 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-01-05 06:31
Nothing against Tom R's work. He makes fine and valued instruments.
But to my taste I find them stuffier, or offering more resistance than I am used to.
I get it--Mr. R designs them that way, and maybe that's a small price to pay for intonation.
That said, might someone have a particular barrel-centric idea regarding how I might address this issue, as when I try the clarinet in question and change barrels, I do in fact get different resistance levels.
Maybe this is best addressed by a mouthpiece change, but can anyone think of a good model/manufacturer's barrel that might ease the resistance somewhat?
Thanks.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-01-05 07:02
In my experience, Ridenour makes the best barrels for his rubber clarinets, including the most recent Libertas. On my Libertas, I tried 6 different non-Ridenour barrels and a friend of mine tried 8 different ones on his Libertas. These included 3 different brands of granadilla barrels, 2 cocobolos, 1 ironwood, 1 ebony, 1 Mopani, 1 rosewood barrel, and a few composites. I'm not going to mention the brands but they are all rather expensive and pretty well-known.
We both concluded that no barrel on the market that we know of compares with the standard barrels Ridenour supplies with his clarinets for pitch, projection, tone color, or response. If you want to modify the barrel for resistance, it would probably be best to ask Ridenour himself directly. After we tried all the barrels, my friend and I concluded that the resistance with his barrels was just what it should be and what Ridenour intends on his clarinet.
I seem to recall a post by Dr. Allan Sigel in which he said that no one had ever asked him to make one of his custom barrels for a Ridenour clarinet. This is probably because Ridenour's own barrels are the perfect match for Ridenour's instruments.
Post Edited (2015-01-05 21:34)
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2015-01-05 09:48
I too have a couple of Ridenour barrels that came with a basset clarinet purchased from him. One day I put them on my Leblanc Symphonie II in A and could not believe the improvement. I was going to get rid of the Leblanc given its resistance, tendency to be flat and poor throat tones but now I'll keep it until I'm too old to play.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: PaulIsaac
Date: 2015-01-05 12:55
Interesting. Last year I played BB member muppie's Lyrique Libertas and it was THE most free-blowing clarinet I've ever played. Way less resistant than my old R13.
I guess we're all different!
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2015-01-05 18:28
My experiences with the Lyrique echo those above: The Lyrique has some inherent resistance, and the barrels included with it are the best match for the instrument.
I found mine a bit too resistant for my taste at first, but was eventually able to manage that with a mouthpiece change, as suggested by Ted Ridenour. It turned out to be totally worth the effort and expense.
Regards...Greg
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2015-01-05 19:17
This may not be helpful, but...I went from a Selmer 201 HS* to a Coast X4 reworked by Brad Behn. The X4 uses a Chedeville blank and, before reworking, was very similar internally and externally to a Buffet C Crown mouthpiece I have on hand.
The Buffet C Crown also provides an open, unstuffy feel with the Lyrique but mine has an awful facing.
For jazz, vintage Brilhart Ebolin and Tonalin pieces match well to the Lyrique.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-01-05 19:29
I found that my Lyrique Speranza (similar to RCP-576 acoustics) was more, (as an average), free blowing than MY PARTICULAR R13 B-flat. My Libertas might be a little more resistant than the Speranza ... my opinion shifts a bit each time I swap.
However, the challenge of Buffet machining wood billets, the consistency and stability of the wood itself, and all the myriad of mechanical adjustments (and this is probably with most other brands, too) are such than you might find some R13s that are freer blowing than the Lyrique clarinets. This might account for the flip-flops of opinions, among various clarinetists. I think this is a testament to the variations of wooden clarinets in general ... some wonderful, some great, some OK, some fair, some bad.
I've loaned my Libertas out, for a while, to many R13 players, and the opinions, vary all over the place: "brighter, darker, warmer, resistant, free blowing, smooth, dead, centered". The vast majority really like the Libertas a lot, enough they'd consider buying one!
I think like more resistance than most players, but I usually like much it in the MP and not so much the instrument and reed.
Just find the stuff that works for you!
For me, Tom Ridenour's clarinets have made a large improvement in my playing.
Tom
Post Edited (2015-01-05 19:56)
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