Author: seabreeze
Date: 2019-06-28 16:07
Buffet, along with Selmer and Penzel-Mueller, was, for many years, a major producer of Albert System clarinets. Most of the early New Orleans Jazz clarinetists played Alberts in those brands rather than the original Belgian E. Albert brand or German and Austrian brands, which do not seem to have been widely available in the US. Of course, since Buffet developed the Boehm clarinet (in collaboration with H. Kose) and marketed the Klose system as an improvement, the Buffet name would become strongly associated with it.
In today's diversified global market, clarinet players in any given country might play any brand or model instrument. Vandoren makes a wide variety of German and Austrian style mouthpieces; Japanese players buy quite a number of German system and Oehler instruments; and Yamaha and Leblanc already produce and market German style clarinets. German players no longer necessarily use long, close facings, and many play French style reeds. It will be interesting to see if Selmer also jumps into the fray with a German system instrument as well.
For the German Tosca to compete with the hand made German instruments diligent and dependable quality control will be essential. Price point will also be a big factor in the success or failure of this instrument. Let's hope that the German Tosca motivates Buffet to improve its quality control and set-ups, and that improvement eventually transfers to their Boehm instruments as well!
Post Edited (2019-06-28 21:03)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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