 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2004-10-10 12:32
One of Korean clarinet bboarders raised the question about how many in Korea play the instrument.
For that matter, how many in your country? (or in the world, if it's answereable...^^) Could we measure it by the sales of the clarinets? or the enrollment/ alumni number in music schools?
I'm afraid this question's rather trivial, but curiosity kills the cat, you know..
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2004-10-10 15:42
In the United States, as I would assume elsewhere, the school instrumental music programs drive the "need" for clarinets. Looking at things in a four year cycle, we've got schools with sections ranging from six to thirty horns. Multiply that by the number of high schools in the country, figure in the turnover (that four year cycle), and you're talking a big pile of student level horns.
Beyond that, you've got to figure how many continue on in music. Professionally, in theory, you could get the numbers from the AFM. (That is, if they maintain such data at the national level. One of my current locals does; the other barely knows how many members they have.) At any rate, figure four players average for each symphonic orchestra, figure one such organization for each Census SSA and you're talking a group in most "cities". Multiply this by five for the casuals and community groups, and sum it all up.
Accurate? Probably not, but as good as any other source. ICS figures would be biased towards serious students and teachers, and perhaps they should be included as well.
I tried a similar calculation once to come up with some sort of idea of how many bass saxophones are (or should be) out there. Using my parent's old high school annuals as a guide, I noted that (of the four high schools attended) all of them had at least one bass saxophone. Back figuring the size of the population in the 1930's, the municipal population at the time, the number of "large", urban school districts that would have well funded school music programs in the late 1920's and early 1930's and reducing the end result by 50% as a conservative "fudge factor", I still came up with some 1,000 plus bass saxes that used to be "out there" somewhere. The only remaining question is: Where did they all go?
(My wife, a child of the 1940's, suggests that they were gobbled up in World War II era scrap drives. Playing music that was fast vanishing from the school repertory, hard to maintain and harder to play and transport, they were prime materials for the copper drives that helped deal with the shortages of that commodity in the mid war years. A theory, but one that at least accounts for where they all went. Alternative theories are more than welcome, particularly with addresses and contact information for the missing horns...)
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2004-10-10 16:31
Everybody count off!
"One!"
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2004-10-11 00:27
OK, let us look at this globally. I grew up in a small town in the USA, 25,000 people and in our high school band there were 26 clarinet players. I would assume the same number for the junior high school and an equal number in grade schools. So let us assume there is one clarinet player for every 250 persons in North America and Europe. That makes mmmmmmm close to 1,000,000 clarinet players in North America and if you add Europe that makes 2,000,000. So I'll bet there are more then 2 million clarinet players squeaking around the world. No wonder Buffet is getting rich. Now if each clarinet player buys one horn every 5 years that means 400,000 clarinets get sold each year at ~1K a pop, now that's big business
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2004-10-11 01:37
Bradley wrote:
> Mis-management sucks.....
> (Fl Phil, Leblanc, Buffet etc.)
Do you have some recent examples of where you think Leblanc & Buffet management is lacking?
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2004-10-11 01:44
No Bradley, blame our governments that reward the BIG companies (political contributors) and shovel crap on the small family owned businesses/corporations. We get in this life what we vote for. It's just like deficit spending, make the younger generation pay for the stupidity and greed of their seniors.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2004-10-11 02:15
Bradley wrote:
> Mark- I hope that was a rhetorical question.
It was not. You said that Leblanc & Buffet were examples of mis-management (I'm assuming at the present) and I'd like to know what exactly you're referring to.
While I may think some decisions aren't perhaps as I would like them to be, to say that a company is mis-managed begs the question of exactly what you mean.
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Author: ned
Date: 2004-10-11 10:31
Lots of people own a clarinet, but it is a moot point as to how many of them actually play it.
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-10-11 10:55
Couldn't we better be discussing how many people should play the clarinet? ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
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Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2004-10-11 14:18
Like most musical instruments, once one becomes an adult, they stop playing the clarinet. In New York City I come across many people who, when they find out that I play the clarinet say "Oh I used to play the clarinet." When I press further they say that they played it in school band and stopped either in high school or college.
Terry and Bill propose some numbers for the American school children, but I believe that an adult amateur of the clarinet is a even rarer breed.
It's my time to propose some numbers: for every 50 students who study clarinet in band, 1 keeps it as a life long hobby. And for every 1000 adults, 1 learns the clarinet as a hobby.
Ron. Jr.
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Author: sbbishop
Date: 2004-10-11 20:25
318,623 people played clarinet during a 24 hour period last Friday, 10/8/04.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-10-11 22:32
In the US, there are approximately 523.7 times as many clarinetists as there are people who want to HEAR those clarinetists play. And there are 1,214, 674 times as many clarinetists as there are people willing to PAY them to play. Approximately.
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2004-10-12 00:09
Thank you all for your insightful - and fun- answers .^^
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2004-10-12 13:34
120 per 100,000 population in USA, is my guestimate. 100 of them in school and 20 who either teach, play professionally (polka to symphonic), or play for fun.
Roughly 300,000 total in USA. (lotsa reeds). Approximately 50,000 of these started playing this year, so there are probably 3,000,000 Americans who have played the clarinet.
Double this for the rest of the world.
I've pulled these numbers out of the air, but this is my guestimate.
John
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Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2004-10-12 13:50
This post reminds me of what a famous writer (I forgot the name) said: "There are more people who write poetry than read it."
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Author: Vic
Date: 2004-10-12 13:56
It's about the same quantity as there are guitar pickers and mothers in Nashville.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-10-12 13:59
Vic...
LOL ...GBK
/wondering how many others will get the music reference
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Author: Rick Williams
Date: 2004-10-12 15:32
Lucy wrote: "Could we measure it by the sales of the clarinets? or the enrollment/ alumni number in music schools?"
Personally I think it would be a near impossibility to nail down a number with any meaningful degree or accuracy. The problems associated with making a quesstimate from clarinet sales is two fold, first it is usually industry groups which compile those figures based on reports filed by the manufacturers themselves and the manufacturers typically inflate their figures. I've been on the board of two industry groups and it is a common situation.
The second problem associated with sales is that it bears little relation to the number of people playing. You have situations where people buy clarinets and three weeks later they are in the closet for 30 years. In others a clarinet is purchased and played for 20 years. Then you have people who have multiple clarinets. How many are sitting on shelves in stores, how many in rental programs? What percentage is each in the mix? I haven't a clue and doubt anyone knows with any accuracy.
Surveying schools is much the same problem. What percentage of HS players go on to university level programs?
You might get in the ball park if you were to survey every school and every college and every band/orchestra, the unions and then all that is left is those folks who play at home. If anyone has a spare $50-$100k I'll be happy to do it...BG!
RW
Best
Rick
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2004-10-12 22:14
Rick,
Thank you for the detailed and analytical answer. As a matter of fact I'd like to relay what you wrote to the gentleman who initially posed the question on the Korean board.
BTW, I love your painting so much that I post it on my blog's cover, and put its url along with it. Hope many will enjoy.
Have a nice day.
Lucy Lee Jang
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