Author: jcm499
Date: 2023-07-20 16:16
Ed,
I have one, which I preordered as soon as it was available, so I have had it for some time.
It is a neat toy, but in my opinion it falls short of being an effective practice tool, which is how it was primarily marketed. This is because the tone, breath pressure, response, and embouchure are all markedly different when playing through the ClariMate than when playing acoustically. Though many of these parameters are tweakable, I believe they are inherently different enough that a practicer would be served at least as well by just practicing mentally.
Essentially, it turns the clarinet into an EWI, and that's where I think it has the most utility. Finally there is an EWI with true clarinet fingerings and key feel (because of course it is a clarinet). There are two very important caveats to this. First, although MIDI-out functionality for use with DAWs was promised, the ClariMate did not ship with this feature enabled. I have not updated the software or firmware in some months, so it's possible it has since been added (I would have expected to get email notifications for updates, but apparently not). Second, other notes played other instruments in the vicinity of the ClariMate seem to disturb ClariMate's note detection somehow, so even when MIDI output is available, it would be useful only in the studio, not in live performance.
An additional note: ClariMate's note detection was perfect on a Buffet E12 (Germany), but deeply flawed on a Selmer Centered Tone. Perhaps this is not so surprising. I haven't tried it on an Albert or German clarinet, but I don't think it would work with them.
Edit: It seems MID out is now enabled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFOFgYSNM98
Post Edited (2023-07-20 16:27)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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