 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-19 21:14
I'm looking at the Vito 7214P, and was wondering if the Plateau keys would be any kind of setback? I thought they'd be a good idea considering my fingers get really numb in marching band, and having almost every note above the staff and a solo, not to mention the clarinets have some of the most important parts in the song, I thought it'd be a good idea to get a clarinet that would be easy to seal with numb fingers.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-19 22:19
Shoulldn't be a setback - flutes and saxes mostly have covered keys, and you can still do the 'Rhapsody gliss' with a plateau clarinet.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-05-19 22:37
Using a plateau clarinet on the field could create more problems than it solves. The mechanism is much more complicated, since each key needs its own axle. Therefore it would be more vulnerable to freezing up.
In the West Point Band, I played many parades and ceremonies in below-32 and occasionally below-zero weather. They issued us thin cotton gloves with plastic wrap (like triple-thick Saran Wrap) on the fingertips, which covered the holes nicely. On super-cold days, I put on knitted wool gloves under the plastic-wrap ones. It wasn't easy to play with that much around each finger, but it was possible, and it kept sensation in my fingers.
Your fingertips are your life. If the band director is dumb enough to make you go out when it's too cold, it's your responsibility to yourself to avoid damage to your hands.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Rusty
Date: 2010-05-20 05:15
I agree it is stupid to play in freezing weather but as regards using a Vito7142P as an aid to playing because of problems that may be unique to the player then then I`m all for it.
I own a plateau 7214 and it makes playing so much simpler. There seems to be a peculiar conservitive resistance to plateau clarinets a bit like wanting to drive manual cars long after automatics had been invented. And I don`t accept this occasional statement that they sound stuffy because I own both Vitoes a 7214 and the 7214P. I can tell no difference in tone between them. I rarely use the open holed one now.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-05-20 14:12
One of the clarinet's great qualities is a seamless legato, made by bringing the fingers down slowly so that the notes are connected by a tiny, almost inaudible portamento. It's like a singer moving from one note to the next, or a violinist quickly sliding a finger up or down rather than changing from one finger to another.
This was taught by the great players and teachers -- Bonade, Hasty, Marcellus and many others -- and has been the subject of, shall we say, vigorous discussion here and on the Klarinet list.
A plateau clarinet removes this possibility and moves from one note to the next with a pop or click. Modern oboes do the same, and it's one of the main reasons I gave up a serious attempt to learn oboe. Leon Goosens used an open-hole oboe and had a wonderful legato that no later player has matched.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-20 14:37
There are plenty of sax players who can make a seemless and smooth legato even with the size of sax keys. Likewise with flautists - it's a question of fully adapting to the instrument's keywork and using it to the player's advantage as opposed to being mechanical and robotic with it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Gandalfe
Date: 2010-05-20 16:08
Still I've found plateau-keyed clarinets to be stuffy compaired to the open-holed versions. My wife, the real clarinetist, rejected my refurbished Leblanc the first time she played it. So while I recommend close-holed keys for the flute (via plugs to help with resale) I do not recommend the same for clarinet.
We played in the cold all the time in Minnesota when I was in high school. But the clarinetists there used gloves with the tips cut off. And it got cold, but we were young and used to the cold. Now-a-days, I don't do gigs in those kind of conditions.
I've never heard a clarinet solo in marching band as that situation doesn't lend itself to that kind of performance.
Jim and Suzy
Pacifica Big Band
Seattle, Washington
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