 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2019-07-24 04:36
Has anyone played the Backun Alpha and Beta clarinets? I'm about to have one of each shipped out to me to play test.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-07-24 13:35
I've tried a few of the Alpha and they are really good. I'd say if you were looking for a solution to what instrument to buy for no more than $1000 US dollars that would be the answer.
I have never tried the wood version but I don't really see the point. What I mean by that is that I am completely sold on the idea that the variability to the dimensions of wood (tone hole roundness, bore roundness etc) between the time a clarinet is manufactured and the time you play test it (and beyond) is part of what makes some clarinets play less desirably than others, or "blow out" years later. When there is a viable, non-wood option, I'd go with that.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: TomS
Date: 2019-07-30 06:40
I own a Backun Alpha as an outdoor backup. Lightweight for when your arms get tired. Tuning is good. Workmanship is very good. Seems to have more resistance/warmer/stuffier than my Ridenour Lyrique Libertas or Buffet R13.
I don't like the way the RH pinky keys are adjusted ... I gotta get it in to the shop and have things bent and fixed ...
Good horn ... but check out Tom Ridenour's clarinets, too ...
Hard rubber, some plastics and greenline composites have better stability and forgiveness ... and you can get clean tone-holes which encourages the use of cork pads (a plus, IMHO).
Tom
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Author: YT
Date: 2019-07-30 14:32
I have an Backun Alpha as a backup clarinet, I think it's a really good instrument with great intonation and it's really worth the price...
Yannick
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Author: gwie
Date: 2019-07-30 18:47
I have a Backun Alpha to use for outdoor performances--got a store demo for just over $500, and it's wonderful. Some of the parents of my beginning students have opted to get an Alpha for them right off the bat, and it really helps having such a good instrument right away.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2019-10-25 05:57
How have you Alpha owners/players found the altissimo intonation to be?
Mine seems to be variable but mostly quite flat above high D. I am using various MPs, but mostly Evolution/440 and 3.5-4.0 Pilgerstrofer Dolce or Reserve Classic 3.0-3.5 ... Might going to the 442 version of the MP help the pitch (with a little more pulling)?
One Backun dealer that I spoke to today, really liked the Alpha, but stated that the stock barrels are not the best and that I might help my intonation with a Backun Traditional barrel.
I don't hear much about the Alpha, Beta or Protege anymore ... hopefully they are still selling well ... I played a "Q" for a while the other day and it was quite nice.
Tom
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Author: fernie121
Date: 2019-10-25 06:50
I do not own an Alpha and have not played on one for extended periods of time but I did try a friend’s Alpha once. Sounded great, and even better when I stuck my Behn Svelte barrel (Hard Rubber) on. Maybe the Alpha was made with aftermarket barrels in mind? Just a thought. But it would be a shame to have a clarinet to play outside and that is stable, just to throw a wood barrel into the mix.
Post Edited (2019-10-25 06:50)
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Author: TomS
Date: 2019-10-25 16:54
Yes, I agree ... a more stable material would be the better option, than wood ... but you just need about 100 to try ... but I have tentatively (waiting on stock to come in) ordered a Backun traditional in black wood ... because of the dealers recommendation.
That's why I like clarinets like the Lyrique 576/Speranza and Lyrique Libertas and the Alpha. No worries about them. You can forget them for months at a time and come back later ... if the little bugs didn't eat the pads, more than likely you can start where you left off. And, IMHO, the timbre is first rate ... not convinced that wood has any redeeming features ...
Tom
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Author: gwie
Date: 2019-10-25 21:25
I've liked all the Alphas that my students have picked up, and I have one as a backup horn. For the price, I think it is the best plastic clarinet out there, and far better than any of their competitors.
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Author: Kalashnikirby
Date: 2019-10-25 21:41
I wouldn’t necessarily agree. The Buffet Prodige is pretty great, too, if not better and also benefits from a barrel upgrade. It is such a good horn that it surely makes the E11 obsolete (they’re using their worst wood on that one, anyways).
Personally, I found the altissimo on the Prodige less problematic.
That said, these are fine examples of how good plastic can be. One can keep these for a looong time before seriously “needing” to upgrade and it should be at least something like an E13 or Yamaha CSVR (well, the 650 is a nice horn, too)
Don’t even consider the YCL 250 though. It just cannot compete with the Backun or Buffet.
ABS does seem to have its limitations; even greenline clarinets: in a direct comparison between the greenline RC and its wooden counterpart, the greenline couldn’t exactly keep up...
Best regards
Christian
Post Edited (2019-10-25 21:45)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-10-25 22:10
I have not had this experience with the Greenline vs. wood. I had many occasions in the US Army Band program to make direct comparisons between R13 wood and Geenline in practice, rehearsal and performance. There is a slight difference up close (in our own bubble) where one might perceive a bit more upper partial strength (as when you try a ringless barrel over your ringed barrel) but NOT a difference in what projects.
Personally I prefer the constancy of pitch over time (tone holes and bore NOT going out of round) that the Greenline material offers to the vagaries of wood.
Hmmmmm............
so maybe there IS a difference between wood and Greenline
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: Kalashnikirby
Date: 2019-10-25 23:02
Well, the Greenline material has great potential. It’s just that in my test with another listener, we both liked the grenadilla one better, in that it had a softer and richer tone.. Then again, the difference is marginal and one has to wonde r how grenadilla can still be the material of choice in the 21st century.
No, from afar, there’s no telling which one projects better.
Discussing this in real life is minefield, because most will desperately defend grenadilla and deny any possibilities of composites eventually replacing that relatively fragile and changing material. Many aren’t even aware of greenline and only really know cheap, old ebonite instruments. So I do appreciate your comments, Paul. I’ll say as much: In the dental world, there’s been a plethora of different composites and they can be modified to an extreme extent.
With mopane and cocobolo (somewhat) trending right now, I wonder how these clarinets will do after decades.
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Author: fernie121
Date: 2019-10-25 23:58
Something to consider is that not all hard rubber is the same. Brad Behn makes excellent mouthpieces using hard rubber that have some very special tonal characteristics that most other rubber mouthpieces of today do not. Perhaps a hard rubber clarinet, or plastic one at that, with a special formulation dedicated to the best tonal outcome for making a full clarinet can mean something that sounds better than wood.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2019-10-26 19:10
Less dense material, usually has a warmer sound ... plastics and hard rubber, for example. My greenline, being very dense, has a more compact, concentrated sound ... I think. Depends on sunspots and what I had for breakfast.
I may have provoked a fight ...
Pertaining to hard rubber, there is some evidence that even adding the black pigmentation actually is detrimental to the tone ... or, at least, perceptually changes it.
If we decide that material causes only subtle variation in timbre, then we should seek out and use the best material in terms of stability, consistency, durability.
On the Alpha versus the MOBA, and talking about performance only, what can you do to justify a ten-fold difference in price? It costs no more to put the tone holes in the correct place.(??) Over and undercutting can be automated, at least to "pitcher's mound" standard. The only touch-labor is the fitting/adjustment of the keys, and it's just a matter of time before a million-dollar robot can do these tasks perfectly. As far as the key-work on my Alpha, its better and less problematic than my R13. It's also better in tune, has a more even timbre and blowing resistance. Why put up with the R13? Well, I like the ping and ring, for some occasions.
Backun made a monster product with the Alpha. I'd like a "Hyper-Alpha" with a little more esoteric refinement, if that's possible ... but I'd only pay just a little more.
Tom Ridenour has a monster as well, IMHO, with the Lyrique instruments. Hat's off to Tom.
Tom
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