Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2001-07-19 22:38
This question opens several major cans of worms, musical, social and political, not to mention financial. You haven't told us alot about your daughter's interest and ability but from what you have said, I suspect that she enjoys the instrument and band (perhaps as a social activity?) and plays reasonably well for her age (she made the wind ensemble) but music (or at least the clarinet) isn't her life ;^) (she's not sure whether she'll want to continue with band as an extra-curricular activity in college -- but be aware that there are scholarships, some quite good) and she's probably not ready to challenge for a chair in the first section yet.
As far as the clarinet is concerned (and ignoring the mouthpiece issue for the moment), the alternatives I see are:
1. a new professional clarinet (wood or greenline)
2. a used professional wood clarinet (used greenlines are, in my experience, as scarce as hens teeth and, when they do show up, they still sell for $1,200 or more and may need repair work, effectively eliminating them as a reasonable option)
3. an intermediate wooden clarinet
4. status quo (stay with the plastic instrument, perhaps with a new mouthpiece)
If your daughter is taking private lessons and you have a good relationship with her teacher, then I recommend you pose your question to her teacher and ignore all of us on the bulletin board. A good teacher who works with your daughter individually will know whether she is ready for/needs any equipment changes.
If your daughter is not taking private lessons and my assessment of her level of interest/skill is close to accurate, unless your financial situation is such that money is not an issue, I cannot recommend that you spend $1,700+ for a new professional clarinet. I don't think she's ready for that yet. (and the money you save by adopting one of the other options will buy her quite a few private lessons, if she is interested).
The second option is a good used wooden professional clarinet. If your daughter is ready for a step up, and the instrument isn't too old (say late 60's on) this is perhaps (at least in theory) the best option. The biggest obstacle (and it is a big one) is finding such an instrument at a good price. Unless you live in a large city, the selection within your immediate area at any point in time will probably not be good. The few you find at local music stores will likely be overpriced (perhaps only a couple hundred dollars less than a new one, particularly from a mail-order house) and the ones available from individual sellers are hard to evaluate, may have subtle hidden damage, and will probably need work that can add significantly to the cost. If you choose this option, it is essential that you have an experienced clarinetist along to help with the evaluation and to indicate what work is likely to be necessary and what it will cost. If your daughter is not taking private lessons (unless you play, yourself, and are comfortable evaluating instruments), you probably should forget about this option.
The fourth option I listed is to stay with the plastic instrument. If your daughter is not ready for a step-up to a professional horn, this may be the best musical/economic decision. But I'm sure you realize that the decision is not necessarily a musical one alone. Your daughter's teachers are recommending (pushing for) the wooden instrument and, as the experts (at least through her eyes), their suggestion may have alot of weight with her. If your daughter is impressionable (and she's certainly at that age) if you don't go along with their suggestion, your decision may affect your relationship with her. (You must be the judge here.) The sad thing is that your daughter may also have some fallout at school. If most of the wind ensemble members do have wooden clarinets, particularly if your daughter is only of average talent, you may find her the target of subtle discrimination by the teachers. (Unless they have worked closely with your daughter in the past, their recommendation sounds more like "wood is good and we want everyone in our wind ensemble to have it" than "I've been following your daughter's progress for some time now and I think she has reached a point where a better instrument will help her development.") There is also the issue of peer group pressure. At this point, you have to consider whether, improving the odds that she will have a good musical experience through high school isn't worth a few hundred dollars.
Which brings us back to option three, an intermediate (step-up) wooden instrument. Using Buffet's prices as a guide, a new one will probably run somewhere between around $600 (E11) and $1,300 (E13). (Selmer, Yamaha and Leblanc (Noblet) also make instruments in this range. I have no experience with these, except for a Noblet Model 45 that I like so I will limit my comments to Buffets.) I am not as much against this option as some of the earlier respondents (and some members of the Klarinet list). I own a Buffet B12 (plastic student model) and an E11 (wooden student model per Buffet but some dealers classify it as an intermediate or step-up model). I also own an older E12 and E13. (There are lots of clarinets lying around my house.) Based an admittedly small sample (the instruments I own and a couple of other B12's and E11's I have played), I consider the E11 a definite step up in quality from the B12. I can't point to any specific design differences to make it superior. It just plays better for me. There are a couple of E11's in the summer band I'm playing with this year. Their owners are good clarinetists who also have professional instruments. And their owners like the E11's very much. I also know a couple of professional musicians who use E11's as their "doubling" instrument. If you can afford $600 (less if you have someone who can evaluate a used instrument), you can buy a clarinet for your daughter that will almost certainly be some improvement on what she currently has, that (IMO) will be good enough to carry her through college in any capacity except clarinet major if she decides to keep up the instrument, and that she will be able to use as an adult in a community band. If she decides to quit next year, you will probably be able to sell it for around $400 (almost certainly not less than $300) because these instruments are in demand and hold their value, e.g., on eBay. On the other hand, if her interest takes off and she eventually needs a professional instrument, she will be older and better capable to choose an appropriate one ... and the E11 will make a good backup. BTW, I would recommend the E11 rather than the E12 or E13. For the extra $400 or so, the E12 really isn't that much of an improvement over the E11 and if you can afford the E13, an R13 would be a better choice. I would also recommend that, if you buy your daughter a wooden clarinet, keep the plastic instrument for marching band and/or outdoor bad weather performances if you can afford it.
Now (if you're still with me) to the mouthpiece. I have heard that it is not as rare as it should be for band directors (particularly those who are not clarinetists) to specify a particular mouthpiece for every clarinetist in the band. In some cases, I suspect that it is an attempt to bring everybody up to a minimum standard of quality (i have seen kids playing some real garbage and damaged garbage at that) but I have heard that, in some cases, it was a misguided attempt to assure a uniformity of sound. I agree entirely with Willie that, where mouthpieces are concerned, one size definitely does not fit all. Individual differences in clarinets, facial structures, embouchures and other physical attributes make mouthpiece selection an individual choice. The selection for someone your daughter's age and at her level, would best be performed with the help of a competent clarinetist/teacher who knows her playing well and has no conflict of interest. That said, if you can afford it, and she doesn't already have a good quality mouthpiece, the path of least resistance might be to order a few 5RV's from a mail-order house (most will let you keep three for a week trial) or go to a local store if you have a good one that does alot of business in clarinets and has good selection) and try a few, using several different reeds. According to Vandoren's specifications, the 5RV should be a fairly easy-blowing middle-of-the-road mouthpiece, so there's a good chance she will be comfortable with it. If it works for her, then keep one but, if she isn't comfortable with it, then don't buy one to satisfy the band director. On the other hand, if she's quite comfortable with her current mouthpiece and can produce a pleasant sound with it, there is probably no real reason to change it. (And you probably shouldn't consider the mouthpiece issue until you've decided what you are going to do about the clarinet.)
Two final comments. First, an earlier respondent noted that for less than the cost of a Vandoren mouthpiece, you could purchase a student model from Fobes, Hite or Pyne. I will disagree slightly with this recommendation. I would not give the Hite serious consideration at your daughter's stage of development. The Hite is an extremely close (non-resistant) mouthpiece made for new beginners. In that capacity it is an excellent mouthpiece. My daughter used one when she started and it was great. She outgrew it, however, within about two years. The Fobes is also designed for beginners but I find it somewhat more resistant. My daughter switched to a Fobes after she outgrew the Hite and was very happy with it. I have even performed on a Fobes Debut (when I didn't want to take a more expensive mouthpiece with me). IMHO, I think that if you are going to consider a plastic student mouthpiece, the Fobes will likely be a better bet than the Hite. I can't comment on the Pyne because I have never tried one. (The Vandoren is hard rubber, BTW.)
Second, be aware that, as mail order houses go, International is almost always more expensive than Muncy Winds, Woodwind and Brasswind, or Fred Weiner. (Weiner's trial period is shorter, though.) Check around. It's your money.
Well, there's my $.02
Best regards and let us know what you decide.
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