 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-12-08 16:09
I am looking for comments and anecdotes about the Buffet R-13 Vintage clarinet that came out in the mid ‘90s (I think).
Mine has a sound that I best can describe as a well rounded golden tone. It is not extremely dark although it is not at all a bright sound. It comes with two barrels. One is a V2 while the other is a V. The V is much brighter than the V2. If I remember correctly, the V2 emulates the Moennig and the V emulates the Chadash.
With the understanding that all tones are to be judged subjectively by the listener, I found that when our band director filled in for a missing clarinet part on his R-13 of many years of age, he sounded good, but not as good as when he tried my Vintage. He noted that the altissimo F6 is flat as I relate below.
(My first reaction was: Why can't I make it sound like that. My second reaction was to try to find a way to have already played for 30 or so years as a professional clarinetist practicing perhaps up to four hours a day.)
Tone is the primary concern I had when looking for a new clarinet. The Vintage is a little longer and the lower keys seem just a tad lower requiring a little bit more of a reach. The left hand F/C key is somewhat lower too. It can be raised by bending it (by a professional) but it still feels a little uncomfortable to get to. If you are a woodworker and like fine furniture, you will like the visible grain of the Vintage. One of the barrels is almost rosewood in color.
Having said that, I am having a great deal of trouble with intonation. It could be that when I was playing my old Evette-Schaefer I was playing the second clarinet part and not going much above G5. Now in the second chair of the first clarinet part, I am up there and higher a lot. There is a lot of the discord wavy sounds as I try to keep the instrument from playing sharp above C5 until the altissimo where it seems to go flat at D6 and above. It seems to play in tune beautifully in the lower register. There is not much natural buzz in the lower notes.
It could very well be that I am still biting too hard notwithstanding the effort to change my embouchure from a tight smile to an Ooooohhh with an EEE inside. I have been trying the double lip exercisers and that is lowering the tone some.
But aside from my inherent tendencies to play sharp (on a VanDoren B45), I notice that the notes do not seem to be in tune with each other.
D4 and A6 seem very stuffy on long, sustained notes. Db4 and Ab4 are also stuffy.
E4 and B6 and going a half step flat by the side key or the chromatic key are all focused. But they are stuffy and slightly flat when the bridge is used.
F6 (altissimo) is flat where most of the notes I play are sharp. I have to bite hard to try to get it in key. G6 is also a little flat.
Other Vintages I tried also had these characteristics.
Mine was further undercut at either the C4 or the D4 hole and the bell was opened at the top to emulate the bell of a Festival (or was it a Prestige). It did not correct the tonality of these notes. The undercutting seemed to lessen the focus of the low B3.
Changing reeds only effects the whole of the instruments and does not affect the individual problems.
While considering what I have related, please understand that some of the problems could be my playing technique. While I had thought about making a warranty claim and getting a new horn, I decided to work more on me and wait until the year is almost up to see if that makes a difference.
I am very much interested in what experiences or anecdotes anyone else has had with the R-13 Vintage.
C@p
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Author: Ken
Date: 2001-12-08 22:03
A "true" self-professed, and professional clarinetist regardless of equipment will inherantly and eventually sound like "themselves" regardless of what equipment or set-up they play on. Your problems have nothing to do with the instrument -- it's you're inability to adapt and ability to negotiate the required on-the-spot pitch, fingerings and tonal adjustments. Your role, whatever the pay gig is, and as a "paid professional" is to take command of the horn and musical setting you're in ... and not letting "IT" take command of you. With any luck the phone will then ring again.
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-12-09 14:49
Ken
If I read your post correctly, each factory made horn (perhaps even regardless of price) has its own imperfections and idiosyncracies and it the responsibility of each clarinetist to work with his or her horn of choice until the unfavorable features of the horn are understood and over come by the musician.
I am not a professional clarinetist and from what I read on this board, I can still make improvements in my sound and technique but I am not to expect too much at the age of 60 or while trying to make a living at a time consuming job that does not allow for time and or energy to put in three or more hours a day in practice. That does not stop me from dreaming that one day I will have far better command of the horn and the music than I have now. My primary attitude has been adopted by me in part from the substance of what I was told by Lisa at IMS: "Music should be fun. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn. It brings you in contact with a lot of nice people." To learn more about me (if that is what you really would like to do), check around the 20th post at Sneezy http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=60751&t=60580.
Now, with all that being said, I am still wondering about the experiences anyone else has had with this horn. For example, if they had the same problems, maybe there was a correction made by a good clarinet technician; maybe there is an alternate fingering that can be suggested.
One comment I had from Larry Combs yesteday at his IMS clinic after he heard me play was that he did not hear the problem as being the problem I thought it was. I took away from our conversation that when playing scales quickly, no one can concetrate on the tone. When sustaining one of the less than perfect notes, it might not sound perfectly but it still sounds OK. He showed some alternative fingerings for A5 and reviewed the one I was already using.
While I appreciate comments on the philosophy of playing and techniques of playing might be able to adopt, I am still very much interested in what experiences or anecdotes anyone else has had with the R-13 Vintage.
C@p
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-12-09 16:56
C@p -
My first Buffet was an R-13 made in about 1960, which was the same as the current Vintage model. I loved it and eventually sold it to a professional player who I think is still using it. I played several new Vintages recently at a show, and they were like slipping into a comfortable pair of old shoes. I liked them very much, though I prefer my extensively tweaked R-13 from the mid-70s.
Since I played the Vintages at a show, I couldn't check the intonation really carefully or play them in an ensemble. Like all Buffets, there's a lot of variation from instrument to instrument. However, the Vintage has a characteristic feel, because the diameter of the body is smaller than today's R-13s and because the register key placement is different, which affects the tuning and response.
If you've had holes undercut and the bell altered, you probably won't be able to get a warranty exchange. You need to make do, have further alterations made or find another instrument.
If you have the money and want something noticeably better, Greg Smith and the Brannens offer Buffets picked out by Greg, "Brannenized" and supplied with a mouthpiece and Chadash barrel picked out by Greg for that particular instrument. I don't know what they charge for this, but it should be close to the approximately $2,000 you would pay to buy a new R-13, have the Brannens set it up and buy a mouthpiece and barrel from Greg. Christmas is almost here. If I were in need of a new instrument, I'd at least try one of these as a present to myself.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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