 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2002-11-28 15:41
I recently acquired a set of Buffet Festivals. The Bb is wonderful but the A gives some troubles. It has a lot more resistance and a lot of stuffy notes. It plays very restrictive.
I know it helps to practice more on the A and optimizing mpc/reed setup for it but what I really want is an A that plays just as easy as the Bb. Do such A clarinets exist( may be some big-bore Selmer) or do I have to accept that 'matched pairs' never match?
Jeroen
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Author: d dow
Date: 2002-11-28 15:51
Due to the smaller tone holes some A clarinets can seem or play stuffier, I would reccommend practicing on it quite a bit to break it in.
If the pads are fine and seated properly --you may find like me the A clarinet I feel actually should play and sound nicer than the Bb counterpart.
Also, due to the fact you are so used to the Bb this may bias your thinking when playing on the A.
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2002-11-28 16:08
Joe Allard, the great clarinet teacher at Juilliard, often said, "Try to find a good playing A clarinet, then find a matching Bb clarinet that plays like your A."
The resistance in your A might be a good thing, and you may find, with continued playing, that you prefer it to the freer blowing Bb.
In other words, try to match your Bb to your A.
Good luck,
JJM
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2002-11-28 16:22
In my community orchestra, I played for 2 months on my A rehearsing Beethoven's 2nd Symphony, gradually getting used to its resistance (I just acquired it in August and never played a A before). Once we finished our concert, we sight-read Mozart's Symphony No. 40 at the next rehearsal, which calls for Bb clarinet. I felt like I was overblowing everybody and had to struggle to tone down my volume and brightness. Moral of the story: my A's resistance and subdued tone was something to be appreciated over time.
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2002-11-28 18:06
I found a Yamaha Custom SE to my liking. I got it slightly used at a good price, otherwise I was going to shell out the $ for a new Yamaha Custom SEV-A. I found it to be less resistant than others that I tried.
jbutler
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Author: clare
Date: 2002-11-28 18:56
I found my A easier & more enjoyable to play after upgrading the mouthpiece. [I noticed a significant difference for the Bb too, but it was much more marked for the A.] I had been using a 5RV (which was fine) but have one of Peter Eaton's now (which is lovely). And I guess some people probably use different mouthpieces for each.
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 2002-11-28 19:46
My son's Buffet Festival was stuffy. Francois Kloc of Buffet changed out the register tube with one of a different style which helped out quite a bit.
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Author: javier garcia
Date: 2002-11-28 20:00
Are there, in general, A clarinets more resistants than Bb?
My A Rossi, in fact, with the same mp and reed is more resistant than my Buffet BC20 Bb, but I don't know for all pairs.
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2002-11-28 20:47
I have tried a few R13 A that I found fairly easy blowing.
My RC is definitely more resistant, but I like it this way I can get this mellow sound out of it.
-S
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Author: Robert
Date: 2002-11-28 21:55
A clarinets tend to be more resistant than B-flats. I play an A Festival. I tried about 10, and several of them had "stuffy" notes. I found one that had good tuning, no stuffy notes, and a wonderful sound all round. You have to try a few before you find a really good one.
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Author: mary
Date: 2002-11-29 00:16
My Rossi A is (wonderfully!) quite a bit less resistant than the R13 A I had before.
I've also tried using a different mouthpiece set up for my A than my Bb.
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Author: Kristin
Date: 2002-11-29 01:56
I also have a set of Buffet Festivals. I got my B-flat long before my A. However, I find my A clarinet to be just a little more resistent than my B flat. I did have both of my instruments Brannenized, and that definitely makes a huge difference, so that's something you may want to look into. Good luck!
Kristin :-)
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2002-11-29 15:00
Brannen is a repair shop which will adjust your instrument.
They are known to do a great job.
-S
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2002-11-30 00:48
I recently sent my "new" A off to John Butler for restoration. It is an older (ca. 1905) Buffet. The Brannens were not interested in working on anything older than 50 years and then only professional quality horns. I suspect that it is because the older horns require moreof the techs time than a newer one does to do well. In any case you want to have a tech who can identify the cause of the stuffiness.
If you have a used horn and it is older (than say an R13) you may want to look for another shop. Contact the folks involved and talk it over with them.
I chose John because he was interested, willing to work with it to maximize it's sound and intonation properties and is also a sponsor here. He always takes the time to talk with you and answer your questions... even when you are not a customer (as did the Brannens)!
My old A clarinet is a Hoffinger which looks to be from the 30's or 40's. It blows as free as all of my Bb horns. But didn't do so until I had another tech at WW&BW work on it.
I guess what I am trying to say is there are several/lots of techs out there who may be able to help out a stuffy horn, look around and talk to folks to find one!
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Author: Mario
Date: 2002-11-30 02:36
Ideally, one would use different set-ups for Bb and A, in order to produce best results on each instruments.
If it is not possible, I have found that using slighter softer reeds on my A almost makes this problem disappear.
I also enjoy playing on my A more than on my Bb. I regularly run into C clarinet passages in the music my community orchestra is playing. Since this music is often infested with sharps (Ah string...), it actually make transposing easier by using my A (mentally add a line under the staff, remove the one at the top, take away 3 sharps, and bingo!). A good instance of this process is for the "Blue Danube", scored in A and D for the most part, and written for C clarinets. Transposing on the Bb is a real pain. On the A it is a breeze (except for the small section in F in the middle where one should really use a Bb - compromises as always).
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Author: Allison
Date: 2002-12-02 00:22
I have a pair of Rossi's A & Bb and love them for how natural and easy they are both in your hands and in how they "blow". I had Buffet R-13's and liked them when I had them but now I am spoiled. I had to borrow my old R13 A clarinet for a couple of weeks recently, while the Rossi was having some service work done, and it felt a tad primitive, with the keys placed not so easy and sharp edges on all the rings and on the thumbrest. My hand ached when I was done playing. I also had to work harder to get the sound I am so used to now.
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