 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2025-08-10 01:43
Obviously, because the wood and walls are less dense. But ... why? I have two instruments like this: an old "Winged Globe" Selmer (guessing about 1910) and a Dolnet Lefevres et Pigis pre-1900. Also my JTL clarinet is light. On each of these, the wood is so smooth and "shiny" that one has to look twice to make sure it is not ebonite.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-08-10 01:58
It can also have to do with the metal the keys are made of.
Karl
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Author: RBlack
Date: 2025-08-10 09:56
The keywork also tends to be thinner and “less beefy” I find
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Author: ruben
Date: 2025-08-10 10:13
I have a Hammerschmidt clarinet from around 1890. It is definitely lighter and its sound is also light. It's exactly the one Mulfeldt (spelling?) used for the Brahms Sonatas. Maybe it's thinner-walled. Unfortunately, I'm not used to playing the German system, so I don't often play it.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: paulyb
Date: 2025-08-10 17:04
I was curious so I weighed and measured my "modern" Bb (a Buffet DG from the mid 1990s) and a Cabart Bb from around 1920.
DG: 750g, outer diameter 29mm
Cabart: 695g, outer diameter 28.5mm
The Cabart feels much lighter when playing but it's only about 7% lighter in reality. Doing some basic calculations*, the 0.5mm difference in outer diameter explains about 5% of the weight difference.
The keys on the Cabart are definitely less "beefy" but it does have a little bit of extra keywork (four LH rings). And obviously things like bore flare and bell design could make a difference as well.
Do most modern clarinets have thicker walls than older ones (I know the Recital has particularly thick walls but what about other clarinets)?
Paul.
* Assuming the same bore size, uniform cylindrical shape, identical wood density... This is definitely an estimate but it gives us a ballpark figure.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2025-08-10 19:24
The Selmer Privilège is pretty heavy, though not as heavy as the Recitale. On the other hand, it has a rather heavy sound whereas the Recitale has a very soft, somewhat German sound.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2025-08-10 23:32
I doubt that the wood on early clarinets was less dense. As we know, the quality of grenadilla being used in the early 20th century was higher than is commonly used today - so if anything it might be denser. But probably this is a small factor, and the following example indicates that it's basically about dimensions:
1982 R13. 749g including barrel but no mouthpiece. Bore 14.76 mm. Width of top of lower joint 29.30 mm
1936 Buffet. 715g. Bore 14.91 mm. Width of top of lower joint 28.88 mm
A decent guess is that the weight should scale in proportion to the square of the width minus the square of the bore, i.e. proportional to the cross-sectional area. And it does:
Weight ratio: 749/715 = 1.048
Area ratio: (29.3^2 - 14.76^2) / (28.88^2 - 14.91^2) = 1.047
This doesn't address why makers have tended to move towards thicker walls. You might guess it affects the sound via "thinner wall = brighter." But I also have a 1959 R13 that is slightly smaller than 1982 (734g), and it has a much less bright sound than either 1982 or 1936. So there's much more to it than just quantity of wood.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-08-11 00:14
I think my 1958 full Boehm Selmer CT Bb weighs about the same as a Recital Bb with standard 17/6 keywork as Recitals are built like tanks.
You can definitely see that older Selmers (RI/BT/CT) have much more dainty keywork compared to more recent ones from the late '70s onwards (10S/Prologue/Artyss/Odyssey/etc).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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