 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rick
Date: 2002-08-22 18:27
Just curious if anyone knows why there are not any major clarinet manufacturers making one piece (excluding bell and barrel) clarinets anymore. I did see one maker at the Musik Messe Frankfurt show displaying one piece instruments, and I know that Buffet used to make them back in the earlier part of the 20th century. Is it due to the scarcity of larger pieces of Grenadilla, potential cracking, or something else?
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Author: Eileen
Date: 2002-08-22 19:10
Most Eb clarinets are one-piece.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-08-22 21:38
Rick -
The mpingo tree grows slowly, and the old-growth trees available in the early 20th century are long gone. Large, defect free billets are rare. Also, if a single-piece clarinet cracks, you have to replace the entire body, rather than just the upper or lower joint.
Equally important, the French style bore is not completely uniform. The polycylindrical bore contracts from the top of the upper joint down to the register vent, and then gets larger. This is almost impossible to do on a one-piece body. Also, some voicers put a small bore contraction between the middle and ring fingers of the upper joint. Finally, the case has to be twice as long.
Still, Luis Rossi makes one-piece bodies, which lets the C#/G# hole be larger and lower, in the acoustically correct position. Also, the pad-covered hole attached to the right hand rings can be larger and higher. This noticeably improves the tone and intonation in this area.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-08-22 23:06
Ken - thanks, as always your responses are informed and erudite. What do you know about "alternative" woods being used in other instruments but not (seemingly) in clarinets. For example: pear wood or violet wood.
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-08-22 23:08
So, Ken, are you saying that most clarinets are now made from different pieces of tree? That seems a little odd to me, but I'm no techie. If wood clarinets are now made from several different pieces or several different trees, how does that affect their quality?
Katrina
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2002-08-23 02:43
Seamus, you're at Uiniversity of Queensland? Are you a student? Author: Seamus Kirkpatrick (---.uq.net.au) That's how I know
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-08-23 03:44
I played on a guy's Orsi G clarinet (wood) this summer. Sweet horn! I want one now...My metal Turkish G just doesn't hold a candle. This G horn was in the normal configuration though.
Anyone know a retailer for Orsis?
Katrina
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Author: piercy
Date: 2002-08-23 13:20
This is their website info:
http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/
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Author: Jean
Date: 2002-08-23 15:44
I swear by my Rossi one piece. And as my teacher says of this instrument, "Wow, this clarinet plays itself." Somehow I didn't take that as a compliment. It is a lovely instrument. If you ever have the chance to play one be sure to try it.
Jean
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Author: kenabbott
Date: 2002-08-23 17:36
I also have a Rossi one-piece in rosewood. It is a dream to play and has a very sweet sound.
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Author: javier garcia
Date: 2002-08-23 18:27
My A Clarinet is a Rossi one piece, rosewood and french bore. Rossi makes grenadilla and rosewood clarinets. He has also made clarinets with Cocobolo, but I'm not sure if he still uses this wood. He makes D, Bb and A clarinets.
My teacher, in Santiago, puts the pads on their clarinets and makes the final assembly, so I have had the opportunity to try some of them. Very, very nice horns.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-08-23 21:49
diz -
Pear is quite light and, compared to grenadilla, rather soft. I don't think it would be stable enough to make into a clarinet. Violetwood is a tropical hardwood and is used for recorders. I've never seen a clarinet made of it, but it could be good.
There are other woods used by Rossi, Howarth, Patricola and others. Bill McColl even had Buffet make a Bb/A pair out of boxwood. (Kal Opperman has played them and tells me they have a very smooth tone but aren't resonant enough for anything but small ensemble work.)
Lots of oboists use rosewood instruments. Based on recorders in rosewood and grenadilla I've played, the rosewood sound should be "woodier" and a bit less powerful, and the instrument should be noticeably lighter in weight. Rosewood is hard, but not nearly as hard as grenadilla.
Kal Opperman made me a wonderful barrel of cocuswood, which he said is even harder than grenadilla. Lots of clarinets were made of cocus up to the turn of the century. The dust is toxic, so makers don't like to work with it.
There's a tropical hardwood site somewhere on the net, with notes on the suitability of various woods for wind instruments. I'm sure there's a link from the mpingo site. GBK will know.
Kat -
Some clarinets (for example, the 1950s Selmer Omega) were advertised as having the entire instrument made from the same tree. Perhaps Rossi does that now, as I think I remember seeing the grain of his exotic wood clarinets continue on the barrel and bell. If Jean has a Rossi in rosewood, s/he will have the answer.
Frankly, as long as the wood is good quality, I don't think it matters. My Buffet R-13s are stained black, and the grain is hard to see, but from what I can tell, no two sections have matching grain.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jon Hill
Date: 2002-09-27 21:08
Katrina:
The full name is actually Professor Romeo Orsi, a 150 year-old
family company in Milan, Italy. Unfortunately, they don't distribute
in North America, which is why you don't find them in the IMS
or Woodwind & Brasswind catalogues. You can order direct from
them using their website (http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/)
and they will ship the instrument to the USA, but you would
then have to pay a customs tax, which is derived by pure black
magic since inspectors have no way of assessing the value of a
woodwind. But earlier this year I purchased a beautiful cocobola
Bb ORSI with gold plate keys for under $1200.
Here is how I beat the system. I had ORSI make a Bb in cocobola
wood with gold plate keys to order and shipped to my hotel in
Chamonix, France last February while I was on a ski vacation.
I brought it back in my suitcase & avoided the customs tax
altogether. Even though looks shouldn't matter, it's a stunningly
beautiful instrument & plays like a dream. The gold keys work
much better against rosewoods than silverplate. And don't
pay attention to what the techo-wonks say - rosewood and cocobola
clarinets do have a lighter, more lyrical sound than grenadilla
horns. ORSI also advertises a one-piece on their website, although
I don't know if it's available in cocobola. (Rossi is the only other
manufacturer currently offering the one-piece, but you'll pay about
2 1/2 times as much as for the ORSI).
I find ORSI to be one of the great finds little known this side of
the Atlantic. ORSI charged me about $75 extra for the cocobola
upgrade and another $50 for the gold-plate keys. Compare that
to LeBlanc's $450 surcharge for gold keys (their Pete Fountain
model), or the $3000 you would pay for an English Howarth gold
plate in cocobola (I own one of those too). ORSI even called my
hotel twice to make sure I had received their instrument in good
condition. Can you imagine getting a personal phone call from
Buffet or LeBlanc? Even though their English is not great,
they try harder and I found them to be very reliable and responsive.
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Author: Jon Hill
Date: 2002-09-27 21:18
Katrina:
The full name is actually Professor Romeo Orsi, a 150 year-old
family company in Milan, Italy. Unfortunately, they don't distribute
in North America, which is why you don't find them in the IMS
or Woodwind & Brasswind catalogues. You can order direct from
them using their website (http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/)
and they will ship the instrument to the USA, but you would
then have to pay a customs tax, which is derived by pure black
magic since inspectors have no way of assessing the value of a
woodwind. But earlier this year I purchased a beautiful cocobola
Bb ORSI with gold plate keys for under $1200.
Here is how I beat the system. I had ORSI make a Bb in cocobola
wood with gold plate keys to order and shipped to my hotel in
Chamonix, France last February while I was on a ski vacation.
I brought it back in my suitcase & avoided the customs tax
altogether. Even though looks shouldn't matter, it's a stunningly
beautiful instrument & plays like a dream. The gold keys work
much better against rosewoods than silverplate. And don't
pay attention to what the techo-wonks say - rosewood and cocobola
clarinets do have a lighter, more lyrical sound than grenadilla
horns. ORSI also advertises a one-piece on their website, although
I don't know if it's available in cocobola. (Rossi is the only other
manufacturer currently offering the one-piece, but you'll pay about
2 1/2 times as much as for the ORSI).
I find ORSI to be one of the great finds little known this side of
the Atlantic. ORSI charged me about $75 extra for the cocobola
upgrade and another $50 for the gold-plate keys. Compare that
to LeBlanc's $450 surcharge for gold keys (their Pete Fountain
model), or the $3000 you would pay for an English Howarth gold
plate in cocobola (I own one of those too). ORSI even called my
hotel twice to make sure I had received their instrument in good
condition. Can you imagine getting a personal phone call from
Buffet or LeBlanc? Even though their English is not great,
they try harder and I found them to be very reliable and responsive.
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