 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: LaurieBell
Date: 2021-12-04 16:00
I see a lot of threads about adding a Left Hand Eb/Ab Lever, but has anyone "removed" one from a Buffet Festival Clarinet?
I've been playing the same Buffet R13 clarinet since 1973 and love, love, love it; but it has a few old-age problems. I mentioned that to a friend in our community wind ensemble and he asked if I might be interested in purchasing his Buffet Festival. I jumped at the chance and am in the process of trialing it for a few weeks.
My first impression is it's like driving a new car. . . Everything is nicely tight and in perfect working order, and the sound is just incredible. But (and it's a big BUT), I can't seem to work around the "Left Hand Eb/Ab Lever" that extra key that is added. When I do try to work around it, the my pinky finger keeps missing the other keys, and when I look to try to figure out why, it seems that the keys are a bit higher than my R13, or possibly more slick due to their new finish. But I really can't tell if it's just the extra key that is in my way.
I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem. And if an acceptable solution is to have the key removed? Or, should I pass on this model and consider another R13 (or is their a new and improved model I should try).
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Author: Ed
Date: 2021-12-04 16:49
I have known of people who have been in the same situation who removed it.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-12-04 17:13
Absolutely! The left Eb is the bane of my existence. I leave the levers for my clarinets in my repair case and leave the axles on the clarinet (easiest to keep track of them……and lengths of those axles can be species specific).
……………..Paul Aviles
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Author: Slowoldman
Date: 2021-12-04 18:10
I asked around when I recently purchased a Festival (which replaced my 1969 R13). Many people I spoke with have removed the Eb/Ab lever from their new clarinets.
Based on my own experience, I agree with you: YES the keys sit higher than on the R13. YES it takes some new "precision" in pinky placement. And YES they keys do feel more slippery than on other clarinets I've played.
If you love the instrument's sound (as I do with my new Festival), either take a few weeks to get used to the new setup (which seems to have worked for me), or just remove the key as many others have done. YMMV.
Steve
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2021-12-04 18:11
Another option is to have tech adjust the E/B and F#/C# levers so they match your R13 and have the Ab/Eb bent up and out of the way so you are less likely to hit it by accident. It really is a useful key to have for certain situations.
-JDbassplayer
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2021-12-04 20:44
Hi Laurie:
I think I may be able to add some words of value here, rather than listen to myself talk (not that I am in any way implying such things of my fellow contributors here) because I took the opposite route and have a story to tell.
I added the key https://www.clarinetworks.com/product/bolt-on-alternate-e-flat-key/ to my 1970's R13. It may seem like a stupid reason, but after years of practice, I could only take the beginning of the Cadenza of Messager's Solo de Concurs at a speed slower than I wished given the need for a mid note pinky swap in one of the runs for those with only right pinky Ab/Eb functionality. In acquiring the key I hoped and was able to manage this run faster.
I know---silly reason to get the key especially from someone who believes in "practice over gear." In my defense, after tens of thousands of iterations, where you hit a wall increasing the metronome without losing accuracy, if a hardware solution exists, you consider it.
At first the key was getting in the way. I was confusing it with the E/B lever. I
spoke to a friend with a Buffet Festival, which as you report has a similar key in a similar place. This friend said, "give it a week of etude studies. That's how long it took me to not accidently hit it."
She was, at least for me, absolutely correct.
Now, we're all different, and yet in some ways we're all the same.
We're all different in that some of us will adapt to the key faster. But we're all the same in that the repetition of the proper music get us use to this key faster. And when I say proper music I mean hitting the etude books (e.g. Bearmann III).
Acclimation to the key isn't going to come, I think--at least with any degree of speed--in simple playing of performable music. You've got to work the study books that emphasize the patterns where slow repetition will break your conundrum.
That said, if the key isn't for you then it isn't for you. If the benefits of this key are not clear to you, either because you're not playing the difficulty of material where it comes in handy, or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, your talent over the years finds pinky swaps adequate (to wit: Stanley Drucker) then remove the key.
There are plenty of places where I continue to do mid note pinky swaps despite this key. I haven't become so familiar with it that my brain always fires my left pinky to make an Eb/Ab when sight reading. But since it no longer gets in my way and comes in handy now and then, I consider it a good addition.
Good luck.
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Author: LaurieBell
Date: 2021-12-04 23:52
Thank you all for your input. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has difficulty with the set-up, and and it's also good to know that it isn't my imagination that the keys set up higher. I think I can either get used to the higher keys or have them slightly adjusted. As for the Eb/Ab Lever, it will become history if I purchase this clarinet.
Speaking of which. . . is there any trick to removing the Eb/Ab Lever? I watched a video on adding one, and the only thing I learned was when turning the screw, turn it until it clicks. Any other thoughts?
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Author: prigault
Date: 2021-12-05 01:25
This lever is very easy to remove (as well as to put in if you ever want it back) in less than a minute, without any trick.
I also did remove it upon purchasing my Festival a few years back, for exactly the reason you mention. I keep it in a bag in case I need it back or sell the instrument.
The case for that key is a matter a personal preference rather than an absolute need. I am sure a clarinetist can craft a passage requiring it (I can even think of some devious combinations myself, for example a trill in clarion D#/E long enough to want to use the left pinky to free the right ring finger in its movement), but I have not found it a requirement in real-life playing (at least not yet). And I can switch to my A and backup clarinets (two Buffet RCs that do not have it) without any thinking.
Speaking of adjustments, I would recommend having any new clarinet precisely adjusted to your hand configuration. Slight changes in the height of the rings, position of keys, and the distance to neighbouring fingers (especially the ring finger keys 5R and 7L) can make a very noticeable difference in ergonomy. If you buy a new professional clarinet, this kind of adjustment (as well as thoroughly checking pads and oiling all mechanisms) usually comes with it.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2021-12-05 02:15
LaurieBell wrote:
> I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem. And if an
> acceptable solution is to have the key removed? Or, should I
> pass on this model and consider another R13 (or is their a new
> and improved model I should try).
I'm another who has removed the LH Eb/Ab. It wasn't so much that it got in my way, which it did. But it came on a C clarinet and was the only one among my clarinets that had the extra key. It seemed as if after years of learning to manage awkward combinations without it that learning to use it might not be worth the effort, since I would still have to do things the old fashioned way on all of my other clarinets.
Taking it off is easy. Finding a place to keep it where it won't get lost in case I one day want to sell the instrument is for me the hard part.
Karl
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