 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Nic
Date: 2002-03-10 04:04
I have a solid silver clarinet that I am really attached to that sounds pretty good. It has exellent responce due to my John Pierce jazz mouthpiece.its fine when I use it in a swing band, but when it comes to playing classical music, I get a lot of negative comments from festival judges, as well as my band director about it like, "turn it into a lamp!," "why is he your first?", and "melt it down and sell the silver!" and other insulting things that insult both myself and my clarinet. What is so wrong about playing a silver clarinet?
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2002-03-10 04:16
Nic
I mostly play metal clarinets and collect them. What model do you have? Unless
it is a Haynes (which were double walled) it is silver plated. If it was originally sold
as a pro model, then it may be plated over a nickel compound. Otherwise, it likely is
silver plated over brass.
Based on the dozen or so that I have restored, my impression is that they tend to
have a more flexible tone than most current clarinets, which is good for jazz and
blues. The tone, however, tends to be a little more uneven than modern instruments
and unless your ear is dead on and you are excellent at lipping notes, chances are
you are a little out of pitch on some notes. These factors may result in you not
blending as well as you might.
All that said, chances it is also possible that folks wouldn't be able to tell the
difference if they listened with their eyes closed. There are many old postings (both
the the BBS & the list) to the effect that the clarinet itself doesn't vibrate and
therefore it doesn't matter what it is made out of. Possible the smoothness of the
inside surface makes a difference. Mostly, the design and quality make the
difference.
Best luck
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-03-10 04:49
A large majority of the metal clarinets that were produced were student grade instruments aimed at the student/marching band market and have since acquired the reputation that they are not suitable in the concert hall.
However, as was mentioned several times on this bulletin board, there were some (eg: Silva-Bet made by Cundy-Bettoney, Silver King made by HN White, Selmer pro model) that were of much higher quality and intergrity. They are just not as commonly found as the majority of poor grade metal clarinets that do surface.
Due to the high percentage of "junk" horns that were metal and given poor student mouthpieces they have now all been saddled with this "group" reputation.
Anytime you do play a metal clarinet in public, you will most likely get a "make a lamp out of it" comment from some dolt who is trying for a cheap laugh.
If you enjoy your metal clarinet, play it proudly (and in tune, please) and prove the majority of disbelievers wrong.
Go get'em...GBK
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-03-10 05:01
Hi, Nic
What's wrong with playing a metal clarinet, you ask?
I've been tooting metal clarinets for a long time and generally I find nothing at all 'wrong' with them. I alternate between wood and metal horns, depending on the occassion, weather conditions and which horn is working well at the time etc. No one has given me any static. Once in a while I get a funny comment like, 'Did that thing come over on the Mayflower?' 'What kinda horn is *that*?' 'Are you a plumber in real life?'
When I explain that it's a clarinet most people smile, nod knowingly while commenting something like, 'yeah, it sounds like a clarinet.'
All my instruments are Alberts which makes them no better, or no worse (depending on your point of view, I guess), than other random clarinets you might pick out of a lineup somewhere.
Actually, the metal ones are a wee bit more dependable.
I don't mind, even enjoy, people's comments on my instrument(s). It's when they comment on my performance that I perk up and take serious mental notes. Most of the time it's favorable :]
I don't pretend to know much or assume I've seen it all but, as Jim says, most (common) metal woodwind instruments are plated or lacquered brass except for very expensive flutes. I've never seen a silver clarinet - if, indeed, such a thing exists. They might.
To sum up this rambling; it doesn't matter what they say about your instrument(s). It's what they feel - (in your case, how they grade you, I guess) - about your playing that counts.
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Author: willie
Date: 2002-03-10 05:34
I got the same comments about my "lightning rods" at the local college when I brought them in so our first chair could take them to her school and show them to her clarinet section there. The Professor there has high standards and a darned good ear. How ever I ended up using my Elkhart during that rehearsal as my "acceptible wooden" horn got real stuffy after warm ups. He didn't notice what I was using till the end when on the last piece when he had us play a tricky part as he watched. He sorta smiled and said "not bad". I recommend trying as many mouthpieces as posible on that metal horn to find what works best on it and for you. My Elkhart seems to do its best on an old VD 2RV, whereas my Holton plays better with an old white plastic Rene Dumont from my junk box. As for my Olds, I haven't found a cure for it yet.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-03-10 09:31
1. They bend very easily. (Long, narrow, thin-walled tube ppunched with weakening holes.)
2. When they bend it is likely the soldering of tone holes is compromised. On some models corrosion does this without the instrument needing to be bent.
3. In resoldering a tone hole the solder of neighbouring ones deteriorates.
But that is entirely a repairer's perspective.
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-03-11 04:08
Gordon, would your comments also apply to saxes (esp the soprano) and to flutes?
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Author: Anne Moses
Date: 2002-03-11 04:51
Well, another corrupted clarinet player! I love my metal clarinets. I am a beginning player, but a great "ear" since I buy and sell clarinets and euphoniums as my business. My Conn Pro has a great sound, but I found that putting on white calf pads made it sound rich, and less bright. It is a bit unforgiving about finger placement, but the dead-on tone is fabulous. The copmplete overhaul got some forgiveness back. And the sneezy crowd helped me with that pad choice. Thanks guys.
I just got a Holton made during WWII, allegedly used in the Navy band, then sold to my friend Jim, the now retired Band Studies professor at U LA, Lafayette. He really took good care of his baby, and I like the sound a lot. Not as fast as the Conn, but very even in all registers. I'm trying artifical material pads on this when necessary.
I have spent hours seeking the perfect mouthpiece for each. The Holton came with an acrylic Selmer. Great. And the Conn definitely needs a larger opening. I tried a JB, but it seemed too large. The right mp makes all the difference. The Pete Fountain crystal is just ok.
I walk proudly at my winter home here in Tampa. That Conn sloves a lot of weather issues. Stand tall!
Anne
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-03-11 08:45
Jim: Nost of a soprano sax body is considerably larger in diameter than a flute, which is larger than a clarinet.
There is a weak point in the middle of the flute at G# tone hole, where there are holes on either side. A flute quite easily folds and creases here, but I think it is still stronger than a metal clarinet, perhaps because cupronickel (most flutes) is stronger than brass (most metal clarinets?)
But yes, all these instruments acquire a banana shape if they are sat on while on a bed. I have straightened many soprano saxes over my knee - VERY easily. And the odd metal clarinet I have seen bends considerably more easily.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-03-11 14:35
Nic -
Gaston Hamelin, a great player and principal in Boston about 80 years ago, played a silver clarinet and, I think, made the very first recording of the Debussy Premiere Rhapsody on it.
Alexander Williams, who became principal in the NBC Symphony under Toscanini, played a silver Eb clarinet in the New York Philharmonic. I recently one just like it, and it's excellent.
Play yours with pride. The people who mock you mock themselves.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: beejay
Date: 2002-03-12 18:29
At the last music fair in Paris (Musicora), Buffet Crampon were exhibiting Greenline clarinets in several colors, including silver.
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2002-03-18 05:02
exhibit A on bent metal clarinets
<herf=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=852105659>
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2002-03-18 05:03
ok, that didn't work. How about
herf=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=852105659
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