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Re: Have Modern Clarinets Really Improved?

Author: Hugues Fardao
Date: 2021-11-28 12:29

I was talking about old horns with a sax player last summer : my old Selmer clarinet from 1931 is so easy to play when I compare to modern Selmer, and the sax player said to me he's got a '30s sax who is also very easy to play.

Was it the deal at this time ? Easy to blow and responsive ? Maybe.

But if I refer to the tuning, modern clarinets win, no doubt, the new Selmer Muse, the Selmer Récital, even a '70s or '80s 10S (and there are full Boehm 10S too), and Buffet Divine, Tradition, Tosca... I have to be careful with my tuning on my old Selmer (now I know how to play with it after one year, fortunately).

I believe clarinet is a balance, there is always somthing better in one model compare to another (tuning, clarion, low ends, resonnance, projection, free blowing or resistance, power, eveness,...). Clarinet is an extension of our mouth, our talk, our voice ; I have an awful sound with some clarinets and a great sound with others, whatever the age or price. Or maybe not awful sound, but a sound I dislike.

At least I'm sure modern clarinets from Yamaha, Buffet, Selmer, S&S, Backun... are way better when talking about tuning. When we talk about ergonomy and sound, it's a more personnal taste, and about those particuliar points one can feel old clarinet are better.

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