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Paticola "C" clarinet users?

Author: rtaylor
Date: 2015-04-13 17:58

Hi,

I am looking at purchasing a "C" clarinet and I have read previous older posts on the Patricola instrument.

Does anyone have any experience with this clarinet? I would be interested in it's relative pitch accuracy especially.

Also in one of the older posts, someone mentioned that the Patricola "C" instruments can be used with a B-flat mouthpiece.

Thanks,

Rob

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Re: Paticola "C" clarinet users?

Author: kdk
Date: 2015-04-13 20:16

You may have read some of my old posts. My Patricola C clarinet does use a standard soprano ("Bb") clarinet mouthpiece.

However, if you do read anything I wrote, you'll see that I had a tremendous amount of difficulty with tuning between the chalumeau and clarion registers, which were considerably less than twelfths apart. So either the Chalumeau was very sharp or the clarion was very flat when the other was in tune. Sending it back to the factory didn't even get me an acknowledgement of the problem. They replaced a couple of pads my own tech had already replaced (presumably because they wren't original equipment pads) and sent it back (at my expense, I think both directions) with a note saying it played in tune for them and recommending a Vandoren traditional mouthpiece to bring up the clarion (which would have made the chalumeau even sharper).

I eventually got Morrie Backun to work on it (he contacted me after reading my posts) and Morrie did wonders with it, although there are still some quirky notes that need to be humored.

Please note that I bought this clarinet in 2007. They may well have improved their design since then. I do like the keywork and the sound and response of the instrument. But I would try an instrument you're considering and would stay away from anything with registers that don't tune well with each other (no matter what brand). An individual note here and there can be helped, but bad twelfths between registers is a design problem that will be very expensive to overcome.

Karl

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Re: Paticola "C" clarinet users?

Author: Hurstfarm
Date: 2015-04-14 21:43

I have had a much more positive experience than kdk. The Patricola is a nicely-built instrument and mine has good intonation. I preferred it for tone, response and intonation over the Buffet alternatives I tested (an E11 and an RC Prestige as I recall). However every instrument is different, and the motto is "test and try before you buy". Also worth recognising that intonation and overall pitch may be affected by the design of the mouthpiece it's paired with (length, bore, tone chamber design etc), so it's worth experimenting.

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Re: Paticola "C" clarinet users?

Author: MartyMagnini
Date: 2015-04-15 22:38

For what it's worth, I love my Ridenour C clarinet - it plays well in tune and sounds great. YMMV

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