 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2005-08-25 04:43
I understand that he switched from a Selmer to a Buffet around the time he added the strings, but does anyone know exactly what he used and if there are modern equivalents?
Thank you all in advance.
Ah Clem
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-25 10:00
On a recent documentary (BBC) he played his Selmer with the Big Band, and a Buffet with the Quintet as the Buffet was more 'intimate', whereas the Selmer had more 'shout'.
He was shown near the end of the documentary getting his Selmer out of it's case to have a go on.
Nice to see this had the written solo for 'Stardust' scrolling across the screen the same time it was being played on the soundtrack.
And from reading the discussion from the above link it seems he had no use for the cross Eb/Bb key as well! I personally never found any use for this key, apart from the fact it keeps the rings on my full boehms at a good height making assembly easy.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2005-08-25 10:29)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Markael
Date: 2005-08-25 11:27
Artie indeed switched from a Selmer to a Buffet, but I don't think it was "around the time he added strings."
In the Self Portrait liner notes he speaks of using a Buffet on the ballads in his later work with the Gramercy Five. He was already using strings in the early rendition of Begin the Beguine.
See also:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=181995&t=181875
(Thread: The Specific Horn the Swings)
(Oops--this is a bit redundant; GBK has pretty much cleared this up already. Maybe I gave you a little something extra.)
Post Edited (2005-08-25 11:30)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2005-08-25 14:59
"if there are modern equivalents?"
Ah,Clem, Yes, but Simba is not one of them. You can pick up an old used plastic Conn on eBay, have a competent techie overhaul it, put a #2 Rico reed on it and sound just like Artie.
Bob Draznik
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-25 15:06
Isn't the nearest thing to a Centered Tone nowadays a Selmer Bundy (.590 bore version)?
Though with some fettling these play remarkably well.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: hans
Date: 2005-08-25 15:08
BobD,
"and sound just like Artie"......... did you forget to add "in your dreams"?
Regards,
Hans
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2005-08-25 15:12
Thank you all for the info and the link to the other thread-also for the clarification regarding the time frame when he switched from Selmer to Buffet.
BobD,
I am laughing out loud regarding the comment that he did not use the Simba!
Somehow, I had rather figured that one out!
Now, I need to ask the same question regarding Benny Goodman-What type of clarinet did he play?
(again, shall I assume that it was probably not a Simba?)
Ah Clem
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-25 15:20
I've seen Benny Goodman pictured with a Buffet.
Now, is a Simba a poor copy of a Buffet, Leblanc or Selmer, or a bit of everything?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2005-08-25 15:21)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-08-25 15:25
"...Now, I need to ask the same question regarding Benny Goodman-What type of clarinet did he play..."
[ Ah Clem - Many of these basic questions have been asked and answered numerous times before. Using the seach function of the archives will give you lots of information from past threads. If you still need help or have questions after searching - don't hesitate to ask - GBK ]
[ And every time I see the name "Ah Clem" - why do I wonder if we're all bozos on this bus? - Mark C. (whose mother was not a bozoette ...) ]
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2005-08-25 16:27
GBK,
Sorry, I will pursue this using the "Search Function".
The reference to Bozos is correct (Firesign Theatre).
"Go ahead, Squeeze the wheeze-many people like to"
(about what my playing sounds like so far...)
Ah Clem
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2005-08-25 16:57
While Benny played whatever he was shilling for at the moment, his preference for the products of the Selmer people is documented in (of all places) a movie.
In the movie The Benny Goodman Story, young Benny, showing up at his aged Music Mentor's studio, engaged in conversation with the previous student as follows:
Previous Student" "New clarinet, huh?"
Young Benny: "Yeah, it's a Selmer."
...or, more or less, words to that effect.
One wonders if there was a product placement fee paid way back in the 1950's...
This is not as satisfying to we Selmer lovers as was an almost hidden sequence in the Tony Curtis movie The Rat Race.
In that movie of a musician coming from a small town to the big city, Tony plays a saxophone man trying to make it "big". About a third of the way through, Tony shows up for a rehearsal with some New York locals (including one Jerry Mulligan), who send him (as the new guy) out for coffee. They then abscond with his arsenal of horns.
Tony, alone and broke, is rescued by his "dance hall hostess" girlfriend, who spots him the money to buy a completely new set of horns. Said horns make a very appearance in those hideous tweed cases that were once used by "another sax manufacturer". Then Tony takes a cruise ship job, where he is seen playing --- presto, chango --- your garden variety Mark VI equipment.
I remember reading a little bit about Tony's sax skill somewhere. He can play, well enough to know just how to move the fingers in both this movie and in Some Like It Hot (while the real playing is stripped in post-production), but not well enough to do the post-production recording. Same with Steve Allen, who was a decent clarinet player but not up to Goodman levels (Benny did the sound for the movie sound track).
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-25 17:15
There's a photo of Benny Goodman cleaning his clarinet out after a gig, I can't remember where I saw it, but it definitely had the forked Eb/Bb on the top joint from what I remember.
I do remember that 'It's a Selmer' scene from the 'Benny Goodman Story' - and there I was thinking product placement was an '80s thing (I lost count how many company names were shoehorned into a ten second clip of 'Back To The Future').
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gardini
Date: 2005-08-25 18:04
One of Benny's clarinets was on exhibit at the Met. Museum the last time I was in N.Y. (2001). I had barely started playing clarinet at the time and had no idea of brands, etc. Maybe one of you NY folks could go by and check it out for us. Or better yet send me a ticket - it is getting cold and wet here in Alaska, I could use to get out of the sticks for a few days.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-08-25 19:21
After starting on a Penzel-Mueller, Benny Goodman used at least four different clarinets at various stages of his career.
He used a Selmer BT, a Selmer CT, a Boosey and Hawkes 1010 (after he studied with Kell), and (briefly) a Buffet, originally set up by Moennig.
The Buffet is on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the musical instrument collection...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: TaranM
Date: 2017-05-18 06:07
Benny Goodman switched from selmer to buffet when he started playing more classical
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
