 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lorenzo_M
Date: 2019-07-29 08:45
I’ll get into my favorites, but I enjoyed Clarinetfest this year. My first time going! I was wondering if anyone else tried some of the other clarinets at the fest this year. I tried the new RZ, Uebel, Yamaha, Royal Musical, and those glorious Boxwood Schwenk und Seggelke Clarinets in BB and A. I’m blown away with what people are making these days, and love that the prices for these are so reasonable.
Just wanted to know if anyone tried some of these and what they thought. I didn’t get to try the Patricola or any Yamaha CSGs, or any of the Clarinets in the smaller room and wish I had.
Anyway, It was a good time for my first test and I spent way too much money, ha. I better start saving now for Reno in 2020....
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Author: AcousticModeler
Date: 2019-08-01 17:36
It was good to see Uebel and RZ with instruments that had sound with a very broad harmonic structure that was very well balanced, that is not too much emphasis on the fundamental (dark, i.e. R13) and not too much emphases on the upper harmonics (bright, i.e. Yamaha or Plastic). One of the CSGs was similar, as was the Tosca.
The clarinet is capable of so much more than the "dark" sound that everyone seems to want (at least in a classical environment), and I am glad that the US market is now being opened up to other "colors" that help voice the various styles of music around the world.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2019-08-01 18:16
I was highly impressed with the Uebel professional instruments, with the Superior being especially dark, the Superior II being surprisingly different and more complex and seeming to emphasize both dark and bright resonances, and the Excellence having a beautiful blended sound. The Uebel Zenit was again very different, noticeably free-blowing, and I found myself wanting more time and a much quieter environment to compare these instruments in.
The Patricola Artista clarinets were really good. The Artista's sound seemed comparable to the Uebel Excellence, a blended, even sound in all registers. Prospective buyers should if possible give them a try to compare them head-to-head with bigger name brands.
I was also highly impressed with the Schwenk und Seggelke clarinets, which had a gorgeous, free-blowing sound that seemed perfectly uniform from bottom to top. Perhaps they didn't make the biggest sound in the world, but what they could do was almost dreamily good.
And the Tosca I tried, professionally selected and set up, was awesome. Every note sounded dead-on intonation-wise and perfectly equal in resistance, and the sound was just terrific. After I'd tried a couple Vintage, Tradition, and RC instruments, (of which I liked the RC easily the best,) the Tosca blew me away.
All the top of the line clarinets I tried by Uebel, Buffet, Schwenk & Seggelke, and Patricola were probably excellent beyond my ability to assess, and I'd love to own any of them as primary instruments. I wasn't in the market to buy replacements for my R13's, but if in the future I am I will gladly try, in a better environment, more of those instruments, as well as those by makers like Yamaha, Backun, and others. There's a lot of great options right now.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-08-01 20:19
I second the praise of the Patricola Artista clarinets. I have been looking for the most reasonable price for a clarinet with gold plated keys (gold does not oxidize and I have particularly acidic sweat) and Patricola fits the bill perfectly at just over $5000 US dollars.
I played my R13 Greenline first in the space to see what the sound and feel of my playing was doing in the moment. Then I switched to the Artista expecting it to at least hold up. I was blown away by the added volume and resonance. There was literally a noticeable sound bouncing off a nearby wall. Of course in a "ballroom" type setting with lots of noise going on there is really no chance to do any fine listening or tuning evaluation with a tuner (which I had but didn't use). I could tell that the scale was very smooth and at least was well within the ballpark (I just have relative pitch to work with).
I would be very VERY interested in buying one (or two) of these in the near future!
................Paul Aviles
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2019-08-01 23:58
I play a set of glorious Boxwood clarinets from S&S, with French bores and some extra keywork. "Reasonable" is possibly not how most people would describe the cost, but "glorious" is an apt description of how they play. Never played on anything I liked half as much.
Post Edited (2019-08-01 23:59)
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Author: Episkey
Date: 2019-08-03 20:33
You're kidding yourself if you honestly think that Buffet R13s too heavily emphasize the fundamental and are doomed to be "dark". Have you never heard Stanley Drucker, Harold Wright, or Marcellus play? RZ clarinets sound superficial and thin, the only thing close was the Patricola or Selmer Signature.
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Author: Lorenzo_M
Date: 2019-08-05 05:59
Regarding S&S, perhaps calling them “reasonable priced” is a bit of an exaggeration, but compared to what other people are charging, you’re getting a lot of clarinet for the money...one that’s painstakingly handmade! Sound is subjective so that’s open for debate, but mechanically it felt like I was driving some sort of supercar....I’ve never felt a clarinet feel so tightly put together under my fingers...I swear I was playing a flute mechanism, It was so light and precise!
The Boxwood sounded amazing but yes, not the biggest sound. Though if I’ve done my research correctly Boxwood tends to be lighter tonally than Grenadilla. That ballroom isn’t exactly the greatest place to try gear, but when there were less people in the first and last days, you could hear yourself better. They played so easily and evenly though....wow.
Regarding the RZ, I would disagree that they were thin sounding. But the various models all differed significantly, so that just adds additional consideration. Where Milan was set up wasn’t exactly the best place either for testing. Opinions aside, my favorite model was the Capriccio and it’s deluxe variant The “Magoo”. Silly name but for me it was a fantastic clarinet. This model had what I prefer, a robust darker sound, but excellent focus and flexibility. Not too free blowing, but not too tight either.
I wish I tried the Patricolas now....
Loved the Uebels too, though they have a very different feel to ally and mechanically for me. My fingers kept missing the left pinky keys....they felt very differently located to what I’m used to. But what a warm and flexible sound, with a good resonance. They invite a VERY relaxed manner of playing as opposed to the extremely forceful/aggressive nature of playing a typical French clarinet.
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Author: Lorenzo_M
Date: 2019-08-05 06:17
Also of note, I tried the new line of Global Musical clarinets at Brian Corbin's Booth and they really impressed too. Warm even sound, great intonation, response, and the keywork felt very good. Though the “Firebird” was their top lose, I actually liked the “Polaris” a lot more. It felt more flexible and had a little more character to the sound. Still very even and responsive, maybe some people would find it to be more “free blowing” and “brighter” than the firebird.
I think the names are cool too lol.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2019-08-05 17:39
"Sound is subjective so that’s open for debate, but mechanically it felt like I was driving some sort of supercar....I’ve never felt a clarinet feel so tightly put together under my fingers...I swear I was playing a flute mechanism, It was so light and precise!"
No argument there. The keywork is also innovative. For example, the rod for the throat A key isn't perpendicular to the one for the G#; it's slanted to minimize the lateral travel of the adjustment screw when the A key pushes it up. And the screw is actually sort of a bolt that ends in a small circular plate with tech cork on it, instead of the usual screw tip that rubs on a cork on the A key that has to be replaced periodically. It's also the first LH Eb key I've tried that I've never hit when I didn't want to. The little stuff is important.
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Author: shmuelyosef
Date: 2019-08-11 02:03
I have long played old Selmers (a P-series CT and an T-series Series 9) and used a Vito V40 for playing in unsavory environments.
I do have a habit of trolling the auction sites and occasionally buying something to see what it's like and have tried many Leblancs, a few Buffets (which have never grabbed me) some B&H, etc...nothing really exotic.
Last year, I noticed that Ishibashi Music (a reputable eBay vendor in Japan) had listed a large number of older Yamaha Custom clarinets for well under $1000. Many looked trashed, but by chatting with them, making rude offers and examining pictures carefully I scored an 853SE and an 852CS (both from about 1992 vintage) for the combined price of less than $1500 including shipping.
Both turned out to be filthy with smelly cases, but with perfect wood, undamaged keywork. They polished up nice, keywork was mostly tight, wood was dry but crack-free and oiled up pretty. I put premium pads and soft materials in throughout and they both were awesome players
I have kept the 853-SE, and sold the 852-CS to a local rising student who is thrilled with it. I have always put my nose up to Yamaha clarinets (although I own Yamaha flute and tenor sax and bass clarinet), however this has become my main clarinet and I can't imagine a better clarinet (maybe I need a better imagination. There are still some awesome values available from that generation of clarinet. I've played the new Customs and they are certainly no better IMHO, and are remarkably costly.
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