 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2023-11-02 02:52
Attachment: P1010001 - Copy.JPG (693k)
I've recently rebuilt an old 6 key Metzler Classical-era clarinet (boxwood with ivory mounts with solid cast brass keywork).
Were these clarinets pro level instruments back in the day or were they student level ones?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2023-11-02 02:55
Attachment: P1010005 - Copy.JPG (711k)
Attachment: P1010004 - Copy.JPG (606k)
The original ebony mouthpiece is beyond repair, no matter how interesting it may be what with the extra long tenon (the barrel has no bore - it's one long socket), so I substituted it with a Yamaha 4C Eb clarinet mouthpiece (which I cut grooves into so a string ligature can be used) which has a slightly narrower bore than the original mouthpiece's 14.5mm bore seems to work and tune well with the barrel pulled out by 2mm. I made a spacer which is fitted and sealed with wax in the barrel to take up the missing length of mouthpiece bore, so there's no massive step left in there between the tenons.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2023-11-02 03:20)
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2023-11-02 18:23
Wouldn't the manufacturing techniques of the day for that instrument have been predominantly by hand? Also, I'd have though only the better off section of society could afford such an item. There might not have been a pro/amateur distinction at that time.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2023-11-03 00:59
It's a much better player now it's been overhauled as before that, it only had one surviving leather pad which had a beetle larva hole in it as well as beetle larvae casings and other beetle larvae detritus under all the keys, in between the flat springs and keys and I dread to think what else in the bore. I brushed out the bore and taped up the padded toneholes to manage a lower register F and G Major scale. It's a case of finding the fingerings which tune best, but I did manage some Mozart, Weber, Beethoven as well as Rachmaninov and even 'Moonlight Serenade' on it. It tunes pretty well to 440Hz with the barrel pulled out by 2mm to bring the throat notes down to pitch. I happened to have a spare Jakob Winter German/Oehler system case which is a perfect fit for it.
I've got a much later Metzler simple system oboe in boxwood with brass keys and socket rings which has pillar mounted keywork which again I'm not sure if woodwind instruments made at this time (19th Century) were only made for professional musicians, or some makers offered less ornate or with brass instead of nickel silver keys cast in single pieces to keep the cost down for their lower price models intended for beginners. If not, then it must've been a commitment for anyone learning if they weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth (maybe there were scholarships available for them), or that privilege and instrumental music in general was only for the wealthy classes.
As far as music history in the 18th and 19th Centuries goes, there's not much talk of the lower classes being part of it, unless they're folk or street musicians playing folk instruments (and they're not always affordable), singers or something to do with the church.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2023-11-03 01:16)
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