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Lyrique Libertas clarinet ...

Author: TomS
Date: 2014-03-03 22:56

I thought I might "weigh-in" on the Lyrique Libertas B-flat clarinet ... with a few other thoughts ...

I am not an employee of Ridenour Clarinet Products, nor am I related to the family, a good friend or compensated for my comments to follow:

My background is a sporadically trained, 61-year old advanced player. I free-lanced for a long period, was a paid core member of an orchestra in southern Arkansas for 9 years and also played in several Community Orchestras and Bands and a semi-professional Wind Ensemble here in Little Rock. My original clarinet was a used Penzel-Mueller Super Brillante (my parents couldn’t afford a new Leblanc LL or Selmer Series 9*). Early training consisted of 4 lessons in the summer of the 6th grade. After High School, College and family consumed all my time and so playing was suspended until I was 27 years old. My next lessons started at age 28 and regretfully, have been intermittent. I did have some great teachers, though! My main instruments, after returning to playing, ran from an Evette E13 to Yamaha YCL62/65 (B-flat and A) and finally a set of Buffet R13s. I’ve also owned many other used, “pawn shop” and new student instruments and those were normally delegated for outdoor concerts or casual playing and later restored and sold to students. I’ve played mostly Vandoren reeds since Jr. High School. MPs have ran the entire range from cheap production to expensive hand-made. Currently, using Vandoren M30-lyre with Legere #3 to #3.25 regular cut.

I have eyed Tom Ridenour’s instruments on the internet for several years. I needed a spare instrument of good quality, so in March 2013 I ordered one of his Lyrique “student line” instruments. It has an amazing sound, even scales, and smooth-blowing resistance from note to note and register to register.

I had an opportunity to sell my 17-year Buffet R13 B-flat for more what I paid for it, and I liked my "student" Lyrique better. So, it was a no-brainer to pass it on to a grateful student. He got my lucky "pick of the litter" instrument ... a nice clarinet.

Since I didn’t have the opportunity to do orchestra work anymore, and needed a spare instrument, and only a B-flat, I pondered ordering a Ridenour Lyrique 576BC. As I was contacting Ted Ridenour to place my order, I became aware of the Lyrique Libertas.

I’ve had mine for a week, and it is great!

Positive features: excellent scale … very uniform blowing resistance … resonance with warmth … POWERFUL, when called upon … fast response … key-work feel and fit very good … perfectly adjusted … tight, no leaks … locked key posts (very unusual on a non-wood instrument) … inline trill keys have less tendency to collect water … machining of body, tone holes and bore very well done … won’t crack or significantly change acoustically with time and temperature… affordable by anyone, using Ridenour’s easy payment plan
…
Negative features: while the keys fit perfectly and the plating is superb, it appears that a few keys needed a little more polishing in the tumbler before they were plated …

It’s worth mentioning that the key cosmetics on my much more expensive wood instruments were microscopically better, but the factory hid many terrible wood defects (open grain, checks) under the more populated key areas. I was shocked when I removed some of the hardware and saw this. In addition, the tone holes and bore exhibited many burrs and chips that surely detracted from the acoustical performance. You could cut/trim/buff some of these out, but at the same time changing the acoustical design from original specifications. I cringe when I see the internet video of one manufacturer, hand-polishing the bore in an unscientific way. I’m sure some bores are buffed out of specification!

In other words, some manufacturers are more concerned with key cosmetics than precision where it really counts. Remember the old saying: “An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance.”

I did make one minor adjustment on my Lyrique Libertas: The LH A-flat/E-flat key … I reduced the open pad height a bit by carefully bending a little shaft that the bumper cork touches. It didn't bend easily, so the keys seem to be very strong. There will be other small personal adjustments as I get accustomed to the instrument.

I love the Lyrique Libertas clarinet because it almost truly plays itself. For me, Ridenour's instruments are a huge upgrade over my previous axes, and have rekindled fresh interest in playing clarinet for enjoyment and practicing to improve my skills. They give an old man like me, a head start over much better trained and more talented players. There may be equivalent playing clarinets made by others somewhere in the world, but I refuse to spend additional money or subject myself to the worries of wood.

I’d like to see Tom Ridenour “thumb his nose” at the mainstream material paradigm and divorce himself from the notion of the “wood look” by not adding black pigment to the hard rubber formulation and not brushing the material to simulate grain.

Since there is so much current interest in expensive “A grade” vintage hard rubber for mouthpieces, what’s good for the MP has to be good for the entire instrument. (Don’t you agree?) You can imagine Buffet making a Festival clarinet entirely in "A grade" hard rubber and touting the advantages. And, they would have a better instrument, in terms of sound and material stability, and practically overnight. To give examples of wood issues: Buffet is using Greenline inserts in some of the tone holes of top models to discourage cracking, and the new intermediate Buffet E12F actually has painted wood to protect it an improve it's appearance. Seems the best logical step would be a better material of which to make clarinet bodies. Is 100% Greenline instruments the answer? Well, I suspect that the composite material using pulverized Blackwood, plastics and epoxy resin is so dissimilar to "real" solid wood that a close match in sound between the two materials is unlikely.

IMHO, Greenline material compared to solid wood is like comparing meatloaf to steak. Would you pay 60 bucks for a slice of meatloaf? Does meatloaf resemble a fine cut of steak? No, but some people may insist that meatloaf tastes as good, and will pay top price. I think that’s a good analogy of “wood lunacy".

In closing, a rose-gold plating option on the Libertas keys would be extra cool!

So, there you have it, my 3 1/2 cents worth. I am sure my comments will draw some fire!

Tom

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Lyrique Libertas clarinet ...

TomS

2014-03-03 22:56