Author: echi85
Date: 2017-03-20 23:28
Bob,
I think you are well known and respected in the clarinet community and certainly on this board. I am very grateful for the reed work you did at Rico, I still think the Rico Reserve reeds were the best commercial reed available, at least for me. I found your review of the new Yamahas to be very interesting and something I would like to pursue.
However, the claims you are making require evidence for them be taken seriously. If you have any evidence that a properly setup Buffet is more resistant than any other brand, I would love to hear and understand it. Right now, it's just conjecture.
If you take clarinet sections of the Big 5 orchestras, roughly 75% of the members are playing Buffet. If you expand to include other high paying orchestras (L.A., Detroit, San Francisco, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Minnesota), that number becomes closer to 90%. I don't think it's probable that all of these players are choosing to play highly resistant clarinets. I also think it's unlikely that all of these players are playing instruments from pre 1970. If you have any evidence contradicting this, I would love to be enlightened.
Furthermore, I can only think of one player currently playing Yamaha, 3 playing Selmers, and 4 playing Backuns. I'm sure there are more but they are vastly the minority. I don't necessarily think that the majority are always right but when the gap is this big, there must be something about Buffets that players like. Perhaps if you could tell us which orchestras are using Yamahas, without naming individual players.
I will state this again, current members of the Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic are playing Vandoren mouthpieces. I agree with many of your sentiments but that doesn't mean that they reflect reality. Many of my colleagues, myself included, have won auditions using a Vandoren mouthpiece (including the M series).
There is certainly enough room for players to play whatever they feel comfortable on, but it would be wise if we all aware of our biases and come to a discussion with minimal baggage. Generalizations of individual brands need evidence to be taken seriously.
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