Author: johntownley
Date: 2016-05-28 19:58
My experience so far as well. Especially a stuffy low C# whose pitch is doubtful at softer pressures. Am wondering if undercutting that tone hole a bit (since it’s so accessible) might help. Certainly no replacement for the SK which is spot-on everywhere or the Holton pro which is the same, except heavy as a tank. But as it’s multi-piece it’s more portable (fits in a standard flight bag which a one-piece metal doesn’t quite), and thus has replaced my Oxford (which has less dynamic range, esp. just above the break) in the car seat next to me for playing in stuck traffic, carting about in general.
What it does do especially nicely (like the even-lighter Oxford) is chirp and skirl easily and is great for Celtic stuff with lots of Scotch snaps, Irish whistle bends, and so on, same with Middle Eastern and Baltic. And of course with a 5JB mouthpiece the pitch control is so in your mouth you get used to adjusting for spots where you know there’s a problem.
Which you can’t, however, do with the Ramazan Kor, whose giant tone I loved, but its pitch in the upper register was so highly sharp of the lower, impossible to play or record with anything else that depends on matching pitch across the range. But in Turkey, it’s usually played solo with percussion, so in its native context that doesn’t matter, and the physical sound is marvellous.
But, I’m still totally curious where the Alexandre came from to begin with. No serial number, such a lightweight bell, and yet the barrel is double-walled like a SK and the action is great. Who actually made it, and when? Certainly feels like late ‘20s.
John Townley, Sea Cliff, NY
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The Clarinet BBoard
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