Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-06-17 03:09
My own experience - fwiw - is that Backuns in general will probably sound "rounder" (if that's a word that has musical meaning) but your Fobes will seem more "powerful" (louder?). But if all else (tuning and response) is equal, then you should have another set of ears tell you which is "rounder" or "more powerful" because you really can't tell what's being transmitted through the air. Your eardrums get a significant part of the sound you hear of your own playing through bone conduction.
One other thought, if you've limited your comparison only to Fobes and Backun, is that, while I think Clark Fobes uses a fairly consistent bore in his barrels, the several Backuns I have (from many years ago, so I don't know about newer ones) vary considerably in entry and exit bore sizes. In fact, when I bought them, he didn't identify them as A or Bb barrels (Fobes does) - out of a sample of 12 barrels, some would work better on an A clarinet and some on a Bb clarinet, depending on the actual bore configurations of each barrel. So, if this is still the case, be very careful about tuning over the entire scale. It would be better to have more than one Backun to try, especially since he makes several external shapes and uses, I think, at least three different woods.
And one more thought: IMO if you're looking for the most bang for your buck in terms of timbre and power, you'd probably get more choice out of comparing mouthpieces than barrels. Barrels can influence the sound you produce, but the influence of the mouthpiece coupled with reed choice is much greater.
Karl
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The Clarinet BBoard
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