a recording.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 23:15
I've been playing Boehm system all my life, but started learning Oehler about six years ago and now play both about equally (in frequency of use, though I still have somewhat better facility on Boehm). Just from my own experience, I believe the differences in sound and response come mostly from the mouthpieces. Because I can't play the traditional very long/very close German facings, I've refaced all my German mouthpieces to be more "French", and besides that often use French mouthpieces on the Oehler instruments. So the two systems are (for me) pretty much interchangeable.
I can't tell any difference in sound between my Oehler and Boehm clarinets, when using the same mouthpiece/reed combination on both.
For most playing I find the Boehm fingerings slightly easier, but that could easily be the result of much longer experience playing that system. Some fingering patterns are definitely easier on the Oehler instruments, but some are harder. The finger spread on the Oehler is initially less comfortable, but (like oboists and flutists who have similar spreads) one gets used to it pretty quickly.
All of that refers to soprano clarinets. Now BASS clarinets are a different story, as the German-system bass clarinet is very small (~19.8mm) compared to the typical Boehm-system bass clarinet bore of about 23.7mm. The mouthpiece for an Oehler bass is barely larger than for a Boehm soprano clarinet; the reeds are narrower than Boehm alto clarinet/alto sax reeds (though slightly longer). While the comments about fingering comparisons still apply, the sound, response and feel of the Oehler bass are very different than from its Boehm counterpart.
Currently, I don't know if anyone plays Oehler-system bass clarinets (somebody please chime in!) - I've read that even German players have been transitioning to Boehm-system basses lately.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 23:36
I don't know why there is a need to play both of them. After my change, I sold all my Boehm clarinets.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-09 23:59
Played a Wurlitzer Oehler bass in the '70s, and absolutely loved it. If I ever do bass again, it would have to be a German instrument with that kind of bore and setup, whatever the fingering system. Same with basset horns. Huge amount of flexibility and subtlety in tone color with them.
Interesting about the evolution in German mouthpieces! I currently play 1010s, which have a 15.2 cylindrical bore, and people are adamant that you must have a mouthpiece made specifically for the "English bore." I know my 1010 mouthpiece doesn't work much at all with Buffets, Selmers, and Backuns, but it would be nice if there were a barrel that could make it work with a reform Boehm, as it's the best thing I've ever played on.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-12-10 00:52
Max,
I hope you have a chance to play a side-by-side demo on your Buffet and a (Wurlitzer?) Oehler for comparison. In the Youtube comparison, the mike seem too close to the clarinet and neither clarinet is putting out much color or breadth of overtones. Both sound too covered, even muffled, to me.
Charles Neidich plays from the same Brahms piece on a Schwenk & Seggelke copy of Richard Muhlfeld's own clarinet in the following video. The original Muhlfeld clarinet was made by Georg Ottensteiner according to a plan proposed by Carl Baermann and, as Neidich points out, it combines intense coloration (a wonderful overtone profile) with a feather-like lightness. This pre-Oehler German instrument, with German mouthpiece and string ligature, may be the closest we can come to conceiving how Muhlfeld sounded when he played Brahms and what the German Romantic clarinet was all about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYH4vZzqDk.
Post Edited (2017-01-03 02:10)
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Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-10 14:59
As a Boehm player I recently tried the German and Austrian systems. Concerning fingerings, within a few weeks the Mozart concerto was manageable, with some passages even easier on the German/Austrian system. I also liked very much the greater possibility of altering tuning with your right hand fingers while playing left hand notes (thanks to the missing linkeage between the upper and lower joint).
However, when moving on to the Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie I got really discouraged, with sliding between keys in several of the fastest passages. You who play on the German system, how do you manage these passages? Are you just skipping some notes, or changing them to others - which would hardly be noticed by an audience, considering the speed?
Anyway, based on this experience, I would't say that the German system fingering is just slightly more diffficult, but vastly more difficult. At least if you want to be able to play all of the more or less standard repertoaire for clarinet.
Adressing the original question in this thread, I've noticed in German clarinet forums that many German players are changing to the Boehm system, primarly because of the easier fingering. On the other hand, many German orchestras accept only German system players, so those heading for a professional career are probably sticking to the German system. Thus I believe it will not become extinct, not at least in the foreseeable future. Adding to this is the more or less general opinion that a true German sound isn't possible to achieve with Boehm fingered instruments, regardless of the bore type.
dorjepismo: Which mouthpiece are you using with your 1010's? Have you ever tried Austrian bore (typically 15,0 to 15,4 in diameter and cylindrical) clarinets with Boehm fingering, as made by some of the Hammerschmidt's (Otmar, Frank or Karl) or Martin Foag? If so, how did they compare to your 1010's, regarding sound and tuning?
Micke Isotalo (still playing on Wurlitzer Reform Boehm's)
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-10 15:24
Micke, Debussy is not a problem at all. I just play it as it should be and never skip or change any notes (nobody does!). Sliding takes a little time to get used to (for the muscle of your little fingers). You can also watch this recording played by Sebastian Manz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTjyldSaioM
Furthermore, on Boehm system, there are some "mission impossible" passages without sliding, e.g., G#, D#, C and G#. Please also note flute, oboe, bassoon, saxophone all have sliding fingerings and I am sure flute players have some much faster passages than Debussy.
Post Edited (2016-12-11 01:00)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-10 20:12
Micke, I'm playing an Ed Pillinger "45a," with a facing about 21mm long and an opening of about 1.16mm. Haven't ever had the chance to play one of the reform Boehms, but hope to pay a visit to Bamberg early next year. When I got the mouthpiece and talked a little about instruments, the ones Ed spoke most highly of were a set of Seggelkes previously played by Alan Hacker, and he makes mouthpieces for those. S&S will make a reform Boehm with a forked Bb and, consequently, no linkage between the joints. The left hand fingers are more evenly spaced with that option. I'm hoping to explore whether they'll also make one with their "Viennese bore," since they'll do that with the Oehlers. I wasn't overly pleased with the Oehler Hammerschmidts I had, but have never heard of Martin Foag. Have you played any clarinets by him?
I had a chance to try a Bb by Peter Eaton and compare it with my 1010 Bb. I think he's correct in saying that he's improved the tuning, and possibly the response as well. 1010s aren't horrible, but you do have to pay constant attention to the tuning. Peter doesn't do the "action" vent, though, and I really like it. S&S will happily fill the entire instrument with vent keys, as long as you're willing to pay for them and are very handy with a screwdriver.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-11 02:36
Is the Strauss Oboe Concerto easier on an Oehler system than it is on a Boehm system?
That's the only reason I can think of why Richard Strauss may have used a Bb clarinet throughout even though the 1st and 3rd movements are in Concert D Major where you'd expect it to be scored for an A clarinet instead.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-11 02:47
On some instrumentation books they say modern clarinet is good enough to play up to 4 sharps/flats easily. If the key has more, then it would better to arrange rest time for players to change clarinet.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-11 03:44
I don't think Strauss cared how hard something is to play; he wrote for the sound he wanted. When you mostly conduct Vienna, Berlin, Munich, and Dresden, you don't sweat the small stuff.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-11 03:54
Unless he was advised by an orchestral clarinettist to score it for (Oehler system) Bb if they felt it lay under the fingers better on that instrument.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-12 08:34
Don't know, but would defer to Occam's razor. Had a composition teacher who grew up in Vienna before the war and had to leave on account of being Jewish, who made a big deal of how modern clarinet makers try to make A, Bb, and C clarinets sound similar, but the old way of thinking about them wanted them to sound different in order to get the different tone colors. There was another thread some months ago that went over this issue, and I find myself agreeing with the folks who said that when you get to Strauss and Mahler, or Bartok for that matter, they differentiated between the A sound and the Bb sound, and wrote for the sound they wanted, because the people they worked with could play it either way.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-13 10:37
So will it be Buffet world domination in 2050? Presuming the world is still a habitable place by then.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2016-12-13 12:25
DavidBlumberg wrote:
> Boehm-reform is on it's way out also.
Probably. I compared the Reform Boehm clarinets from Leitner & Kraus and Swenck & Seggelke with their 'French' models and I was really impressed with the French clarinet of Swenck & Seggelke. If I ever want to invest a large amount of money on clarinets these would be a serious option. No more Reform Boehm for me anymore.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-13 17:35
You do notice on the S&S website that their audio clips are from the French bore models and the Oehlers, not the RBs. They've certainly done very well with Shirley Brill, who is a fantastic player.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-12-13 19:18
The regular French Boehm is less fussy, requires less adjustment, and is cheaper to manufacture, so it will probably predominate for a long time in worldwide sales and distribution over both the Oehler and the Reformed Boehm.
But there will always be some players, among them, a certain percentage of the gifted and elite, who will prefer to play some variety of the Oehler or near-Oehler German clarinet. I'm not sure any of us really want to see Sabine Meyer, Wenzell Fuchs, and Andreas Ottensamer switch to Boehms.
Post Edited (2016-12-16 06:08)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-12-13 20:24
Seabreeze: Just a word to say that Boehm clarinets are not synonymous with Buffet. That said, long live the German clarinet!
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-12-13 22:27
Ruben said, the Boehm clarinet is not synonymous with Buffet. Don't I know! I'm playing Yamahas these days in defiance of anything I ever thought I would do, and liking it. But I'm sure Buffet would like Thesaruses in every language to put their name first in the list of synonyms for Boehm clarinet (if thesaruses ventured into such musical trivia).
I'd say, Long live both clarinets, German and French!
Post Edited (2016-12-14 06:32)
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2016-12-14 15:20
David Spiegelthal,
I'll chime in on the German bass clarinet, which I used to play briefly at one point. The German bass clarinet is even more highly endangered than its soprano counterparts due a number of reasons:
1. Price: Oehler basses made by reputable German makers cost at least 1.5 times(Adler, Hueyng) as much as their Boehm counterparts, and can go up to more than twice the cost(Wurlitzer, S&S). Investing 10k on Boehm horn is already huge, investing more than 15k on an Oehler horn would be even more undesirable. The staple brand of German bass reed is also a more expensive than a Boehm bass reed, though other less expensive brands are gradually entering the market.
2. Remote sources of accessories: While Oehler Bb reeds and mouthpieces are available in in some regions outside Germany/Austria/Netherlands, Oehler bass reeds and mouthpieces are only sold within these countries, which makes sourcing them a lot more difficult.
3. Preferences: The staple make of German bass reeds(unnamed due to discreet reasons) IMO sound rather thin and small, adding to the fact that the Oehler basses have a much smaller bore(~19.5mm) than the Boehm basses(~23mm). Thus the common belief that Oehler basses cannot project as well as Boehm bass(though not always true).
4. Boehm domination: Since players around most of the world outside Germany/Austria play Boehm system, and a number of them have prejudices against the German system, finding a teacher who plays an Oehler clarinet is very difficult. With this trend continuing, more and more people are discouraged from trying the Oehler system, which accelerated its decreasing popularity.
FYI the Oehler bass I came across was a certain brand(unnamed due to discreet reasons) that was at a lower price. With a good setup it has a lovely tone, but the ergonomics was mediocre. I have yet to try an Oehler horn made by Wurlitzer, Adler or any other reputable makers.
With all that being said, I do hope that Oehler clarinets can continue to co-exist with Boehm clarinets.
Josh
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2016-12-15 22:46
the oehler clarinet and bass in my view will not last more than fifty years...cost of manufacture...wood..reed production and mouthpiece for one specific market is going to be a strong breaking point in the possible demise. I love the sound of the oehler clarinet system but after buying and using one realized I much prefer performing on a boehm clarinet over the german system. As for listening to my preference that is a different matter. regulation on the keywork as well as pad installation on oehler clarinets is also alot more time consuming and tedious and very dependent on a good product made for that market. I assume it can only go from quite bad to very bad very soon....
David Dow
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-12-16 00:04
You look at online German music stores, and there's a full line of both systems, although most of the top Oehler instruments are only available used in shops, since you have to buy new ones directly from the maker. So, a fair number of young German players are probably going with Boehm clarinets. I wonder what the breakdown is in orchestras by tuning, and how many young German clarinetists are playing outside Germany and Austria. Can't really predict the future of the instruments without knowing how young players feel.
After Boosey & Hawkes stopped making clarinets in 1984, Peter Eaton acquired the business and the rights to make 1010s, and he still sells everything he can make, though there might not be a shopful of apprentices ready to carry it on. I wouldn't be writing the Oehlers' obituary quite yet, anyway. Look at the Vienna oboe. Cultural artifacts can generate a lot of loyalty. Regardless of the fingering system, the dynamic of going to a shop with one or two masters and some apprentices to get an instrument instead of ordering from a corporation or middle-person is awfully attractive, though rarely inexpensive.
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Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2016-12-16 00:39
I really like the analogy that Boehm is windows PC and German system is Mac. Yes, Boehm is cheap and it is used everywhere in the world, but German system is used by Berlin Phil and Vienna Phil, two orchestras which are generally considered to be the best two in the world. Once a time, most people also considered Mac was going to die and only very few companies were developing software for Mac. However, nowadays more and more people (even in developing countries) begin to use Mac although it is still much more expensive; it is still only sold in Apple stores or some authorised stores but not in common computer stores; it still doesn't have as many software as Windows (like accessories for German system). Thus in my opinion, we probably should predict the future by judging which type of instruments is better at doing music (not price, accessories, repair etc.), particularly some objective points, like intonation, dynamic range, easy to play high notes, easy to play quarter notes etc. I personally don't care about the sound difference, but I notice some people here even insist that we should use C clarinet to play some Beethoven because of the sound composer intended. Due to these people, I gather German system must have a very bright future, just considering which type of clarinet sound inspired Brahms to write his clarinet pieces.Did he ever hear the sound of Boehm clarinet? Or did he know there is another type of clarinet? If he knows, I would imagine there is a chance he would write down "Op. 114/115/120, for GERMAN clarinet" like he did for the horn trio (for natural horn).
Post Edited (2016-12-16 01:41)
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Author: modernicus
Date: 2016-12-20 19:52
@Ruben/seabreeze- In regards to Boehm system and Buffet being being synonymous Well, since one branch of the Buffet family invented the Boehm clarinet and Buffet Crampon has been making them the since the 1850s...(my main clarinet is a Yamaha FWIW, I am just an amateur dabbler so it doesn't matter...)
Post Edited (2016-12-20 21:17)
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The Clarinet Pages
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