Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2005-04-05 00:41
Merlin Shepherd (sp?) plays klezmer music exclusively on an Albert C instrument. Naftule Brandwein also played on a C instrument.
In my 50-plus years I have only seen two advertisements for used C instruments, one Boehm and one Albert. The Boehm was pretty bad, and the Albert (as vouched for by a very good player) was pretty good.
If you really need a C, my suggestion is to get the best instrument you can. Many, at all levels of cost, have big problems - the scale can be uneven, the altissimo notes can all be flat - the same problems that a lot of e-flat instruments have. Don't expect to get a really good, budget-priced C instrument, and don't expect anything in particular of the "professional" instruments, either.
Above all, go play on as many brands and models as you can, and decide what level of performance you really can afford.
What you will get for your money is a perhaps less flexible and very much brighter sound than from a b-flat instrument, but certainly not so much in those directions as an e-flat. You also get the unheard of luxury of being able to read C charts without transposing in your head.
I think Stephen Fox's C instruments are the best, but the cost and required trips to Toronto will be out of range for many people, and there are some new choices I have not tried.
[I am not connected to Mr. Fox in any way except that he sold me a clarinet.]
Regards
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The Ethnic Clarinet
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