Author: ThatPerfectReed
Date: 2014-03-14 21:21
Here's a link to the aforementioned article by Mr. Ridenour.
http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/grenadillamyth.htm
As discussed in it, Grenadilla wasn't originally so much chosen by sound engineers for clarinet making given its beautiful accoustic properties, as it was by clarinet craftsmen (and bean counters) as a wood with properties that would allow it to be machined at less risk of breaking during the construction process (read: money).
While Grenadilla may be--or perhaps the Grenadilla from 20 years ago may one of the best woods to make clarinets with, if the goal is to make the best clarinet, Grenadilla, or for that matter wood in general need not be the chosen material for doing so.
I wonder what was Buffet's primary strategy in introducing the Greenline of instruments, beyond that which the shiny promotional glossies said. Was the need really fueled by a highly correlated relationship between clarinetists and conservationists/environments demanding such changes for Mother Earth? I guess not.
This is not to say that some, or even many clarinet players aren't environmentally conscience, but I suspect that if you polled our community you'd like find a typical normal statistical distribution when quantifying their passion for responsible forestry if it only came at a higher cost for not only clarinets, but the things they consume (carbon fuels) which may be negatively affecting the existing stock of Grenadilla.
My guess is Buffet was caught in a paradox. After years of toting the beauty of their instruments being a product, in part of the wood they chose, how could they just turn their back on the material they hold in so high regard, even as its quality and quantity (at least for good conventional clarinet making Grenadilla dwindles?
Enter Grenadilla "pixie dust," made out of parts of the tree likely too unstable for conventional clarinet making, but great to be turned into a powder. Now, I'm not claiming they produce a bad product using this technique, what I am saying is that it would have been hard for Buffet to switch to a material like rubber in this Greenline and saved face, even if rubber turned out to be a superior material to the composite they came up with.
Will the day come when people gather around a wood clarinet and remark about its primitive crack and dimension changing prone nature, much in the same way that someone might question today why steel pipe was installed in a humid/rust prone area when ABS pipe wopuld have been a better option?
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