tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83490329161993968862024-03-27T02:36:22.761-04:00So Many Instruments, So Little Time!A professional woodwind player and obsessive gearhead, I've decided to start a blog where I can funnel all of the knowledge I've gained over many years of trying every instrument and accessory I could get my hands on throughout my travels around the world, and maybe help one or two of you find your dream instrument. There is a big world of woodwinds out there beyond the brands most of you are familiar with, and I'd love to help you discover it! Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-32003594745586577232017-11-26T19:10:00.000-05:002017-11-26T19:10:03.651-05:00Spotlight On: the Sankyo 201!This is the first post in a series of short, easily digestible "Spotlight" posts I'll be doing where I discuss with you all, in depth, one specific model of instrument that I think you should know more about!<br />
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To kick it off, we're going to talk about one of my absolute favorite flutes on the entire market, the Sankyo 201.<br />
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The entry-level model into the world of Sankyo flutes, the 201 is a totally handcrafted jewel that is priced to be accessible to all, but provides performance quality equivalent to flutes that cost several times more. Each 201 is supplied with a hand-cut solid sterling silver (.925) headjoint, in one of Sankyo's 3 colorful and exciting cuts (RT, ST, or FT); paired with a thickly silver-plated nickel-silver body and the same precision-fit, completely handmade mechanism that appears on all Sankyo flutes. Even though the body is silver-plated, don't be fooled into thinking this is a student flute! It is a truly handmade instrument that any professional would be proud to play. The sound of the 201 is free and open, with fantastic projection and a wide range of tone colors available. It's also lightweight and comfortable to play for extended periods of time, owing to the nickel-silver alloy body, which is lighter than solid silver.<br />
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(It bears repeating here that *all* Sankyo flutes are truly handmade; even the springs and pads are crafted in-house. The same level of care and attention to detail that goes into the solid 18k and 24k gold flutes is found in all Sankyo models, even the 201.)<br />
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One of the things that truly sets the Sankyo 201 apart from major competitors in its class is the ability to customize the instrument to your exact tastes, despite its reasonable pricing. Not only do you have three different headjoint cuts to choose from, Sankyo also offers riser/lip options ranging from 99.7% silver to solid 24k(!) pure gold. A 10K rose gold lip and riser is a popular way to add another dimension of color to your sound!<br />
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The Sankyo 201 is also available with a C# trill key (or G/A trill mechanism if you prefer, by special order), a split E mechanism (though all Sankyo flutes come standard with the NEL mechanism, Sankyo's version of the G donut, installed), as well as lipplate engravings.<br />
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For the player on a budget who still wants to stand out from the crowd, Sankyo also offers several different gold-plating options, from 18k rose gold to stunningly sunshine-colored 24k yellow gold.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beautiful gold-plated silver Sankyo<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24k gold-plated Sankyo, top<br />Muramatsu EX, bottom</td></tr>
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With a base price of $3995, this flute is an ideal solution for the college flute major, the professional woodwind doubler who needs to have a range of high-quality instruments and can't spend $20,000 on just a flute, or even as a fantastic and reliable second instrument for the orchestral player! Call your local Sankyo dealer for a trial, you'll be glad you did :-)<br />
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<br />Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-73190181478732244962017-06-09T16:59:00.001-04:002017-06-19T23:38:44.645-04:00The Colors Of The Rainboboe: 2017 Edition<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I wrote my original post detailing the many wonders available to us in the world of oboes, three and a half years ago, I never dreamed that it would gain such traction and be read by so many of you around the world (over 25,000 of you last time I looked)! I am truly honored that you’ve taken the time to read it, and I LOVE that I’ve actually been able to help some of you find your dream instrument.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Since I first posted this, there have been some very exciting and fun developments in the oboe world, and it’s been pointed out that I also neglected to mention one or two makers, so I hope to address that in this edition. (I’ve also since been fortunate enough to try some instruments that I had not as of the original publication date, such as the Buffet Orfeo!) </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The original information is retained, but slightly reformatted. With the IDRS conference fast approaching, my vision for this revised version is to act as a sort of “Buyers and Triers Guide to IDRS”, so that those of you in attendance can show up armed with maybe a slightly better idea of what you’d like to try instead of being just overwhelmed by the avalanche of wonderful instruments there! </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.loree-paris.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.loree-paris.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My first publication of this article was specifically to detail the instruments on the market that are NOT Lorées, but in the interest of being thorough, I couldn’t leave them out. Plus, there is a (relatively) new model in the lineup! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.30909; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The vast majority of you reading this need no illumination where Lorée oboes are regarded, generally, so we’ll just suffice it to say that they are enormously popular for a reason, and between the standard C+3 model, the AK, or the Royal, you’ll probably find something you like. And, like many of the other makers of professional oboes, Lorées are available to order in violetwood or rosewood, with gold-plated keys, and, unique to Lorée, you can also get an oboe built to low A! Synthetic top joints are also available, as are entirely-synthetic bodies. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Étoile </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New to the Lorée lineup as of 2014 is a model called the “Étoile”, which is their effort at putting out an oboe that appeals more to the global market outside of the United States. The Étoile is more free-blowing and naturally responsive than their other oboes, and maintains a particular richness in the second octave. Very worth a try, this is an extremely satisfying oboe to play, especially if you have a strong brand loyalty but are perhaps secretly dissatisfied with previous specimens of the marque, or are just curious about what </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Lorée is up to now!</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">(photo courtesy of Dolce Japan, <a href="http://www.dolce.co.jp/" target="_blank"> http://www.dolce.co.jp</a> )</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marigaux </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.marigaux.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.marigaux.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.30909; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marigaux oboes are simply stunning…whether you pick the 901, the 2001, or the M2, you are getting a rich, fat, creamy tone; extreme reed-friendliness, and in the case of the 2001 and M2, some serious ergonomics. (The pinky keys on both hands have been completely redesigned on these instruments, and they are comfortable indeed!) All professional Marigaux model instruments are available to order in violetwood, and/or with gold plated keys.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">901</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.30909; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 901 is their basic workhorse professional model, and you will find a 901 somewhere in nearly every major symphonic oboe section on the planet (outside of the United States, that is). They are a marvelous choice for 2nd oboists because of their excellent response down low and the ease with which you can match tone colors with the principal. The 901 is an extraordinarily forgiving instrument, and one that will work for just about anybody who needs a dependable instrument for everyday playing. They seem to work with with a very wide variety of reed styles, as well, and are quite forgiving of less-than-stellar reeds. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidN7zu4gsif8KNYx_L1Gj0g4TVctmNTpEEH7py9qHvvkddcQV8H3za-3wJBBYNiwKMEYFAJxY-AqtA3Sw6oJNEJGSK_JtTE1ABZWbtHpLFBNWputwGmAAXrWZ60iUjmnE9ad5LYugRVbXC/s1600/Marigaux901GoldKeys1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidN7zu4gsif8KNYx_L1Gj0g4TVctmNTpEEH7py9qHvvkddcQV8H3za-3wJBBYNiwKMEYFAJxY-AqtA3Sw6oJNEJGSK_JtTE1ABZWbtHpLFBNWputwGmAAXrWZ60iUjmnE9ad5LYugRVbXC/s640/Marigaux901GoldKeys1.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">(901 with gold-plated mechanism, photo taken by me in Tokyo)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2001</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.30909; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition to all of the characteristics of the 901, the 2001 has a very soloistic sort of bravura color to the sound, though maintaining that trademark Marigaux warmth. Cs and Gs in particular are very stable on this oboe, and quiet attacks in both the extreme low and high registers are less problematic than on many other instruments. The 2000 series is also available in a crystal clear material called “Altuglass”, with gold plated keys, and is one of the most visually arresting instruments ever made, as well as of course being crackproof. For those who find the clear/gold combo perhaps a bit too over the top, there is a more traditional-looking dark material called “Altu Noir” that is available. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgfCOv8WrkaAEoh_ZcXllUdgg7CNLGC-PDOQqBgmA6CEg2vh-3Tqe8KhEcfGyEbYRJe_R7RiAVaqVRt-0kspoMGX1lXwIoi9Z_DKKs7EGoS6wIjsPgGFfNRrQoSy_sxB6a13z0NeeK1AQ/s1600/Marigaux2001PinkyKeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgfCOv8WrkaAEoh_ZcXllUdgg7CNLGC-PDOQqBgmA6CEg2vh-3Tqe8KhEcfGyEbYRJe_R7RiAVaqVRt-0kspoMGX1lXwIoi9Z_DKKs7EGoS6wIjsPgGFfNRrQoSy_sxB6a13z0NeeK1AQ/s640/Marigaux2001PinkyKeys.jpg" width="424" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The beautiful, ergonomically redesigned pinky keys of the 2001 (image courtesy of <a href="http://www.marigaux.com/" target="_blank">Marigaux</a>)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcod4yoxdWh7nJI7jXb4I3sojkK-HluS7AjeAYZXgS_7gUW3KCbAUKe2Ra77baqi8TpIsQn7UxJDcvQ94LvHHO56E5v4RG3V6sBbZA_2O7vYJ3MTQDB6OkRsV-LL7mAIE1PQTqIfz_0OWY/s1600/Marigaux2001Altuglas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="800" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcod4yoxdWh7nJI7jXb4I3sojkK-HluS7AjeAYZXgS_7gUW3KCbAUKe2Ra77baqi8TpIsQn7UxJDcvQ94LvHHO56E5v4RG3V6sBbZA_2O7vYJ3MTQDB6OkRsV-LL7mAIE1PQTqIfz_0OWY/s640/Marigaux2001Altuglas.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The 2001 in "Altuglas" with gold plated keys (image courtesy of <a href="http://www.marigaux.com/" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Marigaux</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M2</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The M2 sonically is very similar to the 2001, but has a remarkably innovative construction wherein the top joint of the oboe is extremely short, terminating just above the C#/D trill keys, and you are provided with top joints in wood and phenol resin for crack resistance, and of varying lengths for tuning purposes. The middle joint, then, is therefore much longer, and the bell remains the same. Very interesting looking instrument and it has caught on in the oboe world like a house afire! This model has been made in Altuglas as well, and is absolutely breathtaking when ordered with gold-plated keys. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirv0mvq9TZ8GHf6G9SRCV_0AxnPFnLsdA5nHx58b1wMrwi1PJaXTWGMska9IbyMq66UGoqmeVw4CftWDa7IoqkdcKVaGryrFIv-IuU4KZOnMkVhpeNvdKYndGqy__kLCc9amzoijMd9d1R/s1600/ObMarigM2Case.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="450" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirv0mvq9TZ8GHf6G9SRCV_0AxnPFnLsdA5nHx58b1wMrwi1PJaXTWGMska9IbyMq66UGoqmeVw4CftWDa7IoqkdcKVaGryrFIv-IuU4KZOnMkVhpeNvdKYndGqy__kLCc9amzoijMd9d1R/s640/ObMarigM2Case.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The revolutionary M2 in its case! (image courtesy of <a href="http://www.marigaux.com/" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Marigaux</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rigoutat</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.rigoutat.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.rigoutat.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rigoutat oboes are extremely popular in their native country of France, and are perhaps best known to the rest of the world as Heinz Holliger’s oboe of choice. I enjoy the Rigoutat instruments for the lovely sweet sound they all seem to have (if perhaps a bit on the bright side), though I find the Expression model to have a bit more oomph than the Evolution or the Symphony (however one of the finest and richest sounding oboes I’ve ever played happened to be an Evolution in violetwood, so it just goes to show you, exceptions are the rule!). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “J” model is a horse of a different color entirely, though. Beautiful, round warm sound, great response up top, and a buttery low register; basically, Rigoutat made a Marigaux. It’s exceptional. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like the others we’ve discussed thus far, violetwood and gold plating are options, as is a left hand C# key. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Rigoutat model J bell, showing the lovely unstained grenadilla (photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.innoledy.com/" target="_blank">Innoledy</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here we have the lovely and extremely talented Celia Craig demonstrating an INCREDIBLE violetwood Rigoutat with gold keys and left hand C# key for us: <a href="https://youtu.be/ssSy_DAGhfM" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ssSy_DAGhfM</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://fossati-paris.com/index.php?langue=en" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://fossati-paris.com/index.php?langue=en</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For some godforsaken insane reason, very few other oboists I know in this country have even HEARD of Fossati, let alone entertained the idea of playing one. I find this particularly maddening because Fossati has, by and large, been my oboe of choice for YEARS (except for that short period of time where I didn’t play a Fossati, and we’ll talk about that later). These instruments are glorious, and they get better and better every year. Fossati has always been a bit maverick in their love of innovation and experimentation, and that is a large part of why I have always been so drawn to them. Never afraid to break away from tradition, they have invented new trill mechanisms, a new kind of tenon cap, used extremely rare/odd woods to build their instruments, and became well known around the world for their stunning mother-of-pearl inlays on the six "mainline" touchpieces. (LH and RH 123)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The MB model, designed in conjunction with French oboist Michel Benet, is one of the finest oboes I have ever tried (an opinion usually shared by others who pick it up), and ever the innovators, they have developed a model called the FX3 which comes with 3 different interchangeable top finials and bell rings for true customization of your sound. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kg-wt883Y08PKPBIk0yXX3KW_KBGUi5jvYYuHLFlBxZxkjiPX2xpoZiuR2H9oTGj61efOU8dbXVs17Q_k5VlodhC39gHq343oaGKlsc9jZTYWI9t8q1Lau-eYoHZU-oruRtxDFhc8R57/s1600/Hautois+FX%25C2%25B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="647" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kg-wt883Y08PKPBIk0yXX3KW_KBGUi5jvYYuHLFlBxZxkjiPX2xpoZiuR2H9oTGj61efOU8dbXVs17Q_k5VlodhC39gHq343oaGKlsc9jZTYWI9t8q1Lau-eYoHZU-oruRtxDFhc8R57/s640/Hautois+FX%25C2%25B3.jpg" width="258" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Fossati FX3 oboe, showing all of the interchangeable head/bell rings (photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.fossati-paris.com/" target="_blank">Fossati</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I, for most of my adult life, played a Soliste model in grenadilla with mother-of-pearl inlays in the keys, and a matching Soliste English horn (minus the pearl), and very few oboes or English horns I’ve tried have managed to beat them! Their E30 “Tiery” model is also an extraordinary instrument, and possibly *THE* best value for the money in the oboe world. It’s very affordable, and has the full conservatory keywork, including the 3rd octave key. It is totally a pro instrument in every way, and it’s amazing to me that it’s marketed as an intermediate model, but hallelujah, because it’s also priced accordingly. The E30 is a doubler’s dream…very flexible and reed-friendly, sounds great, and won’t break the bank. I’ve played a Tiery on several cast albums, in countless pit orchestras, and even a few symphony gigs. I’d put it up against anybody’s Loree (or Laubin) any day. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHqZawRXjagu0d4AxYlaWsL-JYR01lkEsnV2DY135PMXLt_Ja0qW32ANNymXHXiI-6qNyYTGVUF9QJ_GZfgU5f8_g3j03CxZSq3cBcbo8yHDRrjf-F50QRVH3t6s_Q-kq0r3LtnUOskB7/s1600/MyFossatisEdited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHqZawRXjagu0d4AxYlaWsL-JYR01lkEsnV2DY135PMXLt_Ja0qW32ANNymXHXiI-6qNyYTGVUF9QJ_GZfgU5f8_g3j03CxZSq3cBcbo8yHDRrjf-F50QRVH3t6s_Q-kq0r3LtnUOskB7/s400/MyFossatisEdited.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">My personal pair of Fossati Solistes that served me well for years</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Soliste (now called the model S), however, takes all that awesomeness and magnifies it by about a trillion. Rich, buttery, sweet, warm, penetrating, whatever you are trying to get out of it, it’ll give you. The scale is also fantastic. These things are REALLY in tune! They offer their instruments in several woods, including cocobolo, violetwood/kingwood, and a beautiful wood called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gaiac, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which we know better as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lignum vitae, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on special order</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the past, they have made instruments from pink ivory and snakewood, as well. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keywork on the Fossati professional models is plated with a platinum alloy instead of the standard silver, ensuring that your keywork remains tarnish free, and thereby also protecting the base metal for the lifetime of the oboe. Gold-plated rings and posts are standard on most of the models, and you can also get your keys fully gold plated, and/or inlaid with mother of pearl. They even made a model, the Soliste V 20th Anniversary, which features keywork plated in black ruthenium with gold posts/bands. Truly a stunning instrument, and performance to match the appearance. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFCYSwCnBk9KnIvheIzSIXyqZ-CmmH2my7pWbCcK42XyPMlJlbqncGL6av0XOXUHIlJKNQ4IUyQIIJ-V4Uyd81D-Q0FpHifS_L6b5Z6Y5ycKjQiLozQD-gm7YzlouKVmxow4qi6IX5jyS/s1600/FossatiGaiac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFCYSwCnBk9KnIvheIzSIXyqZ-CmmH2my7pWbCcK42XyPMlJlbqncGL6av0XOXUHIlJKNQ4IUyQIIJ-V4Uyd81D-Q0FpHifS_L6b5Z6Y5ycKjQiLozQD-gm7YzlouKVmxow4qi6IX5jyS/s640/FossatiGaiac.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Fossati "Soliste" model in Gaiac wood with gold plated posts/bands and mother-of-pearl inlaid keys(!!) Note the trill key design on the upper joint, featuring only one hole and a stacked pair of keys (the bottom key has a hole in the middle covered by the top key) instead of the standard two holes; this was done to minimize the risk of cracking in this all-too-crackable spot. Fossati has since returned to the standard design, but I would love them to bring this one back!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-nv0IPCybMn4HjbNcF8ePZ-fc9Tq_w6CeRXy5KC19RinxUcuodDKp6bTYdjksyES-HbBom9q1ZJVg-iXk19mqgcjK6De7iRpy-TXyzpHy7Oi9NiTy9Kzq-mq5zr6o9uoepMrUd7EGuPl/s1600/1914640_100234266665599_1617356_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="427" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-nv0IPCybMn4HjbNcF8ePZ-fc9Tq_w6CeRXy5KC19RinxUcuodDKp6bTYdjksyES-HbBom9q1ZJVg-iXk19mqgcjK6De7iRpy-TXyzpHy7Oi9NiTy9Kzq-mq5zr6o9uoepMrUd7EGuPl/s640/1914640_100234266665599_1617356_n.jpg" width="452" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 20th Anniversary model, featuring keywork plated in ruthenium, which has a beautiful mirror-like black finish! (photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.fossati-paris.com/" target="_blank">Fossati</a>)</span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The former “Artiste” model is now called the model A, and features slightly thicker walls (in the vein of the XL/Royale/Sayen/etc) and a two-stage bore reverse taper. It’s a bit more resistant and covered than the S, and would likely be my Fossati of choice if I were to buy one right now. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those of you who have never tried a Fossati oboe would be doing yourselves a grave disservice if you did not get your hands on one and give them a go. I think you’ll be surprised at just how easy it can be to play the oboe. (They are also surprisingly affordable!) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The authorized US distributor is Gillian McAllister Lopez of River City Reeds, and you can inquire about trials at </span><a href="http://www.rivercityreeds.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.rivercityreeds.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCchTrZSk_wl5GLX6yFMwul5t36QFjeNH-ibsyxmR64kVBH5Bcnf9ddXAU2LwSno9R5IjAfeZREYyQvFFm6WhIDStz1JOd4G2jZcPIS4Xuk6uucpnYZZRTXs0e7TbLFE5Yal1o84j4Mtz/s1600/1914640_100837953271897_7746320_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="406" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCchTrZSk_wl5GLX6yFMwul5t36QFjeNH-ibsyxmR64kVBH5Bcnf9ddXAU2LwSno9R5IjAfeZREYyQvFFm6WhIDStz1JOd4G2jZcPIS4Xuk6uucpnYZZRTXs0e7TbLFE5Yal1o84j4Mtz/s640/1914640_100837953271897_7746320_n.jpg" width="430" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">A series of stunning Fossati oboes d'amore in (from L to R) snakewood, pink ivory, grenadilla, and cocobolo. Truly, truly a company of innovation and creativity! (photo courtesy of Pascal Emery at <a href="http://www.fossati-paris.com/" target="_blank">Fossati</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Covey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I neglected to write about Covey oboes in my initial posting, and it was an egregious oversight, as they are certainly not unknown or horribly rare instruments. It should be noted that Covey oboes fall into two “eras”, corresponding to the unfortunate passing of Paul Covey in 2008. Since then, they have been made by Ginger Ramsay, and have undergone a noticeable pattern of continual development. The oboes made by Paul are quite sought after for their beautiful, warm, very centered sound and good scale, and Ms. Ramsey has made further improvements to the instrument that have really boosted them into the top orbit of currently available instruments. The low register is very round and accessible, and there is a freedom of response in the upper register that is quite satisfying. They will take quite a lot of air without “choking up”, and are friendly with a wide variety of reeds (perhaps owing to the more covered nature of the native sound of these oboes, reeds that would be unacceptable in a brighter, thinner sounding instrument work perfectly fine in a Covey). The Covey oboe is a truly handmade work of art, and a labor of love. Much like a Laubin, they are an essential part of the history of American oboe craftsmanship.</span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A charming signature feature of the Covey oboes is the beautiful handcrafted wood case they have always been presented in. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaE7PxOcE_PMK8zBHSJeqNoz6oNukA61VOXI97hh4xHh26di44-G0-423i4U3eQAsC8XXsvI1NS6Iy5QLIrqCe04vtWVz2yIM74t7z59129Y7pwHLjSv4IakoihQfoDFHuix4ACHdo_Xh9/s1600/covA359c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaE7PxOcE_PMK8zBHSJeqNoz6oNukA61VOXI97hh4xHh26di44-G0-423i4U3eQAsC8XXsvI1NS6Iy5QLIrqCe04vtWVz2yIM74t7z59129Y7pwHLjSv4IakoihQfoDFHuix4ACHdo_Xh9/s640/covA359c.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Grenadilla Covey in walnut case (Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.oboechicago.com/" target="_blank">OboeChicago</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are available in grenadilla, violetwood, or rosewood, and can be ordered exclusively via Shawna Lake of OboeChicago. </span><a href="http://www.oboechicago.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.oboechicago.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Used Coveys are often found in the market, usually represent a great value for the money, and should be tried whenever possible! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jL0sExoNi3kgEECVLrqF7UPW6qg1b5jeABipuQdu4M9ro8qnRf57ynE5d-DgijV25aKGvlpdmpkZTaSrYk_uJ-o5PkzhEhyphenhyphenIglhhl0s_2A6uXcoigZ_Uhgr79aE9nc4fNV9pViQ2TRhE/s1600/RosewoodCoveyOboeChicago.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jL0sExoNi3kgEECVLrqF7UPW6qg1b5jeABipuQdu4M9ro8qnRf57ynE5d-DgijV25aKGvlpdmpkZTaSrYk_uJ-o5PkzhEhyphenhyphenIglhhl0s_2A6uXcoigZ_Uhgr79aE9nc4fNV9pViQ2TRhE/s640/RosewoodCoveyOboeChicago.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">A beautiful rosewood Covey oboe in its signature walnut case! (Photo courtesty of <a href="http://www.oboechicago.com/" target="_blank">OboeChicago</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moennig (Mönnig)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.moennig-adler.de/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.moennig-adler.de/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This spectacular German maker has made quite a splash on the scene recently with the “Albrecht Mayer Platinum” model oboe, distributed in the United States by Tong Cui of Innoledy (</span><a href="http://www.innoledy.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.innoledy.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). Though they’ve been around absolutely forever, Moennig has become very visible in the marketplace lately for their amazingly well-crafted oboes and bassoons. The AM model has been a huge hit at oboe festivals worldwide, as well it should be. It is the one of the darkest, most liquid-sounding oboe I’ve ever played, with wonderfully innovative keywork (there is an available option for the right hand pinky keys, for example, to all have rollers on them). The build quality is astonishing, with as much precision as a Swiss watch, and the grenadilla wood used was absolutely stunning. Albrecht himself designed this oboe over several years of collaboration with Ludwig Frank (who actually makes the oboes under the Moennig brand), and is the oboe he now plays exclusively, after many years on a highly-customized Buffet Greenline.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcceGAMRM0HQKDi34BwPneUE08wxE4ARJ3ANtr0O9DNtSRZu3xMS56MIKNm1QeNuXrSPTkBp9I234hh4wG8am3Kiog3NFia7prk2betDAl6rZRB7YJCD5D4AO59vW7SGf7oTKWLWp9bHJ0/s1600/IMG_20120511_162351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcceGAMRM0HQKDi34BwPneUE08wxE4ARJ3ANtr0O9DNtSRZu3xMS56MIKNm1QeNuXrSPTkBp9I234hh4wG8am3Kiog3NFia7prk2betDAl6rZRB7YJCD5D4AO59vW7SGf7oTKWLWp9bHJ0/s640/IMG_20120511_162351.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The beautiful Moennig 150-AM in its beautiful suspension case. Note the rollers on the right hand pinky cluster! (Photo by me; I had this instrument on trial for a bit when they first came out) </span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the last year, my dear friend, New York-based freelance and Broadway oboist Jeremy Clayton has been playing a very special Moennig made of mopani wood (with a grenadilla top joint), and it is just a ridiculously magnificent instrument! (You can hear it on the Broadway cast recording of the recent revival of “Sunday in The Park With George”, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, in which Jeremy was the oboist)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbmjE_HcD9ufpJlaBoauZFeAfYd-ddu6Q89zAaPgHa-CgTAcqps-ghRtyb45b_xZaoiR43ALVd1VmWlUYId1nOauBDFBKP-4BXMl63I6jLeRJEP-tvVPaDB7hYMJR2T3CWavFuc5tLG6f/s1600/IMG_20150610_205419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbmjE_HcD9ufpJlaBoauZFeAfYd-ddu6Q89zAaPgHa-CgTAcqps-ghRtyb45b_xZaoiR43ALVd1VmWlUYId1nOauBDFBKP-4BXMl63I6jLeRJEP-tvVPaDB7hYMJR2T3CWavFuc5tLG6f/s640/IMG_20150610_205419.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Jeremy Clayton's stunning custom Moennig oboe</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently, Moennig has released oboes, d’amores, and English horns made out of a specially treated maple wood called the “del Sol” models, and they are WONDERFUL. Very lightweight, with a beautiful, smooth sound and great response particularly at low dynamic levels. The wood is also virtually crackproof, owing to the proprietary treatment process. The d'amore and English horn particularly benefit from the acoustical properties of this material! (To be discussed in a further article :) ) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOivzz1uyr7QuFM_aeCLIyIDUyYSsmvCjCtYiEe_QI5bhi8YxJVaishYs6fll97jzN5VK0C2zl2rTXaNOKAAUpBP0kR3_3WW9dILpK2SCfsdVoporbztj4AbWpAE77cjqvxTDRiIA7AYC0/s1600/monnig_delsol_485x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1600" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOivzz1uyr7QuFM_aeCLIyIDUyYSsmvCjCtYiEe_QI5bhi8YxJVaishYs6fll97jzN5VK0C2zl2rTXaNOKAAUpBP0kR3_3WW9dILpK2SCfsdVoporbztj4AbWpAE77cjqvxTDRiIA7AYC0/s640/monnig_delsol_485x.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The stunning "del Sol" version of the Moennig 155-AM. Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.innoledy.com/" target="_blank">Innoledy</a>, where this instrument is currently available for sale at a fantastic price!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adler </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.moennig-adler.de/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.moennig-adler.de/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Made in the same workshop in Markneukirchen as the Moennig instruments, Adler oboes (and bassoons, which happens to be the bassoon I play) are very solidly built instruments that possess excellent scale and lovely dark sounds. The Adler 6000 oboe is a full-Conservatory model that would fit any advanced student/amateur/doubling oboists needs quite well, and probably would not need to be upgraded from. These have been made in cocobolo as well.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Adler model 6000 in cocobolo wood with gold-plated posts and rings. (And a very typically German roller on the RH F key!)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Closeup of the bell, showing the incredible color and grain of the cocobolo, as well as the inserted socket protector, also of cocobolo wood. (As are the end caps for the top and middle joints)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ludwig Frank </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.frankundmeyer.de/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.frankundmeyer.de</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ludwig Frank is one of the shining stars in the constellation of oboe makers on Earth today. His instruments are meticulously designed and crafted, and they are beloved by principal players and soloists around the world, particularly in Europe. He is the driving force behind the Moennig Albrecht Mayer model oboe, and the oboes bearing his own name are delectable works of art. When I was performing in Japan, I was generously granted use of an LF “model 12” model with gold keys for a time, and it was truly a magnificent instrument. Very complex, rich sound, with quite a lot of “hold” in the upper register.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The LF model 12 that I played while in Japan...an all-around flawless instrument! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qhcptTizGIfzwo8a9m2nC3CxAyN4E7kl5CsSyrnibVTmJ_wuPt603IGd__CbMVZME4h2dv7Ye21rZrFMK7D4oKQFupEH8dqY7VHl1YuD5sqp-w0bDI7k0u96rmSkY9jtmsezVBFpQpDC/s1600/SAM_7101_edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1341" data-original-width="995" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qhcptTizGIfzwo8a9m2nC3CxAyN4E7kl5CsSyrnibVTmJ_wuPt603IGd__CbMVZME4h2dv7Ye21rZrFMK7D4oKQFupEH8dqY7VHl1YuD5sqp-w0bDI7k0u96rmSkY9jtmsezVBFpQpDC/s320/SAM_7101_edited.jpg" width="237" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Closeup of the bell, showing the quality of the wood that is used in these instruments! </span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are truly custom instruments, and just about any request you might have, from special keywork to exotic woods, Mr. Frank could very likely accommodate. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DNFwI4PWhLwVW1nj59xMfe3FebsTyhHQIny_9XlounhgPZwoWMXLGbXMwQYPT4y1xr0lIaqYEd7s4WXKeb4-g3BuilAe_Cz-_o7Gza3SMwYHOh-oJLrWj5GezpmNXd8N9qmpj-0d8QEr/s1600/oboer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DNFwI4PWhLwVW1nj59xMfe3FebsTyhHQIny_9XlounhgPZwoWMXLGbXMwQYPT4y1xr0lIaqYEd7s4WXKeb4-g3BuilAe_Cz-_o7Gza3SMwYHOh-oJLrWj5GezpmNXd8N9qmpj-0d8QEr/s1600/oboer.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">A very special and visually arresting quartet of Ludwig Frank oboes. The 2 grenadilla ones on the left are "Brilliant" models, instantly recognizable by the bell shape. Herr Frank has quite LITERALLY created a Rainboboe! (Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.hovkapellet.com/2006/11/" target="_blank">Kungliga Hovkapellet</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Howarth</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.howarth.uk.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.howarth.uk.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An institution in England, Howarth oboes have finally achieved the global recognition they deserve in the past dozen years or so, especially with the advent of the XL model, which very quickly became the oboe of choice for many esteemed oboe soloists and principal players the world over. No matter which model you choose, Howarth oboes deliver excellent craftsmanship, a very solid and stable sound concept, reed friendliness, and an exceptionally comfortable mechanism. All oboes are available in cocobolo wood, with a synthetic top joint that they call the “VT” option (“Velvet Throat”, and yes, I’m serious), which is an ebonite (hard rubber) lining of part the top joint which maintains the integrity of the bore in the event that the wood exterior cracks, and protects the wood from contact with moisture that might cause cracking in the first place; or entirely made of synthetic material.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">S50</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The S50 is equivalent to the standard C+3 model Loree or the Marigaux 901; a basic fully-professional model that is at home in any situation, from the solo engagement to the orchestra pit. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Howarth model S50 (photo courtesy of <a href="http://richardcraig.com.au/" target="_blank">Richard Craig Woodwind</a>, Australia's exclusive dealer of Howarth instruments)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here again we have Celia Craig (principal oboist of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, in addition to being a stellar and sought-after soloist and clinician for Howarth) demonstrating this time, the Howarth S50 oboe, as well as a Loree Royal in violetwood and the Howarth S40, the model right beneath the S50 in the Howarth lineup: </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/dtQX5AzhN1o" target="_blank">Celia Craig tests the Howarth S40 and S50 against a violetwood Loree Royal</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">XM</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lately, they have introduced a couple of new models at the high-end level, the XM and the LXV. The XL, while a stunning instrument, did not appeal to everyone with its huge sound, tons of projection, and heavy thickwalled body, so the XM was created to appeal to the other end of that spectrum. Players and lovers of French oboes would do well to give the XM a try, with its lighter-weight body, thinner walls and a different bore design that gives a beautiful flexibility to the sound (Howarth describes the XM as having a “Continental darkness”), combined with the steadfastness and reliability of response and intonation that the XL has become famous for. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_YhhHxRs8WX0eIqqTOgpdBkssG2s7YKtmpx-GVJSE1O1c6TmrCZMQdiuv9O-b0O0osE92iuWd0pPhVwmnNHw4UY7Icr9OnBUz2OUHRcWRll9scH38s15FtDerc8Wzz9A7q43MAehG_-S/s1600/Howarth-XM-oboe-1200x593-1024x506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="1024" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_YhhHxRs8WX0eIqqTOgpdBkssG2s7YKtmpx-GVJSE1O1c6TmrCZMQdiuv9O-b0O0osE92iuWd0pPhVwmnNHw4UY7Icr9OnBUz2OUHRcWRll9scH38s15FtDerc8Wzz9A7q43MAehG_-S/s640/Howarth-XM-oboe-1200x593-1024x506.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Howarth XM bell, image courtesy of <a href="http://www.richardcraig.com.au/" target="_blank">Richard Craig Woodwind</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">LXV</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The LXV is the newest model, and it is a perfect blend of the two opposites of the spectrum. Sitting perfectly in between the XL and the XM, this is one of the best all-around workhorse oboes you’ll find on the market. It will do anything you ask it to, and, being a blend of the other two models, has the ultimate in flexible voices that will truly allow your own unique sound to shine through. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here, we have Celia demonstrating this spectacular new instrument in both grenadilla and cocobolo woods, back to back. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/yVouYVlDZDY" target="_blank">Howarth LXV in Grenadilla and Cocobolo - Celia Craig</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bulgheroni</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.bulgheroni.it/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.bulgheroni.it</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From a small family-owned workshop on the shores of Lake Como in Italy comes the Bulgheroni oboe (and oboe d’amore, English horn and...piccolo, of all things). I mentioned earlier in the Fossati section that there was a period of time where I did not play a Fossati…during this time, I played a Bulgheroni and a Patricola. The Bulgheroni oboe is one of the best-kept secrets in the oboe world, and their newest offering, the “Musa”, is a total game-changer in the high-end oboe market. Similar to the Howarth XL, the Loree Royal, the Marigaux 2001, etc, the Musa is the very top of the Bulgheroni range, totally handmade with a slightly thicker body and bell, featuring gold-plated rings and posts, and a LOVELY, ringing, creamy sound. (This is doubly true for the English horn version!)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLfOM1A67ANV56Ro_5HPoAJ5b_6zcPDJv30vH9Rg6vPorz-QT8WZ1QiUpw_uduc30IMoeGrubtS-XyAk02Thrkb14TMGAqsI44uCi9WiM9bquo03AqRMrAE3iEj2Yt1a88KlnsrP6eBs3/s1600/e3a1845269be8c371d50b57be5714c90.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLfOM1A67ANV56Ro_5HPoAJ5b_6zcPDJv30vH9Rg6vPorz-QT8WZ1QiUpw_uduc30IMoeGrubtS-XyAk02Thrkb14TMGAqsI44uCi9WiM9bquo03AqRMrAE3iEj2Yt1a88KlnsrP6eBs3/s640/e3a1845269be8c371d50b57be5714c90.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"> The Musa, in a beautiful red leather case</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WQUW_XBppYPU-BmErxrFZA1ZXvZykXjlWOkWPn-9cx5rD-eC2dxQv2cvUB9G2CniEf4nh1f3t5XRIGRK4MRU8dpt6sy8C0XQ-yS23gMNkLKISj2i-KyfnDBlOFTDke7g-dcZSiTQ5INH/s1600/43968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WQUW_XBppYPU-BmErxrFZA1ZXvZykXjlWOkWPn-9cx5rD-eC2dxQv2cvUB9G2CniEf4nh1f3t5XRIGRK4MRU8dpt6sy8C0XQ-yS23gMNkLKISj2i-KyfnDBlOFTDke7g-dcZSiTQ5INH/s640/43968.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Cases are available to order in special colors; this one is green leather! (photo from NetInstruments, this oboe is for sale!)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The oboe that I played for a while was the “Artist” model (as it's sold in the States; Bulgheroni themselves call it the model FB-105), which is a full-conservatory standard professional instrument, equivalent to a standard Loree C+3, Fox 400, Howarth S50, etc. What I enjoyed the most about my Bulgheroni, and indeed every one I’ve played since, is the evenness of tone from bottom to top. It is a very, very smooth instrument, and the response in the bottom register is nearly unparalleled. The keywork is also very, very heavily plated for durability, and they offer a variety of platings to choose from. Bulgheroni also offers an unprecedented SIX wood options (grenadilla, violetwood/kingwood, cocobolo, Brazilian rosewood, Honduran rosewood, and cocuswood) , and not just on their top model, either. </span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “Opera” model, positioned just below the “Musa” in the pricing hierarchy, is one of the finest oboes you can buy, and it will cost you considerably less than an equivalent instrument from one of the other big makers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Bulgheroni "Opera" in grenadilla with gold-plated keys</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Closeup of an Opera bell in rosewood</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently, Bulgheroni has developed a material they are calling "WoodNoWood", which is their entry into the crackproof-wood-substitute market. I've reached out to them for more information, and will update as I receive it! </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Patricola </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.patricola.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.patricola.com/</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Known for the stunningly red Brazilian rosewood they use, Patricola oboes are also handcrafted by a family in Italy, and make some of the loveliest oboes/oboes d’amore/English horns/clarinets I’ve ever seen or played. I played a rosewood Patricola oboe with gold keys for quite some time, and not only was it physically stunning, it had one of the sweetest sounds of any oboe I’ve ever played, though I did have to work a bit harder in the upper register to stabilize intonation, and it wasn’t quite as reed-friendly as some other oboes I’ve played. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKtoNX7sWoz8ks6ecFSCYhMiiYMUr6HeWCKk0JqMjYQC0NZVvBOJxfbyI8yrNyclc5QSmlP9a-aX4cCaWwRCHVrq9OaGKjgEsM00k5gG_zKeIlGR9V5VZJbiekRwUlVKL8Nep5hWieyen/s1600/168937_10150090147234259_195792_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKtoNX7sWoz8ks6ecFSCYhMiiYMUr6HeWCKk0JqMjYQC0NZVvBOJxfbyI8yrNyclc5QSmlP9a-aX4cCaWwRCHVrq9OaGKjgEsM00k5gG_zKeIlGR9V5VZJbiekRwUlVKL8Nep5hWieyen/s640/168937_10150090147234259_195792_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">My own former rosewood/gold Patricola...note the adjustable double bridge arms on the bell for low Bb and Bb resonance (to operate the resonance key for low B as well)</span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scale is quite good (and improving every year…Patricola does huge amounts of work to constantly improve their instruments, and they get noticeably better all the time. Mine was an S.6 “Evoluzione” model, and they are several generations ahead of that at this point; the “Rigoletto” is CONSIDERABLY better than the oboe I had, with much better intonation and easier response in the extremes of the range), and it was a very comfortable instrument to play for long periods of time. This is a brand you absolutely MUST try if you wish to buy a handcrafted professional oboe but you are on a somewhat restrictive budget. They also come up used on eBay quite often (or are sold by large retailers via their eBay stores), and they are always quite affordable. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Opinions on these instruments have varied widely, but as with all things, the best thing to do is try them for yourself...one man’s trash, etc etc! (And the rosewood models are definitely a great way to make a visual splash if you’re the sort of person who likes to be different and stand out from the crowd! It is a rosewood that looks quite unlike any other maker’s exotic wood offerings; it’s almost neon, it’s such a bright orange-red. With gold-plated keys, it looks like you’re wielding actual fire!)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.foxproducts.com/index.php/instruments/oboes" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.foxproducts.com/index.php/instruments/oboes</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would a discussion of oboes be without mentioning Fox? Entirely built here in the good old U.S of A., these instruments are some of the most reliable oboes out there, and the foundation on which many a student has built their oboe-playing career (myself included). The Renard series (330/333) are probably THE most popular student/intermediate oboes in America, and for good reason. They sound good, they play in tune, and they’re very heartily built.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The professional Fox oboes are equally solid, though with the exception of the model 800, it could be said that they lack a bit of depth in the sound and tend to be a bit homogenous, but it isn’t anything that a skilled player with good reed skills can’t overcome. The most outstanding feature of the Fox instruments, in my opinion, is the dazzlingly consistent build quality and uber-stable intonation. If you’re looking for an oboe that will get you through any gig, and not require huge amounts of work to play in tune, this is it. They blend beautifully in a section, and the all-plastic professional model 300 is a doubler’s DREAM, as well as being an invaluable backup for any symphonic professional who has to endure summertime outdoor pops concerts. The 800 plays very much like a fine Loree, and the Fox English horns are absolutely beautiful instruments. However, what I’d REALLY like to talk about are the 2 newest offerings from Fox’s oboe department, and they are total knockouts. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fox-Laubin</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The result of a partnership between famed oboe makers Laubin and Fox, the Fox-Laubin oboe is a fantastic instrument that is born in Fox’s workshops in Indiana, and finished in the Laubin workshop in upstate New York. I have played a couple of them back to back with actual Laubins, and while they are of course not *identical*, they get very, very close. Truly a great classic-sounding oboe at a very reasonable price! If you’re not up for a 12+ year wait for a Laubin, you really should consider giving one of these a try. They are remarkably good. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQpWxeuFqDUvupn9Z5rCupcXo_agVIp90XpXPGFq19oJEm3DFnWLLDhYSejGd0meyHxd9Q1w6xAGVDasYvybTy8vD6Sb0iDdrydOuTePNZ2OQxhwyTrvF_X78uRdTAPcbmlgIhe4lOGRw/s1600/IMG_20151122_164709%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQpWxeuFqDUvupn9Z5rCupcXo_agVIp90XpXPGFq19oJEm3DFnWLLDhYSejGd0meyHxd9Q1w6xAGVDasYvybTy8vD6Sb0iDdrydOuTePNZ2OQxhwyTrvF_X78uRdTAPcbmlgIhe4lOGRw/s640/IMG_20151122_164709%257E2.jpg" width="638" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sayen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fox’s contribution to the thick-wall, dark-sound society, the Sayen is really, really, REALLY great. I’ve played at least ten of them now, and not only are they consistent as heck, they are very different from anything Fox has ever done before, and a true contender in the top-end pro oboe market. Like many of the other premium-level oboes, the Sayen is dressed with gold-plated rings and posts (a brighter 24k-gold color than the typical soft 14k or 18k-rose gold color of most other makers), and a ringless bell, the Sayen brings to mind many of the beautiful German instruments, with a smooth, even, flowing sound and fantastic response in the top. 100% needs to be on anybody’s short list of oboes to try! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijPMxt1fKkTtj4lUU3x1PgQ_q_0pmVoFT6OqzmGy0Fh8JmyDOfmXsmfWVp6KxZ4Ynw5WORcjE_B6hb-prR5EoCQ-_pMvxxUWLiz8xGLrVKldgX2LCoz9YPYveAhvAFDWVe7qCktJ3FPPB/s1600/IMG_20151122_165212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1185" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijPMxt1fKkTtj4lUU3x1PgQ_q_0pmVoFT6OqzmGy0Fh8JmyDOfmXsmfWVp6KxZ4Ynw5WORcjE_B6hb-prR5EoCQ-_pMvxxUWLiz8xGLrVKldgX2LCoz9YPYveAhvAFDWVe7qCktJ3FPPB/s640/IMG_20151122_165212.jpg" width="472" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Closeup of the bell showing the Sayen logo</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF91gbqmz8XAlujoIPyYltTQ69c3tbr2qzlg5rZbGeGOfk1P-fzNKzDhKMSc6ufweHtqclC05TZdTlexKvZCoWEJdzKJubzg79ujTRYMTwqfQsaIKnyplJinTLcCK1o9UcxSo51rniKzT0/s1600/IMG_20151122_165205%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1185" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF91gbqmz8XAlujoIPyYltTQ69c3tbr2qzlg5rZbGeGOfk1P-fzNKzDhKMSc6ufweHtqclC05TZdTlexKvZCoWEJdzKJubzg79ujTRYMTwqfQsaIKnyplJinTLcCK1o9UcxSo51rniKzT0/s640/IMG_20151122_165205%257E2.jpg" width="472" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">This particular Sayen was made as a prototype of a new ergonomic keywork design! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Buffet </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.buffet-crampon.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.buffet-crampon.com</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then, of course, there is Buffet, maker of the (in?)famous Greenline 3613 oboe. The Greenline material was developed by Buffet to combat cracking and weather-related instability, and in that regard, it works beautifully. I must admit, though, I have never been a big fan of the Greenline oboes. I think oboe guru Peter Hurd ( </span><a href="http://www.oboes.us/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.oboes.us</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ) nailed it when he described them on his site as a “reed trumpet”. I have always found them a bit on the brash side, they are quite heavy, and the middle tenons have an alarming tendency to shear clean off at the slightest hint of wrong-ward pressure. They can, however, be coaxed into bliss, as Albrecht Mayer proved. (Of course, it took only a cursory glance to realize that Albrecht’s Buffet was customized to within an inch of its life…the ivory-colored adornments on the head and bell of his oboe made that clear! I believe it was Ludwig Frank who worked on his Buffet, and eventually they just started from scratch and created the Moennig AM model.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The all-wood Buffet 3613, however, I have found to be a perfectly lovely instrument. Some quirky scale issues (but the expected sort, like dodgy high Cs and top-of-staff Gs that could be more stable, to say the least), but they could be fixed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, Buffet has gone back to the oboe drawing board, and given birth to the Orfeo. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Orfeo</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I first published this article, I had not yet played the Orfeo and was unable to offer any real insight beyond “well, it certainly looks pretty!”. Shortly after I started this blog, I ended up in Japan for months, performing and living and trying every instrument I could get my hands on in the glorious well-stocked music shops of Tokyo and Osaka, and among those instruments was, you better believe it...the Orfeo. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.30909; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s a wow. This instrument, plainly put, SINGS. There is tremendous presence in the second octave, particularly up in the left hand notes. High C is very stable, C# and D above come out with zero effort and a lovely tone color, and intervals all over the range of the oboe are easy as pie. The keywork is very sturdy and feels fantastic under the fingers, and the black nickel-plated body rings lend a very sleek look to the instrument. The body of the Orfeo itself has been redesigned, with an almost-sensual curvature to both the head and the bell, which is ringless (of course, as most bells on the prestige-level instruments are these days).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In terms of the sound, I would have to characterize it on the warm side of “very traditionally oboey”. It has that lovely vocal quality with just a hint of that French nasality hiding in the timbre. It is quite flexible, though, and very responsive to varying reed styles, so you could really just get whatever you wanted out of this instrument. It is an oboe that is equally suited for the orchestral principal, the 2nd oboist, the soloist, the chamber specialist, or the pit player. (Perhaps ESPECIALLY so for the latter, due to the crackproof nature of the material!) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I honestly have no idea how they did it, since this instrument is also made of the Greenline material, but it is NOTHING like the 3613 Greenline oboe, in any way except the stuff from which it’s made. If I were to be handed carte blanche to get a new oboe right this minute, I cannot promise that it would not be an Orfeo. It would certainly be on the list of things to consider! Most impressive indeed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrp5s7SOIiQDYp-SXpaZdSmjYEUWXnscGpf4SJ5bhyphenhyphenvJzxeoidE5woW0i7Ga6MqWsDS5T9EcjKb8QnVniwveyD3jwfRP-2GqWolnT5vfL-BjtpPQq44VYTTQe0eoRCiv0GsgM7_A-59fY/s1600/imgrc0062574842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="580" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrp5s7SOIiQDYp-SXpaZdSmjYEUWXnscGpf4SJ5bhyphenhyphenvJzxeoidE5woW0i7Ga6MqWsDS5T9EcjKb8QnVniwveyD3jwfRP-2GqWolnT5vfL-BjtpPQq44VYTTQe0eoRCiv0GsgM7_A-59fY/s640/imgrc0062574842.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Orfeo oboe in case, via Rakuten</span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Buffet is also releasing a new model of professional oboe, called the "Virtuose", at IDRS 2017, so look for an update on that! I will try it as soon as I possibly can for you all! I'm very intrigued to see how this model will differ from the Orfeo. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hiniker (no website)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d also like to briefly talk about Hiniker oboes. The waiting list is a million years long (actually, I think it’s around 10 years at the moment, give or take), but with good reason. They’re absolutely spectacular instruments, handbuilt by one of the most genius oboe acousticians since Gillet and Triebert. These instruments are HIGHLY sought after by top-level players, and they are stunning. Tom builds oboes out of a wide variety of woods (including cocobolo, pink ivory, and snakewood), and has made an oboe entirely out of clear acrylic, much like the Marigaux Altuglas oboe. Jonathan Marzluf has some beautiful recordings on his website (</span><a href="http://www.marzlufreeds.com/audio_samples.php" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.marzlufreeds.com/audio_samples.php</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ) of him playing on his cocobolo Hiniker, and champion reedmaker Cooper Wright also has some extensive writing about the Hinikers on his website, as does Peter Hurd (who owned a mind-blowingly gorgeous snakewood Hiniker oboe). Perhaps most interesting of them all, my lovely friend Anne owns a HIniker in clear acrylic, which is just stunning! (She’s named her the “Ice Princess”, and she’s a pretty lady!) It seems that a left hand C# key (next to the left hand F key) is either standard on Hinikers, or an option chosen by nearly everyone who orders one. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Playing Anne's "Ice Princess" clear acrylic Hiniker at IDRS!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dupin</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.dupin-oboe.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.dupin-oboe.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Roland Dupin has created the absolute Lamborghini of oboes, the Dupin Imperial. This oboe has one of the most unique appearances of any oboe on the market with its Baroque-oboe-meets-Viennese-oboe headstock and bell, and the sound is absolutely magical. Christoph Hartmann plays one, and you can see and hear it on Youtube in his Youtube Symphony oboe masterclass (</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EIgJvYx4AE" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EIgJvYx4AE</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) . </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dupin Imperial is also on magnificent display in this performance by the oboe section of the Royal Danish Orchestra: </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N00JbKpZKKw" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N00JbKpZKKw</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was finally able to spend some time with the Dupin Imperial oboe in Japan (and then again at IDRS), and much like the Orfeo, I was just blown away. It was truly everything I’d hoped it would be, and then some. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that I would be thrilled to play one of these for the rest of my career. They’re horribly expensive and difficult to come by, but if you can, by all means PLEASE try one! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">In Imperial bliss in Tokyo, August 2013!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokoFxllPbHQTZqyxS4yvZ5w3_z-fMeJPo9uVdeoeEibZz_igWNSH1KMl94iUGfhIzb67JFdBdq60kVCLWCy2Um6CdxasyHHMDAO0NH9KZJQemrAoXxhW9_Q8BgrCyPVOapECl0Axh7gVD/s1600/IMG_20140809_125849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokoFxllPbHQTZqyxS4yvZ5w3_z-fMeJPo9uVdeoeEibZz_igWNSH1KMl94iUGfhIzb67JFdBdq60kVCLWCy2Um6CdxasyHHMDAO0NH9KZJQemrAoXxhW9_Q8BgrCyPVOapECl0Axh7gVD/s400/IMG_20140809_125849.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">We meet again! Not one, but TWO Imperials (one wood/gold, one synthetic/silver), at IDRS 2014 in New York.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Puchner</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.puchner.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> http://www.puchner.com</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Known to bassoonists as "That Really Good German Bassoon That Isn’t A Heckel", Puchner has also made oboes/d’amores/EHs forever, but they’ve recently made a splash in the US marketplace with the 733C oboe and their English horn, which Peter Hurd has declared the English horn of all English horns. I’m going to roll with Mr. Hurd’s opinion on this one, having finally given both the oboe and the English horn a good spin. Dark, thick, beautiful, romantic sound with an excellent scale and very solid, comfortable keywork. I’d put the Puchner up there with the Moennig AM model and Ludwig Frank’s oboes, and would happily play one forever.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Left C# is a popular option on these, and the English horn and d’amore can also be made with a low Bb. Exotic woods and gold plating are options, as well as a new very elaborate bell style that really does change the sound (as you'd expect, since it looks like a very fancy English horn bell).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The standard, basic model 733c. Note the elegant curve of the 2nd octave key and the F roller. Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.doublereed.co.uk/" target="_blank">Doublereed Ltd</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">733c, this time with gold plated keys! (Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.richardcraig.com.au/" target="_blank">Richard Craig Woodwind</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">And, the granddaddy of all Puchner oboes, the 733c made in violetwood with the new special bell shape. (Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.oboes.us/" target="_blank">Peter Hurd</a>, the US dealer for Puchner oboes. Contact him for a trial or more information!)</span></div>
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<a href="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/winds/oboes/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/winds/oboes/</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Talk about an instrument that has EVOLVED! I remember playing a Custom 831 when I was in high school in the late 90s, and thinking “Well this is...nice, isn’t it?” and not giving them another thought for ten years. WELL, kids, lemme tell you, this is NOT the Yamaha of the 90s. The most recent model Custom Yamaha oboes are every bit as delicious as any other high-end maker's, and in the case of the 841 in kingwood/violetwood with the lined upper joint is an absolute dream, and a lifesaver if you play 2nd oboe, because the low register response is out of this world. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are one of the smoothest, sleekest, most in-tune, responsive, bottom-octave-friendly oboes on the market today, and I think every professional orchestral 2nd oboist should run, not walk, to get one of these on trial, because thou shalt be (possibly) converted! They’re also, as the kids say today, mad cheap. (Relatively speaking, anyway)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Yamaha Kingwood oboe (laying down) on a slab of grenadilla, photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.mmimports.com/" target="_blank">Midwest Musical Imports</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.josefoboeusa.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-size: large;"><b>http://www.josefoboeusa.com</b></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the last 3 years, I have played several Josefs (at the time of my prior writing, I’d only tried 2, and one was amazing while the other made me want to jump from a bridge), and have now formed a more comprehensive opinion of this highly stylized and fascinating Japanese maker. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I. Love. Them. Seriously, on the whole, I find them GLORIOUS. There are several different models (all of which can be customized with various woods/platings, which makes for a VERY wide range of different looking Josefs), and all of them has a distinct personality, but there isn’t a single one of them that I wouldn’t consider. My personal favorite is the 20th Anniversary model, which looks a bit like a Dupin Imperial, a bit like a Ludwig Frank, but also like nothing else. The “Metal” model, so named because of the massive gold-plated reed socket that is designed to add mass to the top of the instrument, has a lovely, focused, centered sound that would fit beautifully into any chamber orchestra or as a solo instrument. There are also the “Pegaso” (Pegasus) and “Clement” models, which each possess their own persona, but are quite flexible and would likely do anything you’d like them to do. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Josef has also pioneered a new material they call “LAMI”, which is betula wood that has been spiral cut (kind of like a Swiss roll, from the outside in, around the long axis) and then laminated into highly grained sheets with a polymer material. It is available in five different colors, and offers you the warmth and roundness and projection of a wooden oboe combined with the stability and crack-resistance of a synthetic oboe. Very fascinating and complex-sounding instruments, and I found the 20th Anniversary English horn in this material to be an absolute winner at the last IDRS I attended. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">This is a "Pegasus" model, with gold plated keys. As you might have guessed, this oboe produces a very smooth, lush, Baroque-oboe-like sound. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">A more basic model, still with gold plated keys. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">This is the "LAMI" material, shown in all 5 available colors, in the 20th Anniversary model. (Photo courtesy of Jan Eberle, <a href="http://www.josefoboeusa.com/" target="_blank">Josef Oboe - USA</a>. If you're interested in trying one, contact her, she's super nice and the official US importer of these wonderful instruments.) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until next time…happy oboe-nerding! (And check out Robin Des Hautbois’ blog, </span><a href="http://robindeshautbois.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://robindeshautbois.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He has a plethora of beautiful photos and some very well written and comprehensive posts about the world of the oboe!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Also, I've made every effort to properly cite the sources of photos when appropriate, but please let me know if I've missed something! I want to make sure everyone gets credit for their images! :) ) </span></span></span></div>
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-87417830630340271272016-07-11T17:24:00.000-04:002016-07-11T18:23:59.102-04:00Uebel Clarinets In The 21st Century: A Primer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently, I wrote an article about the <b>Uebel Superior</b> clarinets, which are my instruments of choice these days. I've received a lot of great comments and questions about that article, but the most common by far is "What about the other models?", so instead of publishing individual articles about each model, I wanted to do one post that touched on all four of the new Uebel soprano clarinet models for those of you who are curious.<br />
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Before I break down the individual models, I would like to touch quickly on a few salient points about all of the models: They are all made of naturally aged and unstained grenadilla, and ALL models are available with left hand Eb/Ab key (it's standard on the Superior, Preference, and Advantage A clarinet), and all mechanisms are very heavily silver-plated in the German tradition. All models are also equipped standard with an adjustable thumbrest, and as of this year, all of them feature the Uebel logo on the upper joint beautifully hand-inlaid in sterling silver wire, which will never wear, unlike the foil stamping/gold crayon logos so common in the industry. (The Superior model has an additional solid sterling silver logo-plate with "Superior" engraved on it.)<br />
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There has been quite a lot of internet chatter lately about the exact origins of the Uebel clarinets, and as an Uebel artist representative, I wanted to be absolutely clear about it all, so I reached out to the owner/CEO of the company via the US distributor. Yes, Uebel does indeed own and operate a factory in China (it is their own factory, staffed by their people; it is not a subleased/contracted situation, and all work performed there is to their own very high German standard), but the French-system clarinets are in fact made entirely in Markneukirchen, Germany. As I understand it, the China factory's primary purpose is large-scale production of the German-system clarinets, which are exceedingly popular in the German market.<br />
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I won't write too much about the Superior here, since my last blog post is about nothing BUT (you can read that here if you haven't yet: <a href="http://woodwindwonderland.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-uebel-superior-why-yes-yes-it-is.html" target="_blank">The Uebel Superior: Why Yes, Yes It Is!</a> ), but let's start with it anyway.<br />
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The <b>Uebel Superior</b> is a top-of-the-line professional handcrafted instrument made of the choicest grenadilla wood that is naturally aged for a minimum of 7 years, the finest pieces of which are chosen via X-ray and frequency selection (hanging the billets and then tapping with a rubber mallet and choosing only those which produce the most pleasing sound). The bore of the Superior is a very Germanic style, quite similar to the Schwenk & Seggelke model 3000, and produces an extremely beautiful, thick sound that both blends very well with a section and creates a lovely solo voice on its own. The star selling point of the Superior is the incredible beauty of tone one achieves in the upper registers of the instrument; the upper clarion is free of "pinch", and the transition into the altissimo is both effortless and flawless. It is, however, relatively inflexible in terms of color, just as one expects from a German clarinet, so it is not perhaps ideally suited for the jazz/swing/contemporary artist, but it is an ideal clarinet for the soloist/recitalist/large orchestral principal. (However, if jazz/swing/contemporary/klezmer is your thing, keep reading! Uebel has something just for you!)<br />
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The Superior is a bit more resistant than the typical French-bore clarinets that we're used to, but the evenness of tone color and response throughout all registers of the instrument is well worth it. (It's also advisable to use perhaps a more open mouthpiece and slightly softer reed to counterbalance this, if you so choose. I've heard some pretty fantastic results produced with a closed/hard combo, too, though. Personal preference! :) ) The Superior is available in Bb and A, and there is an Eb version to be released this year, which received global unanimous raves when the prototype was presented at various industry events around the world. Truly a clarinet for the most discerning of players.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uebel Preference, on the left, Uebel Classic on the right! :) </td></tr>
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Next in the line up, we have the <b>Uebel Preference</b>. This clarinet is THE clarinet for the versatile player who wants a blank canvas to reproduce whatever voice they hear in their head; this clarinet can scream, it can wail, it can be dark and Brahmsian, it can Rhapsody in the blue-est of ways, and it is a fantastic instrument for the klezmer/ethnic player. (In fact, a dear friend has used the Preference in the pit of the current Broadway production of Fiddler On The Roof in the solo clarinet chair to great acclaim on multiple occasions). The Preference is made of unstained grenadilla aged 5-7 years naturally, and has the same precision-fit, heavily silver-plated mechanism as the Superior. The bore of this instrument is much closer to the prestige-level French instruments we all know and love, so if you find yourself thinking of perhaps purchasing a Buffet Festival, you REALLY need to try this instrument. I recently lent the Preference to a friend who is the clarinetist in an operetta currently running this summer here in NYC, and he summed it up thusly: "It's like a better Festival!" (He also at one point mentioned that he was able to play a low E and F perfectly in tune for the first time on this instrument!) It is the ultimate worry-free professional clarinet. You can truly just let go and focus on making music with the Preference! Currently, the Preference is only available in Bb, but an A is in the works.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uebel Advantage (in key of A)</td></tr>
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Even more affordable than the Preference, we have the <b>Advantage</b>. Firstly, it is made of the same beautifully figured unstained wood as the Preference. It's really a beautiful instrument to look at, and at first blow, will feel VERY familiar to 99% of American clarinetists. This is the instrument that you need to look at if you're considering dropping $3000+ on a new R13, because the Advantage gives you that same well-loved "ping" in the sound, with all of the concomitant shadings of color and tonal flexibility that we've all adored in the R13, but with much improved evenness and resistance through the registers, not to mention superior intonation, and all for considerably less than you would spend otherwise. The altissimo is particularly accessible on the Advantage, and just this past year, the Advantage A clarinet was released, putting a perfectly matched pair of brand-new professional clarinets within reach of just about anybody. This is the instrument for you if you're a conservatory student, or an extremely talented high school player on a budget, or even a professional clarinetist who isn't pulling in a six-figure salary but needs a top-notch pair of clarinets for orchestral playing that won't break the bank!<br />
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Last but certainly not least, there's the <b>Uebel Classic</b>. This is the entry level model of the Uebel lineup, but do not mistake it for a student clarinet, for it is no such thing. The Classic can hold its own against just about ANY clarinet you put it up against. I've had several NYC clarinetist friends try it, and just about every single one of them made the "trade you my clarinet for this one!" joke...and that was BEFORE I told them the price! This instrument, WITH the left hand Eb/Ab key option, comes in at just around $1400 (less than $1300 without the extra key!), with the same evenness and great intonation of all the other Uebel clarinets. It has the same flexibility of sound as the Preference, and a bit of the inborn personality of the Advantage. It is also just a stunningly made instrument that is very comfortable to play. If I could compare it to any clarinet on the market, past or present, I think the most apt comparison would be with the now-deceased Leblanc Esprit; it's a pro-quality clarinet at an intermediate-level price point. Hard to argue with that!<br />
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There, in a nutshell, are the 4 current Uebel soprano clarinet models; if you're in the NYC or Boston areas, and would love to try one, shoot me an email, and I would be more than happy to make that happen for you! :-) I really, really love these instruments, and I am 100% convinced that you will too, once you try them!Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-90282695962088474952016-03-03T00:30:00.000-05:002016-07-11T14:38:07.172-04:00The Uebel Superior: Why Yes, Yes It Is!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJj0LYXoIt39_AmIJhRJInoH84WZ92cR8lgv-KJ3yHmjc3y6QrL-rTX0kpOtLmwu6AkakU3wVnXE30jlHAYasQW9cW4LHOK6fBkgCdYJLmhWiX59FyDIrpR-XdcFwhzKX9VFtJMRvXoRQK/s1600/UebelSuperiorLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJj0LYXoIt39_AmIJhRJInoH84WZ92cR8lgv-KJ3yHmjc3y6QrL-rTX0kpOtLmwu6AkakU3wVnXE30jlHAYasQW9cW4LHOK6fBkgCdYJLmhWiX59FyDIrpR-XdcFwhzKX9VFtJMRvXoRQK/s640/UebelSuperiorLogo.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">If you read my blog article
summarizing the International Clarinet Association convention in
Baton Rouge back in 2014, you may recall that I was extremely
impressed by a few instruments, but there was one in particular that snagged my attention...the Uebel
Superior. This is a clarinet that provides that beautiful dark,
focused German sound that I (and so many other clarinetists I know)
love so much, but with the Boehm system keywork that we're all used
to. Of all of the instruments I played that weekend, the one that
stuck with me the most, almost to the point of obsession, was the
Superior. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Well, fast forward a year and a
half: I am now fortunate enough to be an Uebel artist representative, and I am playing on a pair of them! I've had them for a little over 5
months now, and I fall in love with them a little bit more every day.
For the first time ever (at least since I played exclusively on
actual Oehler system clarinets back in 2008 for several months), I am
able to produce almost exactly the sound that I hear in my head
when I play the clarinet. So many of the problems that we face as
Boehm-system clarinetists are simply eliminated by the Superiors (and by the Uebel clarinet line in general, but we're specifically focusing on the Superior in this article). The
upper clarion and altissimo registers are just as warm and
full-sounding as the lower registers, and the amount of control that
the Superiors provide in the upper reaches of the instrument is
mindblowing. Every person who has played these instruments has
immediately remarked on how easy the transition to the altissimo is,
and how full it sounds, even at the softest of dynamics. </span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCB72NrMfVXUkD_krsE9QsVsZrkq3EyckihwO3Hka8SidTpuyyOkFuZ-mTgWTXdaShh-RVVHABFEmUCEDwNgbROlPK_h68ec3Y8600YJG52taAyr-ODRF_efRfcg8xBi1RrUTtMgwwJkEM/s1600/SuperiorsCaseCrop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCB72NrMfVXUkD_krsE9QsVsZrkq3EyckihwO3Hka8SidTpuyyOkFuZ-mTgWTXdaShh-RVVHABFEmUCEDwNgbROlPK_h68ec3Y8600YJG52taAyr-ODRF_efRfcg8xBi1RrUTtMgwwJkEM/s640/SuperiorsCaseCrop.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A well earned Superior-ity complex :P </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For a purely Boehm system clarinet, it
is the closest thing I have ever encountered to the German sound,
without being a Reform Boehm instrument (and honestly, the
differences in feel between this and most of the RBs I've tried are
so minimal that I can't imagine spending the extra money now.) This
is due largely to the genius team of German instrument makers and
designers who created the Superior. The man responsible for the
resurrection of Uebel, Jürgen Stölzel, put together a team
including master instrument maker Jörg Thümmler and
famed clarinet designer/builder Jochen Seggelke (of Schwenk &
Seggelke) to design the flagship of this new line. I have no idea how
they did it, and probably never will, as the exact specifications are
a closely guarded secret, but they have somehow managed to imbue the
traditionally bright (particularly in the upper registers), unevenly
balanced, and problematically-tuned French clarinet with an evenness
in resistance that is unmatched, the silkiest of sounds, and
remarkable intonation. It isn't *exactly* the same as an actual
German clarinet, but by Jeeves, it is very, very close. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> <i>Storytime: I recently lent
the Superior Bb to a clarinetist friend (who is currently a graduate
student of one of the biggest names in clarinet pedagogy today) for
several days. Upon returning it, he remarked that he played it in a
rehearsal of Mahler 3, and has never had such an easy time blending
with the </i><i>woodwind </i><i>section, particularly intonation
wise, and that the sound of the upper register drew several
appreciative comments from his fellow orchestra members. </i></span>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">I've talked to you about the
sound of the instrument, but let's get physical for a few moments.
These clarinets are BEAUTIFUL. They are quite traditional in
appearance, true, but there is a very refined elegance to the design
that is quite lovely to look at. The mechanism is extremely well
constructed to very tight tolerances, and is <i>heavily</i>
silver-plated, as is customary of German instruments. The Superior is
also constructed of the very finest pieces of grenadilla wood that
exist. It is aged NATURALLY (not in a kiln) for a minimum
of 7 years, and is subjected to a lengthy selection process,
including auditory selection by being gently tapped with a rubber mallet (a very traditionally
German thing to do in instrument making; only billets that produce a
sound within a certain frequency spectrum are chosen for turning; many of the highest-end German clarinet makers do this),
they are X-rayed to check for internal flaws, and the pieces of wood
are grain-matched for the upper and lower joints (which are actually
made from one piece of wood whenever possible). Only 1-3% of Uebel's
wood stock ends up being selected to be made into Superiors, which
certainly lends accuracy to the name! :) </span>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The upper bore of the bell
contains an egg-shaped chamber with a sterling-silver-mounted hole
drilled in it for accuracy of intonation on low E and F, and a
smoother transition from the throat to the clarion register. The bell
is also thick-rimmed and ringless, lending a beautiful, sleek look to
the instrument. On the upper joint, above the A key, is a rectangular plaque of solid sterling silver bearing a cursive inscription of the word "Superior", and above that, the Uebel logo, which on the newest production models is filled with not a foil or crayon, but solid silver wire, to ensure that the logo stays crisp forever and will not wear. Lovely little details that show just how much Uebel cares about these instruments! (My Bb has this silver wire fill, my A does not.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwhpc2eBtLcl1x-kI__ErdcP2mggslUC_X7X19v3KNOsBhakFNsObb650zfIvDY5YwDcPwhR7XfSfif4muHQf7_T7-D_fCQgj-yURniYNhdzSQRZgS593eo5JlE_pn-1wQsA3bTBiosrb/s1600/IMG_20150925_120856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwhpc2eBtLcl1x-kI__ErdcP2mggslUC_X7X19v3KNOsBhakFNsObb650zfIvDY5YwDcPwhR7XfSfif4muHQf7_T7-D_fCQgj-yURniYNhdzSQRZgS593eo5JlE_pn-1wQsA3bTBiosrb/s640/IMG_20150925_120856.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All of the posts are locked, of course, and the instrument comes equipped with fine white leather pads. (I typically have always used cork on my upper joint, but I'm having no problem at all with these, and they're wonderfully quiet!) Both the Bb and the A are supplied with leather-covered Winter French-style cases lined in beautiful maroon velvet with the Uebel logo tooled into the leather on the lid of the case in the corner, and a shearling-lined case cover with backpack straps and a SUPER roomy exterior accessory compartment. The A comes in a double case, the Bb in a single. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A left-hand Eb/Ab lever is of course also standard on the Superior, and in what I think is a particularly well thought-out move, all Superiors are supplied with the Vandoren Klassic string ligature :) (An especially appropriate and welcome accessory in my case, given that I play on a Vandoren B40D German mouthpiece!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I could continue talking about how beautiful they sound, and how evenly they play, and how stunning they look and feel, but what might just be the MOST exciting thing about these instruments is the price. The Superior Bb, an absolute top-of-the-line, cream-of-the-crop, elite level instrument, costs over $1200 less than the Buffet R13 Prestige/Festival, $1000+ less than the Selmer Privilege, and around $2400 less than the Tosca. They're really a fabulous value, dollar for dollar, and a wonderful way to enter the world of the German clarinet sound experience without paying five figures for a Reform-Boehm or Oehler system clarinet! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If I could touch just for a moment on the Superior A clarinet, all of what I've said above holds true for it, but given the typically awkward and finicky nature of most A clarinets, the difference is all the more remarkable on the Superior. Since I brought my set home, several of the best clarinetists I know here in New York have played them, and UNANIMOUSLY they all said it was the best A clarinet they've ever played! Switching between the Bb and the A is truly seamless, and the sound is just out of this world, with a wonderful freedom of sound in places where the A clarinet is usually tight and stuffy. (Mozart would approve!) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now, there are some things that the Superior does not do, and it would not be fair of me to not talk about those. If you play quite a lot of jazz or klezmer or world music or even perhaps do a lot of musical theater doubling, the Superior may not be the <i>ideal </i>choice, because the beautiful, creamy sound it produces is somewhat inflexible and is hard to make sound like anything BUT beautiful. The pitch centers are also so accurate and well "slotted", to steal a term from my brass friends, that wide smears and bends are a bit difficult on the Superior. Being "wild" isn't really something that's native to the personality of the Superior. If you are one of these sorts of players and require serious flexibility, then the Uebel Preference is the clarinet that YOU want to try, but we'll save that for another post! :-) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In summation...forget everything you thought you may have known about the Uebel clarinets from the pre-Cold War era. This is a brand new generation of instruments, and if you are on the hunt for a new clarinet, you absolutely owe it to yourself to try one. If you're in or around the NYC area, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to set up a private trial for you! :-) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Until next time, as always, happy clarinetting, folks! :) </span><br />
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(Note: Inquiries may also be sent directly to the US distributor at Victoria.Moe@Moe-Bleichner.com or Andreas.Moe@Moe-Bleichner.com! :-) ) </div>
Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-73431541675223191882016-02-09T00:47:00.001-05:002016-03-01T17:47:00.118-05:00Stopping A Crack Habit Before It Starts: A Primer<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[This post's primary audience will be
people who do the bulk of their work in less than ideal environmental
conditions, namely theater pits and on tours. However, anybody who
finds themselves having to play outdoor pops series or patriotic
concerts might also find this useful!]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is an article I've been wanting to
write for a while, but something happened recently that made it clear
that now is the time. One of my very nearest and dearest friends (who
also happens to be my roommate) was very recently playing the reed
chair in a fantastic high-profile off-Broadway show, and in this
show, among the 8 instruments in his book, he played oboe and English
horn.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the frigid air-conditioning of the
theater, during a performance (as he began to play a highly exposed
solo), his English horn cracked. No, it didn't crack, it EXPLODED.
His precious, dark and smooth-voiced English horn, which was the
instrument that his beloved mentor and teacher used for her entire
career and then came into his employ upon her passing, literally
burst at the seams. No fewer than 9 separate cracks happened in the
top joint at once, causing what our favorite repair tech called the
worst cracking incident he has ever seen in his career. It was so bad
that the octave pip and tonehole inserts actually popped out.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Repair Guy did the absolute best he
could to repair it, and it does play now, but it is, for all intents
and purposes, dead. The beautiful silky voice it had is gone, and it
is now a thin, reedy, bright-sounding instrument that bears more
resemblance to a shawm than a cor anglais; it can also never be used
in a pit again, because the next time it cracks, and it WILL crack
again, it will be permanently destroyed. Everything that was once
special about this instrument was erased in a fraction of a second,
and it is utterly heartbreaking. As every serious musician knows,
your instrument is not just a tool, it is part of you; PARTICULARLY
when the instrument represents not just itself, but a person who is
no longer with us. These kinds of instruments are irreplaceable, and
something very much passes forever into the ether when something
happens to them.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My friend is now, unfortunately, in the
position of having to find a new instrument with which to continue
his career, and I am helping him in that search. I am writing this to
share with you not only a cautionary tale, but to also perhaps shed
some light on some options you may not have known about for instruments that are available to us
that will prevent this sort of heartbreak from ever happening.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While violinists who have extremely
expensive fine violins will also almost always as a matter of course
have a less expensive but serviceable instrument as a backup and for
these sorts of gigs - woodwind players, particularly doublers, rarely
have backups to everything in their arsenal. (How many people do you
know that have two oboes and English horns, or two bassoons in addition to all the flutes, clarinets, and saxes they must own?)
However, just as a violinist wouldn't bring their Strad into a pit,
we wind players must also think a bit about what tools we're choosing to
use in our day to day work lives. Though it is tempting to have the
finest, most beautiful instruments we can get our hands on (I mean,
who DOESN'T want a matching set of cocobolo wood Howarth XL oboe/oboe
d'amore/EH with gold keys?!), sometimes we need to consider the
reality of our playing situations and tailor our instrument choices
to our practical needs. The hard truth of the matter is that, for
most of us, cracking is an inevitability when we are using wooden
instruments in the pit. However, we can completely remove that
particular stress from our lives by making choices to play
instruments that will not crack, and there are more of those options
on the market right now than ever. Gone are the days when non-wood
instruments meant we had to make do with terrible-sounding student
models.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In this post, I will describe the
options available to us for pit-proof piccolos, oboes, English horns,
and clarinets, as these are the instruments that most doublers worry
about cracking. (<b>Bassoons </b>tend to be just fine, but for those
bassoonists who feel left out, here you go: Get a Fox model III with
all the extra keywork options your heart desires [I'm a high E/F key,
wing Eb trill, Ab/Bb trill key, French whisper key, and gold plating
kind of guy, all of which are available on the III], throw on a
high-resonance bell in black lacquer finish to match the body, and
you're all set! :) )
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PICCOLOS</span></b></u></h2>
<div>
<u><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The non-wood professional-level piccolo
options are few, but mighty. Hands down, my recommendation is for the
<a href="http://www.pearlflutes.com/" target="_blank">Pearl</a> model 105 in grenaditte. It is extremely well made, has a very
even, dark, lovely sound and fantastic intonation, and is extremely
affordable at well under $1500. I have played at least a dozen of
them, and they are very consistent from one to the next. They're also
available with a grenadilla headjoint (though that is where piccolo
cracks tend to happen most, so it'd be defeating the purpose), and
you can choose between a traditional embouchure and a wave-style,
which with its ease of response and free-blowing quality, is
particularly handy for those who are not piccolo specialists. I have
recommended these to several professional friends, who have all
purchased them and are extremely happy with them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For those who don't mind a less
traditional-looking instrument, there are a few very cool-looking
options for crackproofing your tooting: Firstly, we have the <a href="http://www.gflute.com/" target="_blank">Guo</a> Grenaditte and New Voice piccs. The Grenaditte is a composite body
with black composite keys and silicon pads, and is VERY sleek
looking. The body is textured to resemble wood, but the black keys
give it a very futuristic appearance. Sound is very wood-like, with
even resistance and a great sparkle in the sound, particularly in the
top. The New Voice is less expensive, and a bit brighter in voice
overall, but still fantastically easy to play and great sounding.
They are available in a wide variety of colors, though I'm partial to
both the white and the boxwood-colored one. For under 800 bucks, you
can hardly go wrong. It beats the standard plastic piccolos in that
price range out of the water!
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you have a bit of a bigger budget
and want to join the <a href="http://www.powellflutes.com/" target="_blank">Powell</a> family, the <a href="http://sonarewinds.com/" target="_blank">Sonare</a> 750 piccolo is a
wonderful option. Made of a beautifully grained laminate wood in two
colors (A violetwood/ironwood-looking red called Tuscan Umber and a
gray/black they call Indian Onyx), this picc features a stainless
steel brushed-finish mechanism with very comfortable square keys. The
toneholes themselves are still round, so don't confuse this with the
VERY different Lopatin “Square One” instruments. The keys are
very comfortable, especially for larger hands, and the sound is pure
Powell.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.gemeinhardt.com/roy-seaman-storm-piccolo.html" target="_blank">Roy Seaman/Gemeinhardt “Storm”</a> piccolo is also a good option at a great price, though soundwise, I
find it considerably less refined an instrument than the Pearl.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you've got money to burn and want
something REALLY special, consider the <a href="http://sankyoflutes.com/models/sankyo-harmony-flutes" target="_blank">Sankyo</a> sterling silver piccolo with
soldered tone holes which sounds and plays very much like a little flute,
and is really quite a fulfilling playing experience. They're quite
expensive, but you are getting a top-notch handmade instrument that
will last you forever. (You can also get it heavily plated in 14K
rose gold, and who wouldn't want that?!) This ain't your high school
metal marching piccolo, that's for sure!
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">CLARINETS</span></b></u></h2>
<div>
<u><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
There are a few great options for the clarinetists out there in the
crackproof world, and if you're a regular reader of my blog, then
you've probably heard of at least a couple of them.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
Let's start with the instrument that I played an entire international
Broadway tour with, through every extreme of temperature and humidity
possible; the Libertas by <a href="http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/" target="_blank">Tom Ridenour</a>. Made of natural hard rubber
and designed by the same mastermind that gave us the Leblanc Opus and
Concerto, the Libertas is hands-down, no question, abso*LUTE*ly my
top recommendation for an uncrackable pit clarinet. It is extremely
in tune, has a beautiful dark sound, plays with great evenness from
top to bottom, and is in every respect a professional clarinet. At
well under $2,000 with an extremely generous interest-free payment
plan option, this clarinet is well within the grasp of ANY musician.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
The next model down in the Ridenour lineup, the Lyrique 576bc, is
also an excellent instrument with a bit of a different personality
than the Libertas (I find it a bit more flexible and perhaps
brighter, though not in a bad way. If the Libertas is like the Leblanc Opus,
then the 576 feels more like the Leblanc Esprit or Sonata.) At a price point
of around $1,000, this is an extremely affordable instrument with
huge bang for the buck. The biggest drawback for me with the Ridenour
clarinets is that, due to the body composition, the mechanism must be
nickel plated (silver and hard rubber are NOT friends), and I tend to
react poorly with nickel. However, the R13 is also produced with
nickel plating as standard issue, and people seem to be generally
alright with that. ;)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Speaking
of <a href="http://www.buffet-crampon.com/en" target="_blank">Buffet</a>, most
clarinetists are, of course, familiar with their Greenline
instruments, which also present a very viable alternative to wood in
climatically unstable situations. They are considerably more
expensive (priced exactly the same as their wooden counterparts),
though, and have a tendency to shear cleanly in half at the middle
tenon, so there is that to consider. They
are also quite heavy. However,
for the person who has the budget and can handle being extra
vigiliant about how they handle the instrument, a Greenline Prestige
or Tosca is certainly a lovely thing to have. (Though I find that
they tend to be overall much brighter than their grenadilla
equivalents, and consequently need a darker-sounding setup.)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
There is also the usual compliment of plastic/ABS student-level
clarinets, and most of these do the trick quite nicely as a pit horn,
especially for the casual player or doubler who is not primarily a
clarinetist. The Yamaha 255 is a personal favorite, though if you can
find a Vito V40 or Pete Fountain model on eBay or at a local shop in
good condition, GET IT. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">British clarinet maker <a href="http://www.hansonclarinets.com/" target="_blank">Hanson</a> produces a range of clarinets in a variety of crack-proof materials; Ebonite, which is another term for good ol' hard rubber (like the Ridenours); a material they call "reinforced grenadilla", which is a specially treated wood (I believe it is grenadilla that is impregnated with a resin material to fill all the spaces in the wood), and something they call "BTR", or bi-thermal reinforced grenadilla, which is a mix of grenadilla and ebonite layers that is quite beautiful in addition to being crack-proof. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
The standout in the synthetic-bodied student clarinet market, for me,
is the <a href="http://backunmusical.com/" target="_blank">Backun</a> Alpha. I played on one for several months before I got
my Libertas, and it really is a great instrument. It is, in fact,
probably the best-sounding student clarinet I've played in a very
long time. It's remarkably even throughout the range, and has a
lovely sound with a bit more personality than one expects from a
student model. At around 800 for the base version (with nickel keys),
it's also quite a bargain!
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">OBOES AND ENGLISH HORNS</span></b></u></h2>
<div>
<u><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
Here we come to the reason I'm writing this in the first place; our
beloved but tempermental double reeds. Oboists worry about cracks
more than just about any other woodwind players, and it's usually for
darned good reason. There are, however, quite a few stellar
alternatives to laying awake all night wondering if that weird line
you saw at that one angle in the light was just particularly
noticeable grain structure or the beginnings of the crack that will
destroy your life. (At least that's how it feels; the truth is that
the majority of cracks are very easily repaired and do not affect the
playability of your oboe/EH at ALL. They do, however, affect the
resale value and your emotional state. There is also the small chance
that the crack WILL hugely impact the way your instrument plays, and
if we can avoid this, we probably should.)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
We are not going to discuss the plastic student-level oboes, which
are generally just as awful as you remember them. Only the truly
desperate would resort to a Yamaha 211 or Selmer 1492, but I suppose
if the choice was that or no oboe at all...well, I hope you have some
REALLY great reeds handy. ;)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
For years, the standard bearer in professional-level synthetic oboes
has been <a href="http://www.foxproducts.com/" target="_blank">Fox</a>. I myself played on a Fox 300 oboe (the
full-conservatory system professional model in all-plastic
construction) and a Fox-Renard 555 English horn (the “intermediate)
model, with all keys but a 3<sup>rd</sup> 8ve and split ring D). They
were perfectly lovely instruments that played well, were in tune, and
got the job done, always. Do they have any particularly special sound
characteristics? Not really. They're great for pit players, though,
because you can pick them up, play them, and reasonably expect that
you are going to sound like you're playing an oboe or English horn.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
There has been some development in recent years, and the late-model
300s that I've played have been really nice instruments. With the
right reed, you can really make them do whatever you want, and they
are an excellent backup to your main oboe.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
The Renard English horn is a FABULOUS instrument that would suit the
needs of 98% of the English horn players I have ever met. For those
who require something a bit more, the Fox professional English horn
is available with either a plastic top joint or an all-plastic
body/bell. (Models 510/520 respectively). They are very comfortable
ergonomically, and produce quite a large, round sound. I highly
recommend these go on all of your short lists of things to try in
your search.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
Most of the major makers (<a href="http://www.loree-paris.com/" target="_blank">Loree</a>, <a href="http://www.fossati-paris.com/" target="_blank">Fossati</a>, <a href="http://www.marigaux.com/" target="_blank">Marigaux</a>, <a href="http://www.rigoutat.com/" target="_blank">Rigoutat</a>, <a href="http://www.howarth.uk.com/" target="_blank">Howarth</a>) offer a plastic top joint with their professional models, so
this is of course also an option. Howarth does a lovely thing they
call the VT models (or “Velvet Throat”), which is a hard-rubber
lining in the top joint that includes tonehole inserts, so if the
wooden outer body cracks, the bore remains intact and you suffer no
change in playing characteristics.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
Marigaux makes oboes/d'amores/English horns in a material they call
Altuglass, which is a stunning clear synthetic that comes standard
with gold keys, and is one of the most delicious sounding things I've
heard, ever. There is also an “Altu-Noir”, which looks much more
like a traditional black instrument for those of you who aren't the
shake-it-up type :)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
If you really just can't bear the idea of playing a plastic anything,
the Marigaux M2 is a great option for you. It has an innovative
structure wherein the upper joint is extremely short and terminates
ABOVE the trill keys, which are on the extra-long main body section.
Each M2 is supplied with top joints in both wood and resin, and the
crack rate between the trill keys (which is the most common place for
them to occur) is extremely low with this innovative design. They
also sound amazing! (If it's good enough for goddess Diana
Doherty...)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
If you have deep pockets and some patience, Tom Hiniker makes
FABULOUS oboes in acrylic resin that are absolute killers. I have
seen them in both clear and black varieties, I'd contact him to see
what further options are available.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Previously, I wrote about the <a href="http://www.buffet-crampon.com/en/content/orfeo" target="_blank">Buffet Orfeo</a> oboe, which is probably at the top of the list of instruments I'd pick if I had to buy a synthetic oboe tomorrow. It is simply stunning, with a huge dark creamy sound and impeccable intonation. (I feel considerably less expansive about the standard Greenline Buffet model 3613, but lots of people like it, and it's certainly...a professional instrument). </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the most exciting options in the oboe world, and my current
personal favorite, is from the <a href="http://www.josefoboeusa.com/" target="_blank">Josef</a> company in Japan. They have
developed a material they call “LAMI”, which (as you might have
inferred) is a laminate material made of a resin-impregnated hardwood
that is cut on the spiral axis which results in a long sheet of thin
wood/resin material, that is then layered and re-formed into a billet
and turned into an instrument. They are STUNNINGLY beautiful,
available in five different colors to resemble five different wood
species, and they sound absolutely terrific. They are expensive, but
so very, very worth it. Jan Eberle is the US agent for Josef, and is
very responsive to inquiries.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
International reed-making guru K. Ge has also gotten into the
oboe-making business, and offers several models in a synthetic
material that are of extremely high quality and sound fantastic, at
an extremely affordable price. More information on these can be found
at the <a href="http://www.innoledy.com/oboes_kge.html" target="_blank">Innoledy</a> website (which is also where you would buy them if
you're in the US), and on K. Ge's own site.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.oboes.com/" target="_blank">Covey</a> oboes are also now available with plastic top joints and
inserted tone holes on the wooden models. Well worth a try, though
there may be a bit of a wait. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yamaha has also entered the lined-top joint market with their <a href="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/winds/oboes/yob-841l/?mode=model" target="_blank">Duet+</a> models, and I'd venture to say that the Yamaha 841 in Kingwood with the lined top joint is one of the finest oboes I've ever had the privilege of plunking a reed into. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As you can see, there are a plethora of options available in the professional market for crack-proof (or at least resistant) oboes and English horns. However, many of these are top-level instruments and are quite expensive, so perhaps not entirely practical if you're looking for something as a backup. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are wonderful intermediate level instruments that play MORE then well enough to use in professional doubling situations that won't break the bank...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yamaha's intermediate oboes (the 400 series) have gotten *quite* a lot better in the last several years, and the 441 Duet+ model is a lovely instrument with all the keywork you need to get the job done, and a lovely sweet sound. A synthetic top is of course also available. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rigoutat makes a splendid line of instruments called the RIEC (a portmanteau of "Rigoutat" and the French "Ecole", which means "school) that fills the need for a professional-quality instrument at an affordable price. Fossati's equivalent line, the Tiery instruments, are equally well made and sound fantastic. (In fact, I played a Fossati Tiery E30 oboe on a studio cast album several years ago, and it sounds killer!) </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I think I've largely covered what's out there right now, but if I think of additions, I will update accordingly! This should get you started on your search, though, and if you have have any questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me a message and I'll be happy to talk with you! :) </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Best of luck in kicking the crack habit once and for all, friends! ;-) </span></div>
Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-34389978008752504502015-08-23T19:17:00.001-04:002015-08-28T09:42:04.497-04:00#NFA2015: A Convention Virgin's View<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have no idea why it never happened until last weekend...I mean, I really, really love flutes. A lot. I've been to tons of regional flute fairs, and conventions for nearly every other instrument I play that HAS a convention. (Ask me about the year that I thought I could pull off Schnittke at the American Viola Society Festival...I still have nightmares.) Last summer, I went to both the International Clarinet Association convention AND the International Double Reed Society convention in the same week! </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet...</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have never been to the National Flute Association convention...until now. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a hilariously ironic twist of fate, two years ago, the convention was held in New Orleans. Where I, you know, LIVED at the time. I literally could have *walked* from my living room to the hotel in 10 minutes. I didn't go. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was performing in Tokyo. #facepalm (Not that that's exactly a terrible reason...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So when my dear, lovely friend Betsy Winslow Trimber, proprietrix of the esteemed <a href="http://www.flutistsfaire.com/" target="_blank">Flutist's Faire</a> (go ahead, click on it!) in Virginia, asked me over a glass of wine after the last night of the New York Flute Fair a few months ago if I'd be interested in volunteering at her booth this year at NFA, of course I jumped at the chance. Of all the conventions out there, the NFA has always been the one I longed to attend most. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />All that gold! All that platinum! All that wood! Yes, I'll do it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...as it turned out, however, in addition to the dream-like field of flutes, there was also all that butchered Daphnis! All that mangled Voliere! ALL THE HIGH Cs ON ALL THE PICCOLOS. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(And I thought the clarinet convention last year was bad, with all those horrific Rhapsody in Blue smears.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I digress. Though my primary function at the NFA this year was to man Betsy's table of wonders (she had some KILLER flutes that I'll tell you about in a bit), I did manage to do a bit of wandering and discovery. I didn't try nearly as many flutes as I'd thought I might, but I did make sure to hit a couple of things that were DEFINITELY on my list. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let us start with a couple of the products that were new for NFA this year that I found particularly noteworthy (and before we begin, I must disclaim as always that I am in no way being compensated or coerced into writing any of this; these are purely opinions of my own formation): </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE SANKYO BASS FLUTE</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sweet mother of Barbra, this thing has singlehandedly changed the bass flute game forever. Sankyo has created a bass flute that is actually capable of <i>projection</i> in the lower register! This bass has a huge sound, down to the low B (LOW B!), and plays with an almost C-flute-like homogeneity and ease of response the whole way up to the top of the third octave. Gone is that weird woofy, boomy. hollow bassflute sound in the middle octave, the weak, buzzy, anemic bottom octave, and the screamy, edgy, wine-bottle-overtone top octave. It is truly a joy to play, and the redesigned ergos are an absolute dream. The teardrop-shaped key touches are incredibly comfortable, and ideally spaced. The footjoint keys are easily reached, and it balances beautifully in the left hand. It's silver-plated except for the lip and riser, which are sterling, so it isn't nearly as heavy as it looks. At $15,000, you'd have to do some HARD justifying to buy one (unless you have that cash just lying around), since there isn't exactly a ton of rep for the bass flute outside of the flute choir/jazz/contemporary music world, but if those particular spheres are your thing, and you can afford it, BUY THIS DAMN THING. (Then let me borrow it, pretty please?) It really does make every other bass flute out there just feel...depressing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then again, it's a Sankyo, so what did you expect? ;-) #TeamSankyo </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Bernhard HAMMIG "Mezzo" MK II </u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may recall that when I first started this blog, one of the very first instruments I wrote about was the Hammig "Mezzo" flute, which I tried at Betsy's table at the Richmond Flute Fair back in December of 2012, and I absolutely raved about it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Well, Jason Blank and Bernhard Hammig have been hard at work in their secret underground lab (I'm making that part up), and have released a new version of the Mezzo called the MK II, which has a .950 silver body and is priced exactly at the Muramatsu GX/entry pro flute price point (just about $6,000 even). Now, from previous blogs, you all know how I feel about high-purity silver alloys (<i>I love them</i>), so I knew I was going to like this instrument. What I didn't know was just how MUCH I was going to like this instrument, and how different it is from the previous generation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There aren't really adequate adjectives to describe the complexity of the sound of this flute. It is so colorful that at times it seems like you'll never find the right place and time to use all of those colors; there are so many ways you can go with the sound. It also packs an enormous amount of power, particularly with the new headjoint cut that Jason and Bernhard have come up with. The prior BH heads were a more traditional, oval-style that required you to have a pretty serious grasp on what you were doing already in order to get the most out of it; the new head is geared to the Bigger, Louder, Edgier American style of playing, but without sacrificing the tonal palette that they created these flutes to provide. I love them both, but I would be lying to your face if I said I didn't wish I could have walked out of the Marriott with the new cut. The BTUs you can crank out of this thing could burn a house down. I remember standing at their booth (which was at the very end/beginning of a long row on the far side of the exhibit hall) and playing Brahms 1 with as much air as I could force out of my rather colossal lungs, and not only did the sound never flatten or break, but I'm pretty sure people at the other end of the hall turned to look and see what the f*k just happened. (Or maybe they were just glad it wasn't Daphnis or Mozart G, I dunno...) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The point is, wow. With the stock 95% silver setup, you're getting a flutefetti cannon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I started messing around with gold headjoints. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still haven't recovered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jason has recently taken delivery of a 95% silver handmade custom Hammig flute with one of his unreal 22K yellow gold headjoints for use as his own personal instrument. He let me take this headjoint and put it on the MK II, and I'm pretty sure I cried.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> First of all, the 22K headjoint is un. believably. beautiful. I know most of you out there are like "Ugh, yellow gold, GROSS! #Rosegoldplz", but I happen to find yellow gold stunning. (On a fun note, unlike the other 22K gold head out there, the Lafin, this one does NOT come with a rosegold 14K lip/crown, but is actually ALL 22K yellow gold. #baller) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, it is the flutey equivalent of what happens when you make Bruce Banner mad. There is not an orchestra on earth you could not bury with this thing, Bruckner be damned. With this headjoint, you are king of the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's also $13,000, so if you can afford it, you probably really ARE the king of the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then put on the BH 15% gold head (which I have also previously raved about) with a gold riser, and it felt like someone had reached into my brain, pulled out my dream flute sound, and spun it into an instrument. Just like with the 15% gold head I had on the Mezzo M1 that Jason and Betsy sent me a couple years ago, it was the perfect match to my playing style, but the gold riser added a bit of assertiveness that maybe wasn't quite as easy to achieve without it. (I blow big, I can't help it. Have you SEEN my ribcage?) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The ergos on this one are also fantastic...Jason has redesigned the G# key to be much longer and at a more natural angle for the left hand pinky, and the right hand pinky cluster just sits there right under the finger like a patient puppy. He's also redesigned the keycups to be a bit more traditional-looking, as opposed to the contemporary Powell 3100-like design of the Hammig custom and prior generation Mezzos (which, frankly, I like better. It's gorgeous, and lets you know that you are playing something special that stands out from the pack!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are one or two more developments with this flute in the works (Jason is redesigning the C# trill key, for example. I'm REALLY looking forward to the result of that experiment, because as we all know, I find that key absolutely imperative on a flute, and wouldn't seriously consider purchasing a flute without one.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I gotta say, though, Sexy Readers, if you're in the market for a new flute and you want something that just might be your Forever Flute but can't cough it up for gold or a $13,000 soldered-tone-hole silver Brannen et al, you really, REALLY need to try one of these. Either contact Jason directly via <a href="http://www.bernhardhammig.com/" target="_blank">Bernhard Hammig North America</a>, or reach out to one of the nicest guys in the biz, Bill Hutzel, who owns <a href="http://www.thefluteloft.com/" target="_blank">The Flute Loft</a> in New Jersey and is a dealer for the complete Hammig line (including the AMAZEBALLS Magic Crown as well as the handmade flutes). The vixenous Betsy Trimber of <a href="http://www.flutistsfaire.com/" target="_blank">The Flutist's Faire</a> can also hook you up...she's also a great resource for getting your hands on a Hammig custom headjoint, as she has some in her current stock for immediate trial/purchase. TRY THEM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Any one of them would be happy to figure out how to get one of these puppies in your hands for a trial! </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">BERNHARD HAMMIG CUSTOM HANDMADE FLUTES</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So we've talked about the Mezzo, now let's talk about Bernhard's custom flutes, painstakingly and brilliantly crafted by him in his workshop in Lahr, Germany. There were several on offer, including the personal 9k rose gold flute of one of my favorite NYC-area solo flutists who I finally had the incredible pleasure of meeting in person, the stunningly beautiful Carla Lancellotti Auld, who had Bernhard build her a flute last year (and sounds INCREDIBLE on it!), which she generously donated to the table for the duration of the convention so that people could try it. In addition to Carla's flute, there was also...are you ready for this...a 9k WHITE GOLD flute! I have never, ever in all the years I have been flute-obsessed seen a 9k white gold alloy. There were also several silver flutes (.943 and .950), and what may have been my favorite...a wooden one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The silver ones (including Jason Blank's personal flute) were all like turbo-version of the .950 Mezzo. Color and power to spare, and much more satisfying to play than your average sterling silver flute. (I kind of hate sterling silver, but I think we've covered that before). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Carla's 9K flute (with 14K headjoint) gave me goosebumps and a serious case of Flute Envy. It was like what I'd imagine driving a Porsche for the first time would be like...if I knew how to drive. Smooth, but always a sense of the potential power humming right underneath the surface. When that power is finally unleashed (Brahms 1 again; it's my default test for How Obnoxious Can I Get Before This Sounds Bad), it does not disappoint. There is a sort of shimmer on top of the sound that I think you can only really get from a low-karat gold, but it's a dark kind of shimmer, very unlike that of silver. Sort of like purple glitter, I would say. </span></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Side note: It is virtually impossible to crack an E6 on a Hammig flute.</span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As much as I loved Carla's pink beauty, when I picked up the 9k white gold, I seriously just about died. The difference in density and hardness between the two alloys was very apparent in the sound. Whereas the rose 9K alloy was sensuous but assertive and sort of silky (like Carla herself, actually!), the white gold was direct, piquant, and sort of...bossy. I loved it. Literally could not put it down, and the only thing that made me stop playing it was how badly I wanted to get my hands on the wood flute. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The wood flute he had with him was a classic grenadilla flute with a gorgeous bulb-style headjoint (kind of like a huge piccolo), and good lord, was it everything I had hoped for! I took it into the soundproof booth that Jason had brought along and gave it a good spin. This flute is the perfect example of why we must take wood flutes seriously as an option for not just solo and chamber, but orchestral playing. The wood Hammig PROJECTS, but with a burnished sound that could easily make one weep. Highs are extremely easy to control and spin, and you can flap pant legs with the low notes if you wish. I would very, very much love to hear someone play Bolero in an orchestra on this flute! It is also really quite reasonably priced for a handmade wooden instrument, right in line with the Sankyo and Powell flutes. Gold mechanism and gold-plated mechanism are options, as are full engraving, rollers, a C# trill, and COCUSWOOD! :-) (This makes me happy) He only has enough cocus for five more flutes, though, so buy one now (and one for me, please. I'd love you forever.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was also a wooden headjoint made to fit a silver flute, and it was exactly what I'd expected from Bernhard. I have a feeling one might be finding its way into my house sooner rather than later...my TJ needs a sibling! :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>THE LEVIT FLUTE</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been trying to figure out for quite some time what to say about Lev Levit and David Houston's flutes, because I want to make sure that I accurately convey how special they are. Ever since the morning my friend Jesse Han and I visited their hotel room the day after the New York Flute Fair and tried a wide range of their flutes and headjoints, I've been fixated on these instruments. Like the Hammig flutes, the Levit instruments possess a color spectrum that you just do NOT find on the vast majority of flutes being made today. This is not to say that our friends in Boston are not turning out incredible flutes, because they are, but every once in a while, you come across a flute that has a very different voice, and speaks to a very special sort of individualistic player, and I think that Levit has done just that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lev and David have between them a combined 40+ years of experience in the flutemaking industry, having worked extensively for both Brannen and Powell. The Levit flute is in fact built upon the foundation of the Oston-Brannen flute, which was the original Kingma system flute. Lev first began his flute company with the production of a Kingma system flute, and expanded to offer standard flutes as well, in silver and gold. A tireless experimenter, Lev has developed a new acoustical design for the flute, which he calls the Modified Acoustic. These flutes are more colorful, provide greater projection with less work, and are near-flawlessly in tune compared to a large number of flutes on the market. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have played about a dozen of the Levit flutes, in both gold and silver, Traditional and Modified acoustic, standard and Kingma systems, and I would be more than happy to put on a blindfold, pick up any one of them, and play it for the rest of my life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It truly is nearly impossible to describe these flutes, so visit their website at <a href="http://www.levitflutes.com/" target="_blank">Levit Flutes</a>, or contact my amazing friend Joan Sparks at the <a href="http://www.fluteproshop.com/" target="_blank">Flute Pro Shop</a>, the exclusive dealer for Levit Flutes, and get one on trial. Now. Seriously, you have to. I said so. (She has a <i>particularly </i>special Levit in stock right now, #114, for an absurdly delicious price for a 14K gold flute. My birthday is Sept. 29th...thanks in advance! ;-) ) </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">TREVOR JAMES 14K GOLD-IN-SILVER FLUTE</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, with the gold-layered alloy craze that is sweeping the flute world (Powell started it with their Aurumite, and now Haynes and Burkart are each offering their own versions of a gold and silver tube fused together), it was only a matter of time before other makers started experimenting with it. English flute superstars Trevor James have just joined in that particular game, and while they are currently working on both 9k and 14K gold fused tubes with both gold-inside and gold-outside versions, the 14K Inside version was on display at NFA this year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've been following the blog lately, you'll know that I have developed a very close relationship with Trevor James in the past year, and am just a HUMONGOUS fan of their flutes. So, naturally, it was with great excitement that I tried this particular prototype...I don't think I was quite prepared for how well they'd pulled it off, though. This flute is really, really good. It had all the complexity of the Powell 14K Aurumite flute with perhaps just a bit more lightness, and there was a really nice mellowness to the upper register that I enjoyed. I think with a gold lip and/or riser, this flute will be an absolute monstrous beast that will make the world sit up and take very strong notice of TJ as a maker of fully-professional flutes and not just student/intermediate models. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am so, so excited to try the 9K and gold-outside versions, I can hardly stand it! Stay tuned for updates on this whole project :) </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">lefreQue</span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lefreque.com/" target="_blank">(Website)</a></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was first exposed to the lefreQue acoustic bridges last year, when I played a production of Into The Woods, and our bassoonist had all these strange-looking contraptions on his instrument. I had briefly read about them online, so I knew what they were, but I had never met anybody who had them, and certainly never seen them in real life. I was intrigued, and he swore by them, so I decided to investigate further...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, they work, kids. They work amazingly well. I won't bore you with a long scientific explanation of how they work, but the basic premise is that all of our instruments come apart in pieces, right? Well, when you put these pieces together, they don't magically fuse into one unbroken tube, so they don't vibrate like one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The lefreQues are, in essence, acoustic wave bridges that assist in the propagation of vibrations from one section of our instruments to the next. They are offered in a wide selection of materials, all with slightly different properties, and they really do make a difference. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At NFA last weekend, I tried them on a couple of different flutes, including a gold-bonded Muramatsu that I really loved but also felt had some stifled potential; I put the lefreQues on it between the headjoint and the barrel, and it felt like I had picked up a different flute. The overtones were more present, the dynamic range was larger, and it was all-around just more fun to play. It seemed like I had more control over what was coming out of it, and I would also swear in a court of law that it was more in tune. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Definitely worth a try, and overall, not a terribly large amount of money for a potentially large improvement to your musical life. (Certainly less than buying a new flute, or even a new headjoint!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's about all for the new/noteworthy stuff that I tried (as I said, I really didn't get much of a chance at all to attack the exhibit hall in an organized way and try everything), but now I'd like to discuss some of the wonderful and interesting instruments I played at various tables, many of which I've written about before, but have formed deeper opinions on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>THE FLUTIST'S FAIRE</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><a href="http://www.flutistsfaire.com/" target="_blank">(Website)</a></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will start with the whole reason I was there at all...the Flutist's Faire. Betsy does a great job of curating interesting instruments to offer, and she had a gem-laden collection at NFA this year. Of her high-end offerings, first and foremost was a flute she had on consignment from a German collector, a very interesting (and heavy!) platinum flute by German maker Gerhard Sachs, who you may recall from my wooden flute blog. This thing was a BEAST. The body was platinum, and everything that attached to it (ribs, rings, toneholes, lip, riser, crown) was 14K rose gold. The mechanism is gold also, but appears to be a mixture of rose and pale yellow or white gold. The LH1 C key was also open holed, even though there is no tonehole under that key. It felt very cool, and sort of made sense, I guess, in that the rest of your fingers sit on open holes, so why not make them all feel the same? It had a huge voice, very dark sound, and was a bit difficult to play for all but the strongest air columns. Definitely not a flute for the casual flutist or small player, but for SOMEONE, this will be an absolute dream flute. Yours for only $60,000! :-) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next in line, from that same German collector, was a very special all-14K gold closed-hole Powell, from the era when the barrels were still engraved with the logo and not the body. The headjoint had Powell's new Adler-esque wings, so it was either a new headjoint, or they had been added post-production. This flute, despite its all gold construction, had a very sweet voice with a lot of character, and really liked to float in the upper register. At $33,000, it is actually an extremely good deal for an all gold flute! It features a B foot, offset G, and split E mechanism. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After that we had my next favorite flute after the platinum, a 14K gold Powell from a similar vintage era as the previous, with a silver mechanism, inline G, C# trill key, and B foot. (Open holes this time). THIS flute was really something; I don't know exactly what it was, but I connected with it almost instantly on a very deep level. The headjoint style was very old-school, in that it was quite oval and on the smallish side, with very little under/overcutting. Very colorful instrument, not an ENORMOUS voice, but would be quite suitable for pit work, soloing, or chamber orchestra. An excellent instrument for the recording artist. It is also only $19,000, which makes it an unbelievably once-in-a-lifetime deal for someone looking for a gold Powell. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rounding out the consignment-gold-Powell-family on offer were not one but TWO 9K Aurumite Powell 3100 flutes, both priced at an insanely reasonable $6,500, both with the P style headjoint, and both with absolutely killer huge sounds. These are very popular with doublers/jazz players, and are a wonderful, wonderful flute for the college student or adult amateur who wants the look and sound of gold with that Powell sound, but can't afford the scratch for a new 9K Aurumite Conservatory, which will now run you north of ten thousand dollars. The mechanism of the 3100 is also very, very cool looking! :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the same price category, she had one of the last gold-bonded Muramatsu flutes (once called the "Galaxy" series) that they made before they phased them out. This one is very Japanese spec, with a B-foot, open holes, inline G, and nothing else. It plays like a dream, with a beautiful, sweet, colorful sound from bottom to top. This particular flute benefitted enormously from the addition of a pair of lefreQue plates, so I'd recommend adding them if you decide to purchase this instrument. It is, I believe, $6,400-ish, which is basically free. Plus, they don't make them anymore, so there's that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rounding out the higher-end flutes that I loved the most was a family of <a href="http://www.burkartflutes.com/" target="_blank">Burkart</a> flutes: a 9k-on-silver Pro model, a heavy-wall sterling silver Pro model, a .998 Elite, and a 595 (5% platinum, 95% silver) Elite. These are all incredible flutes, but I want to focus particularly on the 595 and the 998 flutes...they have very different personalities, but both of them are monster flutes that are just begging to find a home with a professional symphony player. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 595 was my preference of the two, as the platinum content gives it a roaring voice that is full of color and heft, and when paired with the 595 headjoint with gold riser, you will get anything you ever needed out of a flute in an orchestra. Just be aware that you have to be able to handle it; it takes a lot of air to get the most out of this flute, but it's very worth the work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The .998 silver (99.8% pure silver) flute is like playing a singing rainbow. The color spectrum is intense, and every note seems to have a heat-shimmer on top of it. Legatos are effortless, and the "spin" is unreal, particularly when paired with a C4 style head in .998 silver with a 14K gold riser. (I found the M2 style to be a bit overwhelming with this particular flute.) If you REALLY want to treat yourself, a 9K Hammig headjoint turns this into a magic wand. I would particularly recommend this flute to the orchestral 2nd flute player who needs to be conscious of blending and changing tone colors easily to match their principal, but without sacrificing volume when needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All of Betsy's Burkarts have a B-foot, open holes, offset G, and a C# trill key. (What I refer to as the "New American Standard" configuration, and my personal preference). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another instrument that she had on her table that I found myself going back to often, which I have also previously written about, was the <a href="http://tjflutes.com/" target="_blank">Trevor James</a> Recital "Aria" model flute, which features a sterling silver body, sterling handmade Flutemakers' Guild of London headjoint, silver-plated mechanism, and soldered tone holes. With C# trill and D# roller, this flute comes in at UNDER $4200, and is an absolute killer for anybody who wants some Real Flute meat but can't afford the 5-figure flutes. It plays unbelievably well, and everyone I asked to try it had the same reaction: disbelief. Trevor James is really, really upping their game in a huge way right now, and this model is definitely part of that trend. They are no longer just a maker of basic student-model flutes; they are rapidly becoming a serious contender in the Big Boy Flute market. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Betsy also maintains a fantastic stock of <a href="http://www.burkartflutes.com/" target="_blank">Burkart</a> Resona and Elite piccolos. If I were in the market for a piccolo right now, the Resona would almost 100% be my pick. I never fail to be amazed by the performance-to-price ratio of this instrument; for just over 2K, you are getting a wooden US-made piccolo that plays like a $7000 instrument. (The wave headjoint makes it a particularly pleasing experience for the occasional piccolo player who does not specialize on the instrument). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If it's headjoints you're looking for, well, she is the LADY. From a fabulous platinum-and-gold Haynes to a huge selection of handmade wooden headjoints by Dutch maker Jan Junker (which are killer heads!), and everything in between, including a large selection of gold headjoints from Powell, Burkart, Dana Sheridan, and others, you just must give her a ring! </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FLUTE PRO SHOP</span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.fluteproshop.com/" target="_blank">(Website)</a></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up for discussion is the inimitable Joan Marsh Sparks' baby, the <a href="http://www.fluteproshop.com/" target="_blank">Flute Pro Shop</a> (click here!). Joan always, always has an amazing assortment of treasures, and this weekend was no exception. The centerpiece of her booth was a one-of-a-kind all-gold Muramatsu flute, #40000, which was built as a show flute for the brand and was never intended to be sold, but instead to be used as a demonstration of the pinnacle of Muramatsu's flutemaking art. All engraved, with an additional 24K gold headjoint, it certainly attracted attention in its Lucite display case! (And, though it has never been on offer before, for $275,000, it can be yours! Own a piece of flute history today...and then lemme borrow that flute.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What she brought to the convention this year was a veritable Sophie's Choice of flute babies. Had I walked over there with a no-financial-consideration bank account, I don't know what I would have done. Here's a short list of the things she had that keep me awake at night, in no particular order: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Levit 14K gold flute #114: This flute is the ne plus ultra of the American flutemakers' art. Priced well below $20,000, this flute is almost literally a steal. Barely used by someone who has defected to another maker (hrmph, marketing!), this flute is BEGGING for an owner who will break it in and love it forever. It is just unparalleled. (AND IT'S GOLD!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miyazawa Platinum-clad body with a sterling head w/platinum riser: This flute is just fascinating! I've not come across many platinum-clad Miyas, but here's one! Fully loaded with options, this flute is a screamer. Big, bold, beautiful voice in all registers, the un-platinum-ed sterling head lightens up the whole thing a bit, but the platinum riser gives it some meatiness and allows you to spin the power out of the platinum-clad body. (Mechanism is also platinum plated!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Platinum Brannen with silver mechanism: This is exactly what you'd expect from a platinum Brannen flute. I very much enjoyed playing it, and would think this would be much beloved by a big dude who loves to blow hard. (Or a lady with iron lungs; let's not be sexist here!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9K Muramatsu with 14K Mancke head w/wood lip and 14K riser: This flute. Wow. Previously used by stellar flutist Sergio Pallotelli, who has since switched to wood, this flute is just a total killer. It's resonant, it's colorful, you could knock down walls with it, and it's just super, super fun to play. The wood-lipped Mancke head is extremely comfortable on the face, and the gold riser inside the wood lends crispness and immediacy to the articulation, which can sometimes be a challenge of wood. It's just over $21K, which is a completely okay price for a flute of this caliber. This and the Levit would be the ones I'd recommend the most out of Joan's offerings from the weekend! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5K Sankyo headjoint: One of the rarest flute-world items I've come across, this is an UNPLATED 5K gold Sankyo headjoint. For those of you who remember when Sankyo was using the 5K gold alloy, almost all of the flutes/heads produced in it were then plated in 18K rose gold; this headjoint did not receive that treatment, and possesses a glowing, champagne-like luster that would look absolutely breathtaking on a silver body. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Muramatsu 14K gold with 5k gold mechanism: God, where do I even start with this thing? I don't really know what else to say about it except I would kill a leprechaun with his own pot of gold to own this flute. I didn't even know Muramatsu USED 5K gold...this flute is crazy good. Huge sound, tons of color, the mechanism is flawless, and the paler shade of the 5K mech on the 14K rose body is mind-blowingly pretty. The lip is gorgeously engraved, and it's $32,000, which is seriously not horrible for an all-gold instrument with engraving, a C# trill key, and D# roller. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joan, you killed it this year! :) </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">SANKYO FLUTES</span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.sankyoflutes.com/" target="_blank">(Website)</a></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know I've already talked about the bass flute, but Sankyo had a few other tricks up their sleeve that made me scream a little bit inside. In addition to their regular offerings in the silver line (up to and including the 99.7% pure silver 901), they brought two different models of 10K gold (drawn and soldered), two 14K/silver flutes, and one all-14K gold flute. They were, as expected, incredible, and just reaffirmed why I've been a Sankyo player for literally my entire career. I still feel the most at home when I'm blowing into a Sankyo RT headjoint, no matter what it's made of. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, they also had some very, very, very special treats for me this year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wood. Lots of it. Two grenadilla flutes, one with a 14K gold mechanism, and not one, but TWO cocuswood flutes, one with a silver mechanism, the other...well the other is possibly the most special flute I have ever played in my life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This flute was made by Kikuo Hisakura, the late president and co-founder of Sankyo Flutes, an absolute visionary and flutemaking genius who lived for the flute and the art of making them. He sadly left us in 2009, but he left behind this flute, which he made for himself. It is the most beautifully figured and highly colored cocuswood I have ever seen, and it has both B and C footjoints and two different headjoint styles, one with a lipplate and one traditional style...and a 14K rose gold mechanism. I have honestly, in all my years of obsessively seeking out unique flutes, never seen anything this beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Photo courtesy of Yuka Honda/Sankyo Flutes)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuNa0mtAdib-NVk3vplDdL_-K1xk2yZXJiN8mTXWLnOPCbzdlrKWZieP04psGtVqaqjVQJdAorko2xfgMt0jDU8qF9ZekPTEbUGjMtDtwyaHQOhBMSNmh4acGMYjUg4xldFGUJHtq7IJ4/s1600/11225253_860538810703595_9221447265519482975_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuNa0mtAdib-NVk3vplDdL_-K1xk2yZXJiN8mTXWLnOPCbzdlrKWZieP04psGtVqaqjVQJdAorko2xfgMt0jDU8qF9ZekPTEbUGjMtDtwyaHQOhBMSNmh4acGMYjUg4xldFGUJHtq7IJ4/s640/11225253_860538810703595_9221447265519482975_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wasn't even on display. It was hidden beneath the table, and when Yuka Honda (Sankyo's Director of Marketing) pulled it out and opened the case, I was actually afraid for a split second that I was going to cry. I still cannot believe that I was afforded the honor of playing this flute. I don't know what to say about it, but I think a picture says a thousand words, so here is a photo that Liz Vergili, the US Sales Manager of Sankyo, took of me both while I was playing it and then after. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't think I've been this happy, perhaps ever: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I mean, LOOK AT THAT HEADJOINT! I literally cannot even. Thank you, Liz and Yuka...I will never, ever forget this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are so, so many more instruments and accessories I wanted to try, but fear not, I will get to them one way or another! The biggest takeaway for me from this convention, which I honestly did not anticipate, was the people. I met a staggering number of people that I have heretofore only known in cyberspace, either on Facebook, Instagram, or via my blog. So, to all of you, I say thank you...thank you for being my friend online, and thank you all for being EVEN MORE wonderful in real life. I adore you all! (If I forget anybody, I am so, so sorry, I don't mean to!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And of course, as ever, it was a delight to run into friends I just don't see enough...here's to spending more time together soon! (*cough* Guilherme Andreas, Eric Maul, Rachel Hacker, Paula Robison, Joan Sparks, Kristen Michelle, Betsy Trimber, Felipe Tristan, Lev Levit, David Houston, Luke Penella!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Big, huge, giant flutey hugs to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ethan Lin, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Liz Vergili, Yuka Honda, Cathy Miller (OH MY GOD CATHY MILLER), Zachariah Galatis, Bill Hutzel, Jason Blank, Bernhard Hammig, Ted Anton, Johnathan Bernhardt, Adam Workman, Tracy Harris, Carla Lancellotti Auld, Delandria Mills, Kate Ridlon Fish, Andrea "Fluterscooter" Fisher, Nora Epping, Rebecca Ashe, Jonathan Landell, Hans Kuijt, Ervin and Susan Monroe, and anyone else I may be forgetting right now! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See you all next year in San Diego! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo</span></div>
Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-65125410191694347882015-04-03T13:04:00.001-04:002015-04-03T13:04:56.844-04:00The New Trevor James Double-Headed Flute Outfit: Two Heads Really ARE Better Than One! In my last series of blog posts, we discussed the wide, wonderful world of wood flutes, and how much I adore them. I had planned my next post to be about wooden headjoints, which have become very popular lately as an addition to the sonic arsenal of flutists who want to find a way to extend the color palette of their metal flute bodies beyond various high-purity silver alloys, golds, and platinum.<br />
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I was planning out the layout of that next post when I received a series of wonderful messages from Jean-Paul Wright, the Marketing Director of Worldwind Music, the parent company of Trevor James Flutes; and Cathy Miller, Vice President of <a href="http://www.miyazawa.com/" target="_blank">Miyazawa</a> and <a href="http://sankyoflutes.com/" target="_blank">Sankyo</a> flutes, who also oversees US distribution of Trevor James, asking me if I would like to give their newest product a whirl, and of course who could refuse?!<br />
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Back in January, TJ unveiled a new wooden headjoint at NAMM in Anaheim. A wooden lipplate and riser has been an option on their silver headjoints for a few years now, which are beautifully made and sound gorgeous, so it seemed only logical that the next step was an all-wood headjoint. The timing of this venture was perfect, as wooden headjoints are only increasing in popularity (which my next blog post will discuss, wink wink nudge nudge, so stay tuned!).<br />
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So, it was with a tremendous amount of excitement that I took delivery a couple weeks later of the newest offering from Trevor James Flutes, a flute outfit that comes with both a sterling silver headjoint (with a weighted crown) and a wooden headjoint, both in the same case. I was just about to start the run of a production of West Side Story (which you may recall I played the North American Broadway revival tour of recently!), and it was the perfect opportunity to test out this new package and see what this new headjoint could really do.<br />
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I have always been a fan of the Trevor James flutes, which are nearly unbeatable in their price range in terms of tonal quality, projection, and mechanical feel; and the recent generation of TJ flutes is better than ever. They have undergone a sleek redesign, with beautiful flat body and crown rings, pointed keys are now standard on all models from the Privilege on up, and the headjoints produce more power and color than ever. (And in the spirit of disclosure, I must tell you that since 2012, my primary road flute, which I've used in the pits of several national and international Broadway tours, has been a Trevor James body [of the old design] with a Sankyo headjoint, so I am certainly well-acquainted with the brand)<br />
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The model they sent me was the Cantabile, which pairs a silver-plated body with a sterling silver head. It is a $1500 flute that, listening to it with your eyes closed, you would swear cost 5 times that. The new headjoint design with the weighted crown (and it is HEAVY, believe me!) gives a depth and core to the sound that is unmatched by anything else in that price range. The mechanism is very solidly made and has stood up well to daily playing, though I'm sure the pads would appreciate me backing off the pre-show coffee a bit. ;-) With the silver head alone, it is an instrument that would serve the needs of any player well, particularly those of us who work in theater pits and need a reliable instrument that sounds good, plays well in tune, and isn't going to give us a heart attack if we accidentally miss the peg now and again during a fast switch.<br />
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Here's a bit of the sterling headjoint:<br />
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Adding the wooden headjoint to this flute turns it into a bona-fide dragon slayer. I wouldn't say that I was skeptical of the TJ wooden headjoint, but I was quite curious about how their wood head would compare to other wood heads I've enjoyed in my career, namely the Sankyo, David Chu, and Mancke heads.<br />
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Well, I needn't have wondered, because the TJ holds its own quite admirably with any of the current top-line headjoints on the market! The depth of sound throughout the range of the instrument is incredible, with more power than you'd expect in the lower register and an incredible sweetness in the top. What really makes this headjoint worth having, though, is the amazing range of colors that are possible with it. There are sounds you can make on this head that you just cannot with a silver or gold headjoint. In my opinion, every flutist should have a wooden headjoint. I love, love, love that Trevor James has made that possible for flutists on a tight budget, talented younger players, and doublers who may not have even been aware that wooden headjoints were a "thing".<br />
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The projection of this wood head is also impressive, *particularly* at low dynamics. Pianissimos just spin forever out of this headjoint. On the closing weekend of the recent production of West Side Story, which I recorded, I used the wooden headjoint for the Finale, which is a solo flute laying a shimmering gossamer line on top of the rest of the orchestra. This was recorded from the back of the house. :)<br />
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Of course, there are also great applications for this headjoint in solo playing, especially in the Baroque repertoire (you'll never want to play the Partita or any of the Bach sonatas on a metal head again!), though it also works equally well in contemporary rep. In fact, one of my best friends is also a spectacular woodwind doubler, and he borrowed the TJ to play a concert at 54 Below recently, where he had to play that amazing flute solo from "One Night In Bangkok", from the musical "Chess", which is a whirlwind of flutter tonguing, quasi-beatbox sounds, rapid articulation, and tone color changes. He did it on the wooden headjoint, and with your eyes closed, you'd almost swear he was playing some sort of Asian bamboo flute! It was amazing.<br />
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The double-head package is available for both the Cantabile and Virtuoso models...the Virtuoso is identical to the Cantabile, with the exception of the body tube, which is sterling silver, and the C# trill key is also an option on the Virtuoso. These outfits are available from <a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/" target="_blank">Flute World</a> for $2194 and $3194 for the Cantabile and Virtuoso, respectively, and that is with both the sterling silver and wooden headjoints in one case. (It's a beautiful case, by the way! Both heads fit like a glove, and the body trough has enough space to leave your Fingerport and Thumbport attached when you put it away :) ) I mean, you just cannot beat that with a stick! Worth every penny.<br />
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Until next time, happy fluting, and may the flute be with you!<br />
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(Read more about the TJ double-head flutes on the offical TJ website here: <a href="http://tjflutes.com/products/concertflutes/performerseries/doublehead(silverwood)" target="_blank">TJ Double Headed Flute Outfit</a>)<br />
<br />Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-31786919322455052742015-02-08T20:00:00.000-05:002021-01-07T12:25:51.719-05:00Wooden't It Be Lover-ly: The Omnibus Edition! <i>In the event that there are those of you who WOULD prefer to have it all in one go instead of 3 separate entries, here you are! :-) </i><br />
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If you've read any of my past posts, watched many of my Youtube videos, or know me in real life, then you know that one of my greatest obsessions is the wooden Boehm flute. I love everything about wood flutes; the sound, the way they feel in the hands, the way they look, the gorgeous variety of woods that are used in their manufacture. The topic of wood flutes has randomly popped up in conversation with several different people over the last week or two, and it has come clear to me that a great many people, even within the flute playing community, are laboring under the same general set of misconceptions about wooden flutes; primarily, that they are unsuitable for modern-day orchestral use and that nobody plays them. Many are unaware that they are even currently being produced!<br />
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This...well, this makes me sad. The modern Boehm flute crafted from wood is an instrument capable of just as much power and projection as her silver, gold, and platinum sisters; it is also possessed of a uniquely colored voice that is nearly always distinguishable from metal flutes. Many experiments by many flutists (the multi-flute video demonstrations carried out by James Galway and Nina Perlove come immediately to mind) have pretty conclusively proven that a listener cannot tell the difference between gold, silver, and platinum or any combination thereof. I have done this many times myself, and I personally can't tell the difference, nor could any of the people I played for.<br />
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Now, to a player, yes, they feel incredibly different and probably cause different physiological responses (vis a vis transmission of vibration through the cranium, etc), that make them sound different, but to an audience? <i>Nein, mein herr</i>. <b>However</b>, every person I have ever blindly played several flutes for with a wooden flute in the mix has ALWAYS correctly identified the wooden instrument. There is just some magical, unexplainable element of the sound of a wood flute that makes what's left of my shriveled, blackened soul melt just a little bit. A bit of the ghost of Pan, perhaps...I dunno.<br />
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In the course of this particular series of blog posts, I am going to introduce you to the wide, wonderful world of the wooden flute in the 21st century, and you're gonna love it. :)<br />
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(Where possible, I've included a video of someone playing each of these and a link to either the maker's website or a retailer where they can be purchased.)<br />
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I've played (with one or two exceptions) all of these flutes, and I'd be hard pressed to say I have a favorite. I would very honestly be quite happy to own any of them!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">YAMAHA</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>Of all the currently active makers of wooden flutes, I think the one that elicits the most surprise when I talk about them is Yamaha. It seems that people are generally rather unaware of the insanely high quality of Yamaha's upper range of flutes, but they are particularly unaware that Yamaha makes an absolutely AMAZING wooden flute. In terms of available customization, it is a rather bare-bones instrument (for the purist, if you will), available in various combinations of the standard options of open/closed holes, offset/inline G, and C/B footjoints. The headjoint is a modified EC cut, and there are no further headjoint options, but they seem to have worked out an ideal cut that does pretty much whatever you need it to. For those who require something outside the realm of possibility offered by the standard Yamaha wood head, there are a plethora of aftermarket wooden headjoints that all fit the Yamaha (which is a standard metal tenon head, as opposed to a cork joint).<br />
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I have played quite a few Yamahas to date, and as one expects from a Japanese flute, they are remarkably consistent (insomuch as wood can be), and they tend to favor a darker, bass-heavy sort of sound that projects quite well but retains a great roundness to the sound. The third and fourth octaves are a bit more resistant than one may be used to, but speak reliably, with great control (owing to the resistance). I'd love to experiment with various headjoints on the Yamaha body...I bet it would be spectacular with the Yamaha Type A head in 14K gold!<br />
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Also worth knowing is that the Yamaha is the least expensive of the currently available high-end wooden flutes, and they are readily available from any Yamaha dealer. (And you didn't hear this from me, but fabulous deals on them are very often found on That Big Auction Site!)<br />
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Wanna buy one? <a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/Yamaha-YFL-894HW-and--YFL-874HW.html" target="_blank">Yamaha Wood Flutes at FluteWorld!</a><br />
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One of my most popular Youtube demo videos is of the Yamaha 894W wood flute, so here it is! :) (It's a C-foot, inline, open hole flute, for the curious)<br />
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And here is the incomparable Juliette Hurel, laying down some Haydn on her Yamaha:<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">SANKYO</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>Next up, we have our good friends at Sankyo. If I were magically given the money to buy any wood flute I wanted, the odds are that it would be a Sankyo. Of the many wonderful marques turning out wooden flutes these days, Sankyo is one of the only ones that offers theirs with a C# trill key, which makes it very much a frontrunner for me (my previously discussed love of Sankyo flutes nonwithstanding). You can also choose from three different headjoint cuts, all of which possess very individual personalities. The most traditional looking of the three, with a carved lip plate, is a very comfortable all-purpose head that will allow you to do just about anything you want, and for the newbie to the wood flute world, it is probably the one I would pick. The "Traditional" cut is a simple embouchure hole carved directly through the wall of the headjoint, with no surrounding lipplate. This is for the Baroque enthusiast, or the wood flute specialist. It is quite possible to produce a great deal of power with this headjoint, but where it really excels is in smooth transitions between intervals and producing hugely rich colors at soft dynamics. High register response is also stellar with this head. My personal favorite is the Modern cut, which incorporates a cutout opposite the embouchure hole (also with no lipplate), and this head gives you a big, huge, dark, fat sound that will make pant legs flap in the first row. This is a soloist's head, a principal player's head. It's just magnificent.<br />
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In addition to the traditional grenadilla wood, the Sankyo wood flute was also built in cocuswood. Now, according to the Sankyo rep that I hung out with in Tokyo 2 summers ago, they are no longer using cocus, as the supplies are dwindling dangerously. However, there should be some still in stock at Sankyo dealers around the globe, so if you happen across one, snap it up! There is nothing quite like the brilliant darkness of a cocus wood flute, with its vast color spectrum. (And it is a gorgeous wood to look at!)<br />
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You can see the difference between the two here:<br />
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Curious? Call Jeffrey at FluteWorld and tell him I sent you :) They're $14,000, but they're worth every penny! <a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/Sankyo-Wood-Flutes.html" target="_blank">FluteWorld: Wood Sankyo</a><br />
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Have a listen to first the grenadilla, then the cocus Sankyo (start the cocus video at 2:01 to get right to the playing, unless you're fluent in Japanese!):<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">POWELL</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>Returning to our home shores, we find the venerable Boston flutemaking institution, Verne Q. Powell, turning out some truly exquisite examples of wood flute making, which are hugely popular around the globe. There are a great many symphonic players using wood Powells, and an even larger number of soloists and chamber players. The wood Powell delivers enormous power, a smoothness of legato, and an almost mystical sound color. While they do not offer a C# trill (Powell has very strong opinions about the placement of such a large tone hole next to another on a wooden-bodied instrument), you CAN order your wood Powell with a solid 14K rose gold mechanism! :-) (It doubles the price, but some things are just worth it!) Split E and D# roller are options, of course, as are the usual inline/offset, open/closed, and C/B foot. You can also choose from the wood version of Powell's popular headjoint cuts, the Soloist and Philharmonic, and upon special order, there is also a "Traditional" cut, which does away with the lip plate. You want options, they got options! :)<br />
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During my time in Japan with the international tour of Dreamgirls, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a very special Powell flute made of the same laminate wood material that they are making the new Sonare piccolos out of, and I have to say, it was one of the most mind-blowing flutes I've ever played. It had the brilliance of a silver instrument, tempered by the mellowness of wood, and was a surprisingly lightweight instrument, very comfortable in the hands. I do not know the current availability of this instrument, but there are at least a couple of them floating around out there!<br />
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Ringing in at $13,200, a Powell wood flute isn't exactly an inexpensive proposition, but it's not much more than a soldered tonehole silver flute, and it is CERTAINLY cheaper than gold! :-)<br />
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<a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/Powell--Handmade-Grenadilla-Wood-B.html" target="_blank">Buy A Wood Powell!</a><br />
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You can see a wood Powell in many orchestras around the globe, including our very own Cleveland Orchestra, with the always-handsome Joshua Smith in the hot seat, wielding either his wood Powell or his gold Powell with a wood headjoint. The man's got taste! :)<br />
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Now watch this performance of Cleveland at the Proms in London last year and tell me a wood flute doesn't project in an orchestra! Hrmph.<br />
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And here, we have the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo playing some Shostakovich 7, with their principal flutist on a wood Powell with 14K gold mechanism. Isn't it to die for?! (there is a fabulous flute feature around the 2:00 mark!)<br />
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If it's solo action you're after, here's a lovely performance of Bach on a wood/silver Powell:<br />
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Here is our aforementioned handsome wooden flute hero, Mr. Smith, serving us some contemporary flute concerto realness:<br />
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And last but not least, remember that magical laminate material Powell I talked about earlier?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> Yeah. That one. :) </span></b><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">DI ZHAO</span></u></b><br />
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Though the brand is a newcomer to the flute scene, the man behind it is not. Di Zhao worked at Powell for 13 years, eventually becoming Vice President of Quality; he then moved to Haynes and worked as their Vice President and General Manager. Prior to all that, he had a decade-plus career in China as a principal flutist in two major orchestras. Now, if that isn't a man who knows flutes, I don't know what is.<br />
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The Di Zhao wood flute holds a very special place in my heart, if for no other reason that it is currently the only flute I will discuss in this series that could also hold a special place in my bank account. This instrument (which reminds one AMAZINGLY of the wood Powell flutes), will set you back only just a bit north of $3,000, which is absolutely unbelievable for an instrument of this quality. Di himself finishes each flute, making sure the mechanism is completely free of excess play and then play tests it to ensure it meets his lofty standards before it goes out the door.<br />
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Please don't let the low price fool you into thinking that this is an instrument of low quality, though. Nothing could be further from the truth. These flutes were a massive hit the moment the were released onto the market, and have continued to be so. It really is like buying a Powell (or a very, very close sibling of a Powell) at the price of an intermediate flute. The sound quality is rich, vibrant, and colorful, and the scale of these instruments is very good. The headjoints are also expertly cut...so much so that they are an incredibly popular choice for people who wish to buy a wood headjoint for their silver or gold instrument. (I personally know 5 flutists who have purchased Di Zhao wood headjoints for their flutes, and they adore them.)<br />
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The Di Zhao is also available with a C# trill key (yay!) and a D# roller and/or split E.<br />
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<a href="http://fluteloft.com/products/di-zhao-wood-flute" target="_blank">Order yours today! :)</a><br />
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Watch the Man himself play one of his own flutes! (With someone else's headjoint, though...)<br />
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In the last post, we discussed the wood flutes by Yamaha, Sankyo, Powell, and Di Zhao. Some of you may have been surprised that there were even *that* many modern wood Boehm flutes available, but as the late, great Billy Mays was wont to say...<br />
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BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!<br />
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Let us now take a short trip to Europe and explore some of the flutemakers there who are bestowing gifts of wood flutage upon the world.<br />
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First up, we have:<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">BERNHARD HAMMIG</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>In my very first blog post ever, I wrote a short review of my experience with his "Mezzo" flute, a collaboration with American flutentrepreneur Jason Blank that fits in the intermediate/pre-professional handmade head/Asian body market segment. It's a fabulous flute, and I very much enjoyed playing it. Bernhard makes amazing headjoints, and many people know of his magical 22K gold flutes (he also makes flutes in silver, 9K, 14K and 18K gold), but did you know he also makes a killer wood flute? He uses both grenadilla and cocuswood in his instruments, and they are simply stunning. They are entirely handmade upon order, so you can have them customized however you wish. (C# trill key, D# and/or C# rollers, hand engraving, and solid gold or gold-plated mechanism are all available).<br />
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Bernhard comes from a family with a very long tradition of musical instrument making, and his instruments are infused with that spirit. I've been fortunate enough to play several of his handmade flutes (including the aforementioned magic 22K gold flute, and an incredible 9K gold instrument), and I would strongly advise that anybody wishing to make the switch to a wood flute consider auditioning one of his instruments.<br />
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Jason Blank is the North American representative for Hammig flutes, and you can contact him via his website: <a href="http://www.bernhardhammig.com/bernhard_hammig_custom.html" target="_blank">Bernhard Hammig Custom Flutes</a>. You can read more about Bernhard and his instruments at his official site, <a href="http://www.hammig-flutes.com/english/" target="_blank">Hammig Flutes</a><br />
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Aren't they just beautiful?! (photo credit: B. Hammig, via Facebook)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>HOWEL ROBERTS</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>Well known for his wooden headjoints, it seems few people are aware that Howel Roberts also makes complete wooden flutes! A former member of the Flutemaker's Guild of London, Roberts has always been a great lover of the wood flute, and his handmade wooden flutes very much reflect that passion. Like Hammig, you can get a Roberts wood flute built for you in grenadilla or cocuswood, but you can ALSO opt for cocobolo wood (so very fashionable in the clarinet world these days, and to a slightly lesser extent, oboes). Also like Hammig, you can customize your flute with C# trill, rollers, engraving, gold mechanisms, etc. I've never personally played one, but of course I've played a great many of his headjoints, and if the flutes are anything like the heads....well, I wouldn't take umbrage if one were to appear under my Christmas tree. ;-)<br />
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Read more about them at: <a href="http://www.robertsflutes.yourweb.de/flutes.html" target="_blank">Howel Roberts Wooden Flutes</a> (and DO note that you can click on all photos on that page to embiggen them...I highly recommend it, especially that shot of the entire flute. It's cocus, and the detail of the wood in the large version of the photo is mesmerizing!)<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">ALFRED VERHOEF</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>Virtually unknown to the American fluteplaying sphere, Verhoef flutes are extremely well-regarded in Europe, and for very good reason. They are, simply put, freaking stunning. One of the things that sets Verhoef apart from many other makers is the variety of woods he uses in making his flutes. In addition to the standard <b>grenadilla</b> (African blackwood, or good ol' trusty <i>Dalbergia melanoxylon</i>), you can order a Verhoef in <b>palisander </b>(palisander can mean one of several woods, but it is most commonly used to refer to <b>Madagascar rosewood</b>, or <i>Dalbergia baronii, </i> and photos I've seen of his flutes in this wood support that assumption); <b>African rosewood</b> (or, as most people call it, <b>bubinga</b>. Not a true rosewood, as it isn't a <i>Dalbergia</i>, it's still a fabulous tonewood); <b>coromandel, </b>also not a <i>Dalbergia</i>, but a stunningly gorgeous wood often referred to (perhaps a tiny bit erroneously) as <b>Macassar ebony; </b>our old trusty friend <b>cocuswood; </b> and finally, <b>Bahia rosewood</b>, which is much more commonly referred to in the West as <b>Brazilian rosewood</b> (or <i>Dalbergia nigra</i>, which you may also see referred to as Rio rosewood or Bahia jacaranda), which is an incredibly colorful red wood that those of you who are savvy woodwind doublers may recognize as the brilliantly colored wood that Patricola uses in their rosewood oboes and clarinets.<br />
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(Now might be a good time to mention that I will be doing an upcoming blog post on all of the woods that are used in woodwind manufacturing, and addressing such topics as "What <i>exactly</i> is 'rosewood', anyway?". I'm sure you'll want to make some popcorn and gather the kids around for that one.)<br />
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I digress...back to flutey things.<br />
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Mr. Verhoef painstakingly makes every flute by hand to order, and turns out some pretty marvelous works of art that sound as fantastic as they look. There are some lovely photos on his website, <a href="http://www.verhoef-flutes.com/home.html" target="_blank">Verhoef Flutes</a>, and check out some fabulous performances using his flutes:<br />
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Katja Pitelina plays Bozza's "Image" for us, using her rosewood Verhoef:<br />
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And HERE is something I was *super* excited to find, a 20-minute interview (in Dutch) with Mr. Verhoef himself, about his flutes. In the latter half of the video, he disappears for a second and returns with THREE of his flutes, all in different woods, and plays them all for us. It's just fascinating!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">VINCENT BERNOLIN</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>A name well-known in Baroque flute and recorder circles, Bernolin also makes a wooden Boehm flute in his atelier in France. I've no personal experience with his concert flutes, but I have played one of his traversos, and know several recorder players who swear by his instruments. His flutes are also quite reasonably priced for a handmade wood flute (in the same ballpark as Yamaha), and you can get them with a solid sterling mechanism or a silver-plated mechanism if you're feeling economical.<br />
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Take a gander at some lovely photos of his work at: <a href="http://www.bernolin.fr/english/traversiere.htm" target="_blank">Bernolin Boehm Flutes</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>ANTON BRAUN</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>From German flutemaker Anton Braun, we have perhaps one of the most recognizable flutes on our list. This is the flute that you will see in the hands of Michael Hasel and Andreas Blau in the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, and as such, examples of these flutes being played are readily accessible on Youtube. Unique among wood flute makers, Braun inserts a gold riser into all of his headjoints as standards, which gives his flutes a bit more of an edge in an orchestral situation, and adds a crispness to the articulation that is not always found in wooden headjoints. Braun flutes are available only in well-seasoned grenadilla wood, and you can order your flute with a one-piece body, if you so choose.<br />
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Like just about all wooden flutes, it's very reasonably priced, a base B-footed model coming in at slightly less than an average silver soldered-tonehole handmade flute.<br />
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Have a look around Braun's website, <a href="http://www.braunflutes.com/flute.htm" target="_blank">Braun Flutes</a>. There is a bounty of great information to be had, and his C-foot piccolo is also worth a look! :-)<br />
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Here is the amazing Andras Adorjan playing the lightning-fast last movement of the CPE Bach D minor concerto on his Braun flute (listen to that articulation!!)<br />
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And here is the legendary Andreas Blau, of the Berlin Philharmonic, playing the Reinecke Flute Concerto with HIS Braun:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>HERBERT NEUREITER</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>From the picturesque Tyrolean region of Austria, master flute and clarinet maker Herbert Neureiter is doing some of the most innovative work in woodwinds today. I will expound on his creativity in a future post, but for now let's take a look at his wooden flutes.<br />
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Neureiter makes two models of wood flutes, the Vario and the Soloist. The primary difference between the two is in the construction of the head to body connection; the Vario, as the name suggests, is a straight metal tenon which enables one to use <i>various </i>(I see what he did there!) headjoints on the body. The Soloist has a traditional piccolo-style corked tenon, which limits the choices of headjoint you can use on the body, though one must assume that the one supplied with it is the one that is intended for that particular body. :)<br />
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Like some of our other wood wizards, Herr Neureiter uses a multitude of woods in the construction of his beautiful flutes, including cocus; cocobolo; what he calls "vera-pok" on his website, but which we know much more commonly as <i>lignum vitae</i>, <i>verawood, guayacan, </i>or <i>gaiac; </i>and violetwood (kingwood). One infers from the Types Of Wood section on his website that other species outside of the dalbergia family can also be special-ordered.<br />
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Uniquely among the makers I'll discuss in this series, Neureiter also uses ebonite (or "hard rubber", which happens to be what my primary clarinet is made of, and I LOVE it). The Soloist model can be ordered entirely in ebonite, or you can opt for just an ebonite headjoint. This is a natural material, taken from a tree just as wood is, and the nature of this material enables the maker to produce a variety of colors and patterns in it. See below an example of a Soloist model flute in "emerald marmorate" ebonite (with his patented "Pieno Flauto" headjoint resonance/tuning feature):<br />
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Lovely, isn't it? This material can be made in a wide variety of appearances, and completely eliminates the worry of cracking or dimensional changes due to temperature and humidity, while preserving the dark, beautiful sound of the natural wood flute. See below for some of the possibilites! (All photos taken from the Neureiter website, which I will link below)<br />
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(the bottom photo is clarinet barrels, obviously, but it's a fabulous illustration of the array of visual options one has with this material!)<br />
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There is also a staggering array of wood headjoint options for the Vario, and these headjoints will fit any flute that takes a standard tenon, so you can use them on your silver or gold flute (or your wood Yamaha, Powell, Sankyo, Di Zhao, etc... ;-) )<br />
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I am relatively new to Neureiter as a flutemaker (I've experienced only one of his instruments, which was a German system clarinet, and it was lovely!), but I am very, very, very excited about what I've seen; so much so that I have reached out to him for further information. Perhaps a Neureiter demo video and blog review is in the not-so-distant future?? We'll have to wait and see! :)<br />
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Read more about his work yourself (really, I highly recommend browsing around the site, even the clarinet stuff!) at: <a href="http://www.musik-neureiter.at/index.php/home.html" target="_blank">Herbert Neureiter Flutes & Clarinets</a><br />
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That's all for Part Two!! In the third and final installment, we'll come back to the good ol' US of A for a couple final makers, and have a look at one of our British friends, as well!<br />
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As always, thanks for reading! :-)<br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">In the last two posts, we learned a bit about ten modern-day makers of wooden Boehm-system flutes, which seems like a pretty sufficient number of options, ja?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Flutists, however, are among the most spoilt-for-choice musicians in the universe, because THERE ARE MORE! (yay!) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">When last we saw each other, we were taking a trip around Europe and having a look at who's making what over there. Now, we'll pop back over here for a bit and learn about a couple of US makers who have been turning it OUT on the wood flute scene for quite some time; then, we'll fly back across the pond and wrap it up! :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">ABELL</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">One of the most instantly recognizable wooden flutes we'll talk about are the works of art created by Chris Abell, in Asheville, NC. The instant you see one, you can tell it is an Abell by the extremely thick metal ferrules at the headjoint/barrel and body/foot connections. The RH3 D key is situated completely within the lower body ferrule, which lends tremendous reinforcement to these areas of the flute which are particularly vulnerable to splitting. (See photo below)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfH-AM4NDUM8g3Yon-NMoiJRgLdHLzSUfYI7utaIU9xEoEYhTN5qnedqKIMx2vE5nFZuHr6pqIaerGCndATWl9SAdSjWAhVXwM84JbB8EwrLI84I9LW8_hTFKkGyUVOQakRFv7whX2TuNv/s1600/abellferrules.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfH-AM4NDUM8g3Yon-NMoiJRgLdHLzSUfYI7utaIU9xEoEYhTN5qnedqKIMx2vE5nFZuHr6pqIaerGCndATWl9SAdSjWAhVXwM84JbB8EwrLI84I9LW8_hTFKkGyUVOQakRFv7whX2TuNv/s1600/abellferrules.png" height="64" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Of all of the flutes I have discussed so far in this series, the Abell is the only one I have personally owned. For a period of slightly over a year, I played on an Abell flute, and I really, REALLY liked it. This is a flute that very much has a personality of its own, and there is a bit of a discovery process with it. I was also playing concurrently on gold at the time, and whether it was just the ignorance of youth or that I just wasn't ready yet as a flutist to tame the Abell, I found myself playing on the gold more, so I sold the Abell. </span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODKW9_-kn-AVazmgTbhZRIXJX19LaNeHXjwJ-DlbkX78MvJ0IhrI-bilDEnP5kucGBH6Z5B6eGyiz0C4OvP5xzDU8AVI6O364Vq7tPmgaheWDy46nFbsDTRX8c2du8YdrR2gT3KVkA9eD/s1600/12322154258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODKW9_-kn-AVazmgTbhZRIXJX19LaNeHXjwJ-DlbkX78MvJ0IhrI-bilDEnP5kucGBH6Z5B6eGyiz0C4OvP5xzDU8AVI6O364Vq7tPmgaheWDy46nFbsDTRX8c2du8YdrR2gT3KVkA9eD/s1600/12322154258.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">A much younger, thinner me with my Abell. :-) </span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Now I wish I hadn't. Looking back, I know now what I should have done on that particular instrument to get the most out of it, but at the time I was either too dumb or lazy to do it. Ah, hindsight! The Abell is a flute of extraordinary richness and body in the sound, and physically it's a rather imposing instrument. There is very much a sort of masculinity about the flute that is quite reassuring and comforting when holding it; it really lets you know its there! The low range on this flute is one of the beefiest and most resonant of any I've ever played, and it is capable of infinite sweetness in the upper reaches. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">If you visit the Abell website (and you should), <a href="http://www.abellflute.com/theabellflute.html" target="_blank">Abell Flutes</a>, you will see that the instrument is offered only in grenadilla wood, but if you contact Chris directly, it is possible to have an instrument built in other woods. I have seen Abell flutes and headjoints in pink ivory, mopani, and cocobolo wood. Another fabulous feature of this instrument is that it can be ordered with a C# trill key!</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU7rHQ3VYWmgvsTHLMsSGzdXsuRnl_gGeUD7ESLRRfve9_giXRjVplMi3dYuo1k_59boUvOVKr9ahOcPx_no-5f1c8A-I8-1bXlNbbduYlrGzCzJ0hRXsituWiBJ0aWhj3fN3EM63SVUI/s1600/PinkIvoryAbell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU7rHQ3VYWmgvsTHLMsSGzdXsuRnl_gGeUD7ESLRRfve9_giXRjVplMi3dYuo1k_59boUvOVKr9ahOcPx_no-5f1c8A-I8-1bXlNbbduYlrGzCzJ0hRXsituWiBJ0aWhj3fN3EM63SVUI/s1600/PinkIvoryAbell.jpg" height="299" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The Abell flute in pink ivory wood!! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Let's listen to a couple of my favorite flutists play on their Abells-</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">First up is Irish flutist Aisling Agnew, who is one of my go-to Youtube flute channels, performing my personal favorite Teleman Fantasie (the A minor): </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">How about that sound, eh? :) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Next up, let's hear international sensation Patrick Gallois playing some Mozart on his very special Abell, borne of a collaboration between Mr. Abell and supergenius flutemaker Leonard Lopatin and his SquareONE design: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I think this has got to be one of my absolute favorite performances of the 2nd movement of the Mozart K.299 of all time! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">And, not that I am even *remotely* in these two fabulous players' league, but here's me playing the Mendelssohn Midsummer Scare-zo on my Abell:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Check out an Abell if you get a chance, I think you'll enjoy it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">ALEXANDER EPPLER</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Seattle-based flutemaker Alexander Eppler has been in the business of wood flutes for 30 years, making him the longest continuously-working maker of wood Boehm flutes currently operating. (Also noteworth is that Mr. Eppler was the very first Straubinger-certified flute technician, and uses only Straubinger pads in all of his flutes).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Like myself, Alexander was also originally a violist...you *have* to like that in a fellow! :) (He is also an extremely accomplished player of the Bulgarian kaval, which he also builds; the balalaika; and the cimbalom!)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The Man himself, working on one of his flutes! (Which appears to have a one-piece body/foot)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">As with several of the other flutemakers we've discussed, I like very much that Eppler offers a variety of woods to choose from (namely grenadilla, cocuswood, and *snakewood*, which is very adventurous indeed! Snakewood is notorious for splintering, but Mr. Eppler has devised a proprietary method of treating the wood that prevents this from happening).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Perhaps my favorite thing about his flutes, both wood and metal, is that every flute is built standard with a C# trill key. A man after my own heart, I tell you! One-piece bodies are also available, and he does absolutely exquisite repair and restoration work, so if you are the owner of an older wooden instrument (a Rudall Carte, perhaps, or a Lot or a Mollenhauer), he is THE man to send it to to get it back in tip-top shape!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">His wooden headjoints are also widely sought after by flutists for their metal instruments, and having played on several of them, I can certainly see why. They are extremely rich-sounding, with incredible projection and really quite fine craftsmanship.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">It's proven difficult to find video footage of an entire wooden Eppler flute being played, but the renowned Seattle flutist Felix Skowronek (who was quite close with Eppler, and in fact inspired him to start making wood flutes) played a cocus Eppler head on his cocus Rudall Carte body, and I've just stumbled across some fantastic footage from the mid-80s of him playing it in his quintet, Soni Ventorum (with Bill McColl, who played a custom-built BOXWOOD Buffet clarinet with gold keys! :) :) :) )</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Find out more about them at the <a href="http://epplerflutes.com/" target="_blank">Eppler Flutes website</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">That about does it for the States, I think...let's head back 'cross the pond and check out some more!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">First up, we have the...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>FLUTEMAKERS GUILD OF LONDON</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>Officially formed in 1961 by 7 flutemakers from Rudall Carte who wished to continue the tradition of handmade flutes as RC was being absorbed by a larger corporation, the FMG has turned out some extremely impressive examples of the wooden flutemaker's art. Though they've made numerous flutes in silver and gold, what really sets FMG apart, at least in my estimation, is the quality of their wooden flutes and headjoints. There are few instruments that feel quite as organic and "alive" in the hands as a FMG wood flute, particularly those that were created with a one-piece body/foot. Though their works has largely been in grenadilla, there are FMG flutes and heads out there in cocus, and I've heard tell of a few in various other woods, though I've not seen them.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I would love to point you to the FMG website, but there seems to be a bit of confusion right now as to exactly *who* is currently making up the Flutemaker's Guild...I am under the impression that current FMG work is done by Michael Allen, who is (I believe) the craftsman of the handmade FMG headjoints that are currently offered by the venerable English flute shop Trevor James on their top-tier Recital model flutes. (Though Andrew Oxley may also still be involved?) Past members of the Guild include Howel Roberts, who we saw earlier, in part 2; Harry Seely, Ewan McDougall, Martin Gordon, Roger Harris, Chris Bouckley, and several others, all who have gone on to great renown as makers of flutes and heads in their own rights.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">However, I digress (though I would LOVE a clear history of the FMG, so if anybody reading this can shed some light, please do!)...let's have a looksee at some FMG wood flutes!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">This gorgeous cocuswood FMG flute is from the collection of Felix Skowronek, who we discussed just a bit ago in the Eppler segment. A great lover of the wood flute, he amassed quite a collection of them, and this beautiful example is currently for sale via David and Nina Shorey of <a href="http://www.antiqueflutes.com/" target="_blank">AntiqueFlutes.com</a>. (Photo credit: David and Nina Shorey, Antiqueflutes.com)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">This one, as you can see, is in standard 3-piece head/body/foot configuration. FMG is also well known for making flutes with a one-piece body/foot, as the one below (also via Antiqueflutes.com) :</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">And no, thine eyes do not deceive you, this is yet another flutemaker who offers their wood flutes with a C# trill key! :-)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">There is a GORGEOUS FMG wood flute in one-piece body configuration, with an additional Alexander Eppler headjoint, currently for sale via Anne Pollack at YourFluteWorks.com (<a href="http://www.yourfluteworks.com/flutemakers_494.html#" target="_blank">FMG Wood Flute w/Eppler head!</a>) Contact Anne to try and buy this amazing flute! I would myself in a heartbeat if I had $14K laying around :-D</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Let's take a listen to the gifted and stylish Elizabeth Walker play some Bach on her FMG (one-piece body) wood flute!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">GERHARD SACHS</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">From the pastoral countryside of <span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Sonnenbühl, </span><span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">in southern Germany, come the gorgeous flutes of Gerhard Sachs. A relative newcomer to the global flute market (though not entirely unknown; in my Richmond Flute Fair blog recap, I described playing one of his gold headjoints), he does not yet have a website, but flute retailer Just Flutes, in England, currently has in stock 3 of his flutes, 2 in incredibly beautiful cocuswood (one open hole, one closed hole) and one in grenadilla. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Visit <a href="http://www.justflutes.com/wood-flutes-category1565.html" target="_blank">Just Flutes: Wood Flutes</a> for detailed photos and pricing information! The open holed cocus one in particular is ridiculously beautiful! (see below, photo credit: Just Flutes)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">HARRY GOSSE</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Also from Germany, we have beautiful handcrafted wood flutes from Harry Gosse, whose flutes are played by prominent members of many symphony orchestras around the Continent. I have never played one, so I can't say much about them other than they exist, and he has a lovely website :) They are beautiful, though, as are his silver and gold flutes, and I'm including them for the sake of being as thorough as possible in this project! :) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Read more about them (it's ok if you don't speak German, Google does and it'll translate for you :) ) at his website: <a href="http://www.boehmfloete.de/" target="_blank">http://www.boehmfloete.de/</a>, and go like him on Facebook! <a href="https://www.facebook.com/boehmfloete" target="_blank">Gosse Flutes On Facebook!</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I think this, while not 100% comprehensive (I'm bound to have missed someone!), has been a fairly accurate representation of the current Boehm wooden flute market. As we've seen, for those of us who have discovered the special magic of the sound of a wood flute, the options are greater than ever for obtaining a new instrument. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I would like to finish by quickly touching on a few recent makers of wood flutes who are unfortunately no longer producing instruments, whether through discontinuation or (very unfortunately) having become deceased. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Most well known of these is probably the Wm. S. Haynes company's late 1990s "Jacques Zoon" model, developed as a collaboration between then-president-and-owner of Haynes, John Fuggetta, and then-principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jacques Zoon. Jacques was (and is) a player and lover of the wood flute, and approached Haynes to work with him on making a modern wood instrument. They made but a scant dozen or so (maybe 2 dozen?) of these before discontinuing production. Truly ahead of their time! One of my current favorite young flute stars, Sebastian Jacot, plays this Haynes flute with a handmade Jacques Zoon headjoint. (Jacques was his teacher). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Hear this miracle of wood and silver here: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Another sad discontinuation story is that of Robert Bigio, famed former Flutemaker's Guild of London member who makes some of the best damn wood heads I have ever played on, who also made complete flutes for a time, but has retired from flutemaking to focus entirely on headjoints, according to his website, <a href="http://www.bigio.com/flutes.htm" target="_blank">Bigio Flutes</a>. (Incidentally, he is also considered the world's foremost authority on the flutes of the Rudall Carte company, from which the FMG was born)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Still, I'm sure they will pop up on the secondhand market occasionally...SNAP THEM UP IF YOU SEE THEM!! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">And perhaps the saddest of the stories I have to relate is that of Koichi Sakurai, hands down one of the most brilliant flutemakers and flute-ventors to have existed since Boehm and Lot. A Japanese maker (remember THAT blog entry? :) ), Sakurai absolutely LIVED to experiment with various materials in flutemaking, and in addition to sterling silver, higher-purity silver alloys, 10% gold, platinum, a compound he called Black Silver, ceramics, DuPoint Corian, and a new laminate called "Complite", Sakurai-san also worked in woods. Lots of woods. He used Macassar ebony (Diospyros celebica), black ebony, kingwood, cocuswood, SNAKEWOOD(!), blue ebony, jacaranda, tulipwood, Rio rosewood, Honduran rosewood, African rosewood (bubinga), freaking PERSIMMON WOOD...the man used everything. He figured out a way to treat the wood to stabilize it for making flutes, and seemed to be doing quite a job of it. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Tragically, Mr. Sakurai passed away March 30th of last year. :( I never met him, but I cannot express how saddened I am by his passing, and thoughts of all the incredible flutes he'll never make, and all of the innovation he won't pass on to the flute world. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">One of the most special flutes I have ever played in my entire life was one of Sakurai's snakewood flutes (with gold keys, of course), and I would give an internal organ to find that flute again and own it. </span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24Qav9nGy9wzw-C_LC2ibju6NprEnGvK4mY0uKFaclimmC8oeQrGv5iAWpSMfXbIqImwZBwrba8AfW7IDGCfyUFhhkyQT0ZPdUHXbxT_5SmlepevVYpfTDEA5L9BaJV2CXtFBt09JG6-U/s1600/10150090121974259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24Qav9nGy9wzw-C_LC2ibju6NprEnGvK4mY0uKFaclimmC8oeQrGv5iAWpSMfXbIqImwZBwrba8AfW7IDGCfyUFhhkyQT0ZPdUHXbxT_5SmlepevVYpfTDEA5L9BaJV2CXtFBt09JG6-U/s1600/10150090121974259.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The magical Snakewood Sakurai!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Sakurai flute in "Complite" composite, tulip-wood finish, with artificial ivory tonehole inserts</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBX0-Ocp628ePHoxLIoXvQPmkAhETwYn4igZ-lKfHp-dzGi68bKWdvsGM7u_fEZnQQS1BYXav0xqYHEGhG5r69z3RstqN26zlA15bRkqzSeQwhyphenhyphencdDt3T9oFai4-3N73_P9FTeE6Qog4T/s1600/ebony_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBX0-Ocp628ePHoxLIoXvQPmkAhETwYn4igZ-lKfHp-dzGi68bKWdvsGM7u_fEZnQQS1BYXav0xqYHEGhG5r69z3RstqN26zlA15bRkqzSeQwhyphenhyphencdDt3T9oFai4-3N73_P9FTeE6Qog4T/s1600/ebony_001.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Sakurai in true ebony wood (with artificial ivory toneholes)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNNqyU04O3qQ_quQPLp2DNvwG2uRxzkSww-9u5HJ2AKCuD8Sr4-fIRdD1f3liqZoyRmwi67Wihpr6iz6BukAuIPomJPVi8nw-1KC8F34KQzYUM4uS9leidY_zKLjY6GN86k8sYJzSw7vY/s1600/kingwood_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNNqyU04O3qQ_quQPLp2DNvwG2uRxzkSww-9u5HJ2AKCuD8Sr4-fIRdD1f3liqZoyRmwi67Wihpr6iz6BukAuIPomJPVi8nw-1KC8F34KQzYUM4uS9leidY_zKLjY6GN86k8sYJzSw7vY/s1600/kingwood_001.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Sakurai flute in kingwood, with sterling silver tonehole inserts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Rest in peace, Sakurai-san! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Looking to the future, though, there is some exciting work being done by the Guo flute company, in their Grenaditte and New Voice materials, which are aiming to give the sound of wood with the projection and brilliance of metal, and the light weight of plastic composites. I've played many of these flutes, and they are truly something to be reckoned with! They're also incredibly, incredibly affordable!! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">This is me testing out a New Voice flute in Japan:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Listen to that high register! It's like butter up there!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The New Voice flutes are only around $1,000, and available in a wide variety of colors. (I prefer the color of the flute I'm playing in that video, which looks almost like aged boxwood from a distance).</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQEZZvKANm-cehbicEEc_ov0z6ncI7MZZbuUe7rOIpZ_vDnAOLwg2FMtMcsygDomXuHfxFVCZrJnDuExQjKWC0giGKMd3zcK_yhMQaZ_nvrAgEUSJt9BEul8PFOxnc2NqABuKTrOAcMwT/s1600/guo-flute-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQEZZvKANm-cehbicEEc_ov0z6ncI7MZZbuUe7rOIpZ_vDnAOLwg2FMtMcsygDomXuHfxFVCZrJnDuExQjKWC0giGKMd3zcK_yhMQaZ_nvrAgEUSJt9BEul8PFOxnc2NqABuKTrOAcMwT/s1600/guo-flute-05.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The more muted variety of New Voice flute colors...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-size: small;">The Grenaditte flute is available only in black, with either black or white polymer mechanism. This compound is of a slightly different composition than the New Voice, and sounds a bit more on the wooden side of the spectrum. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZHCBAccG9ErgkZ5T0ssr7NjvWGeZKHYHitdW7b1iMk28XcNPTuPDpEYCPvOzgIXKcPINd0KIKnmuuVKXOnijL42_S1puWCOowBrbRWJcX1TBLVWjmdkh6SUx7Jq5wn4_WTzQE1YoBRS3/s1600/GC.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZHCBAccG9ErgkZ5T0ssr7NjvWGeZKHYHitdW7b1iMk28XcNPTuPDpEYCPvOzgIXKcPINd0KIKnmuuVKXOnijL42_S1puWCOowBrbRWJcX1TBLVWjmdkh6SUx7Jq5wn4_WTzQE1YoBRS3/s1600/GC.png" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Hear some lovely CPE Bach performed on a Grenaditte C flute! (Note that they also produce piccolos, G treble flutes, and bass flutes in this material! :) )</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/gAMdYeLKotk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gAMdYeLKotk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Should you have an interest in any of the Guo flutes, they are available from nearly EVERY flute retailer on the planet these days. Some of my personal recommendations of shops to deal with should you want a New Voice or Grenaditte are:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/" style="background-color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">FluteWorld</a><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.flutistsfaire.com/" style="background-color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">Flutist's Faire - Betsy Winslow Trimber</a><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.theflutefarm.com/" style="background-color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">The Flute Farm - Robert Strouf</a><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I do hope this has been as fun for you to read as it was for me to write, and I wish you all the best and as always happy fluting! (And welcome to the World of Wood!)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Stay tuned as we next talk about wooden headjoints and all of the different woods that are used in making woodwind instruments!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">:-) </span></div>
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-68185374480368578722015-02-04T22:20:00.000-05:002015-02-04T22:27:10.231-05:00Wooden't It Be Lover-ly: FIN! <span style="background-color: #cccccc;">In the last two posts, we learned a bit about ten modern-day makers of wooden Boehm-system flutes, which seems like a pretty sufficient number of options, ja?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Flutists, however, are among the most spoilt-for-choice musicians in the universe, because THERE ARE MORE! (yay!) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">When last we saw each other, we were taking a trip around Europe and having a look at who's making what over there. Now, we'll pop back over here for a bit and learn about a couple of US makers who have been turning it OUT on the wood flute scene for quite some time; then, we'll fly back across the pond and wrap it up! :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">ABELL</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">One of the most instantly recognizable wooden flutes we'll talk about are the works of art created by Chris Abell, in Asheville, NC. The instant you see one, you can tell it is an Abell by the extremely thick metal ferrules at the headjoint/barrel and body/foot connections. The RH3 D key is situated completely within the lower body ferrule, which lends tremendous reinforcement to these areas of the flute which are particularly vulnerable to splitting. (See photo below)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Of all of the flutes I have discussed so far in this series, the Abell is the only one I have personally owned. For a period of slightly over a year, I played on an Abell flute, and I really, REALLY liked it. This is a flute that very much has a personality of its own, and there is a bit of a discovery process with it. I was also playing concurrently on gold at the time, and whether it was just the ignorance of youth or that I just wasn't ready yet as a flutist to tame the Abell, I found myself playing on the gold more, so I sold the Abell. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODKW9_-kn-AVazmgTbhZRIXJX19LaNeHXjwJ-DlbkX78MvJ0IhrI-bilDEnP5kucGBH6Z5B6eGyiz0C4OvP5xzDU8AVI6O364Vq7tPmgaheWDy46nFbsDTRX8c2du8YdrR2gT3KVkA9eD/s1600/12322154258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODKW9_-kn-AVazmgTbhZRIXJX19LaNeHXjwJ-DlbkX78MvJ0IhrI-bilDEnP5kucGBH6Z5B6eGyiz0C4OvP5xzDU8AVI6O364Vq7tPmgaheWDy46nFbsDTRX8c2du8YdrR2gT3KVkA9eD/s1600/12322154258.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">A much younger, thinner me with my Abell. :-) </span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Now I wish I hadn't. Looking back, I know now what I should have done on that particular instrument to get the most out of it, but at the time I was either too dumb or lazy to do it. Ah, hindsight! The Abell is a flute of extraordinary richness and body in the sound, and physically it's a rather imposing instrument. There is very much a sort of masculinity about the flute that is quite reassuring and comforting when holding it; it really lets you know its there! The low range on this flute is one of the beefiest and most resonant of any I've ever played, and it is capable of infinite sweetness in the upper reaches. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">If you visit the Abell website (and you should), <a href="http://www.abellflute.com/theabellflute.html" target="_blank">Abell Flutes</a>, you will see that the instrument is offered only in grenadilla wood, but if you contact Chris directly, it is possible to have an instrument built in other woods. I have seen Abell flutes and headjoints in pink ivory, mopani, and cocobolo wood. Another fabulous feature of this instrument is that it can be ordered with a C# trill key!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU7rHQ3VYWmgvsTHLMsSGzdXsuRnl_gGeUD7ESLRRfve9_giXRjVplMi3dYuo1k_59boUvOVKr9ahOcPx_no-5f1c8A-I8-1bXlNbbduYlrGzCzJ0hRXsituWiBJ0aWhj3fN3EM63SVUI/s1600/PinkIvoryAbell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU7rHQ3VYWmgvsTHLMsSGzdXsuRnl_gGeUD7ESLRRfve9_giXRjVplMi3dYuo1k_59boUvOVKr9ahOcPx_no-5f1c8A-I8-1bXlNbbduYlrGzCzJ0hRXsituWiBJ0aWhj3fN3EM63SVUI/s1600/PinkIvoryAbell.jpg" height="299" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The Abell flute in pink ivory wood!! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Let's listen to a couple of my favorite flutists play on their Abells-</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">First up is Irish flutist Aisling Agnew, who is one of my go-to Youtube flute channels, performing my personal favorite Teleman Fantasie (the A minor): </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">How about that sound, eh? :) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Next up, let's hear international sensation Patrick Gallois playing some Mozart on his very special Abell, borne of a collaboration between Mr. Abell and supergenius flutemaker Leonard Lopatin and his SquareONE design: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I think this has got to be one of my absolute favorite performances of the 2nd movement of the Mozart K.299 of all time! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">And, not that I am even *remotely* in these two fabulous players' league, but here's me playing the Mendelssohn Midsummer Scare-zo on my Abell:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Check out an Abell if you get a chance, I think you'll enjoy it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">ALEXANDER EPPLER</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Seattle-based flutemaker Alexander Eppler has been in the business of wood flutes for 30 years, making him the longest continuously-working maker of wood Boehm flutes currently operating. (Also noteworth is that Mr. Eppler was the very first Straubinger-certified flute technician, and uses only Straubinger pads in all of his flutes).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Like myself, Alexander was also originally a violist...you *have* to like that in a fellow! :) (He is also an extremely accomplished player of the Bulgarian kaval, which he also builds; the balalaika; and the cimbalom!)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbtIf8tZi_HFb74gD1XvZ3SFHwxNgECnaW5R0J4sX-ACNxl0o3fnB5aVu9RTWIZF6kf2XPAaQg_ooZfm5ItleLrewWcgxQcPnM0BxrZSf-q4pl1mETP63lFYFFADY_mfeMjB0VQX2gqhU/s1600/Wooden_Flute3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbtIf8tZi_HFb74gD1XvZ3SFHwxNgECnaW5R0J4sX-ACNxl0o3fnB5aVu9RTWIZF6kf2XPAaQg_ooZfm5ItleLrewWcgxQcPnM0BxrZSf-q4pl1mETP63lFYFFADY_mfeMjB0VQX2gqhU/s1600/Wooden_Flute3.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The Man himself, working on one of his flutes! (Which appears to have a one-piece body/foot)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">As with several of the other flutemakers we've discussed, I like very much that Eppler offers a variety of woods to choose from (namely grenadilla, cocuswood, and *snakewood*, which is very adventurous indeed! Snakewood is notorious for splintering, but Mr. Eppler has devised a proprietary method of treating the wood that prevents this from happening). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Perhaps my favorite thing about his flutes, both wood and metal, is that every flute is built standard with a C# trill key. A man after my own heart, I tell you! One-piece bodies are also available, and he does absolutely exquisite repair and restoration work, so if you are the owner of an older wooden instrument (a Rudall Carte, perhaps, or a Lot or a Mollenhauer), he is THE man to send it to to get it back in tip-top shape!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">His wooden headjoints are also widely sought after by flutists for their metal instruments, and having played on several of them, I can certainly see why. They are extremely rich-sounding, with incredible projection and really quite fine craftsmanship.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">It's proven difficult to find video footage of an entire wooden Eppler flute being played, but the renowned Seattle flutist Felix Skowronek (who was quite close with Eppler, and in fact inspired him to start making wood flutes) played a cocus Eppler head on his cocus Rudall Carte body, and I've just stumbled across some fantastic footage from the mid-80s of him playing it in his quintet, Soni Ventorum (with Bill McColl, who played a custom-built BOXWOOD Buffet clarinet with gold keys! :) :) :) )</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Find out more about them at the <a href="http://epplerflutes.com/" target="_blank">Eppler Flutes website</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">That about does it for the States, I think...let's head back 'cross the pond and check out some more!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">First up, we have the...</span><br />
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Officially formed in 1961 by 7 flutemakers from Rudall Carte who wished to continue the tradition of handmade flutes as RC was being absorbed by a larger corporation, the FMG has turned out some extremely impressive examples of the wooden flutemaker's art. Though they've made numerous flutes in silver and gold, what really sets FMG apart, at least in my estimation, is the quality of their wooden flutes and headjoints. There are few instruments that feel quite as organic and "alive" in the hands as a FMG wood flute, particularly those that were created with a one-piece body/foot. Though their works has largely been in grenadilla, there are FMG flutes and heads out there in cocus, and I've heard tell of a few in various other woods, though I've not seen them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I would love to point you to the FMG website, but there seems to be a bit of confusion right now as to exactly *who* is currently making up the Flutemaker's Guild...I am under the impression that current FMG work is done by Michael Allen, who is (I believe) the craftsman of the handmade FMG headjoints that are currently offered by the venerable English flute shop Trevor James on their top-tier Recital model flutes. (Though Andrew Oxley may also still be involved?) Past members of the Guild include Howel Roberts, who we saw earlier, in part 2; Harry Seely, Ewan McDougall, Martin Gordon, Roger Harris, Chris Bouckley, and several others, all who have gone on to great renown as makers of flutes and heads in their own rights.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">However, I digress (though I would LOVE a clear history of the FMG, so if anybody reading this can shed some light, please do!)...let's have a looksee at some FMG wood flutes!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">This gorgeous cocuswood FMG flute is from the collection of Felix Skowronek, who we discussed just a bit ago in the Eppler segment. A great lover of the wood flute, he amassed quite a collection of them, and this beautiful example is currently for sale via David and Nina Shorey of <a href="http://www.antiqueflutes.com/" target="_blank">AntiqueFlutes.com</a>. (Photo credit: David and Nina Shorey, Antiqueflutes.com)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">This one, as you can see, is in standard 3-piece head/body/foot configuration. FMG is also well known for making flutes with a one-piece body/foot, as the one below (also via Antiqueflutes.com) :</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">And no, thine eyes do not deceive you, this is yet another flutemaker who offers their wood flutes with a C# trill key! :-)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">There is a GORGEOUS FMG wood flute in one-piece body configuration, with an additional Alexander Eppler headjoint, currently for sale via Anne Pollack at YourFluteWorks.com (<a href="http://www.yourfluteworks.com/flutemakers_494.html#" target="_blank">FMG Wood Flute w/Eppler head!</a>) Contact Anne to try and buy this amazing flute! I would myself in a heartbeat if I had $14K laying around :-D</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Let's take a listen to the gifted and stylish Elizabeth Walker play some Bach on her FMG (one-piece body) wood flute!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: #cccccc;">GERHARD SACHS</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">From the pastoral countryside of <span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Sonnenbühl, </span><span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">in southern Germany, come the gorgeous flutes of Gerhard Sachs. A relative newcomer to the global flute market (though not entirely unknown; in my Richmond Flute Fair blog recap, I described playing one of his gold headjoints), he does not yet have a website, but flute retailer Just Flutes, in England, currently has in stock 3 of his flutes, 2 in incredibly beautiful cocuswood (one open hole, one closed hole) and one in grenadilla. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Visit <a href="http://www.justflutes.com/wood-flutes-category1565.html" target="_blank">Just Flutes: Wood Flutes</a> for detailed photos and pricing information! The open holed cocus one in particular is ridiculously beautiful! (see below, photo credit: Just Flutes)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Also from Germany, we have beautiful handcrafted wood flutes from Harry Gosse, whose flutes are played by prominent members of many symphony orchestras around the Continent. I have never played one, so I can't say much about them other than they exist, and he has a lovely website :) They are beautiful, though, as are his silver and gold flutes, and I'm including them for the sake of being as thorough as possible in this project! :) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Read more about them (it's ok if you don't speak German, Google does and it'll translate for you :) ) at his website: <a href="http://www.boehmfloete.de/" target="_blank">http://www.boehmfloete.de/</a>, and go like him on Facebook! <a href="https://www.facebook.com/boehmfloete" target="_blank">Gosse Flutes On Facebook!</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I think this, while not 100% comprehensive (I'm bound to have missed someone!), has been a fairly accurate representation of the current Boehm wooden flute market. As we've seen, for those of us who have discovered the special magic of the sound of a wood flute, the options are greater than ever for obtaining a new instrument. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I would like to finish by quickly touching on a few recent makers of wood flutes who are unfortunately no longer producing instruments, whether through discontinuation or (very unfortunately) having become deceased. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Most well known of these is probably the Wm. S. Haynes company's late 1990s "Jacques Zoon" model, developed as a collaboration between then-president-and-owner of Haynes, John Fuggetta, and then-principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jacques Zoon. Jacques was (and is) a player and lover of the wood flute, and approached Haynes to work with him on making a modern wood instrument. They made but a scant dozen or so (maybe 2 dozen?) of these before discontinuing production. Truly ahead of their time! One of my current favorite young flute stars, Sebastian Jacot, plays this Haynes flute with a handmade Jacques Zoon headjoint. (Jacques was his teacher). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Hear this miracle of wood and silver here: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Another sad discontinuation story is that of Robert Bigio, famed former Flutemaker's Guild of London member who makes some of the best damn wood heads I have ever played on, who also made complete flutes for a time, but has retired from flutemaking to focus entirely on headjoints, according to his website, <a href="http://www.bigio.com/flutes.htm" target="_blank">Bigio Flutes</a>. (Incidentally, he is also considered the world's foremost authority on the flutes of the Rudall Carte company, from which the FMG was born)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Still, I'm sure they will pop up on the secondhand market occasionally...SNAP THEM UP IF YOU SEE THEM!! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BOHvZPWu4BCSD5kdM6WmTOsQ2js3TfFEciK3cMSsykPUquUy1iIA3D89X_Y8bvg0VQnFeHhvc7XrdGoPP0L16jDqVwuYZ3hCVhDpQ_6oRur74IZKGQT92OwwbfaJQJMGTV3blZl6TVHv/s1600/76.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BOHvZPWu4BCSD5kdM6WmTOsQ2js3TfFEciK3cMSsykPUquUy1iIA3D89X_Y8bvg0VQnFeHhvc7XrdGoPP0L16jDqVwuYZ3hCVhDpQ_6oRur74IZKGQT92OwwbfaJQJMGTV3blZl6TVHv/s1600/76.jpg" height="252" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">And perhaps the saddest of the stories I have to relate is that of Koichi Sakurai, hands down one of the most brilliant flutemakers and flute-ventors to have existed since Boehm and Lot. A Japanese maker (remember THAT blog entry? :) ), Sakurai absolutely LIVED to experiment with various materials in flutemaking, and in addition to sterling silver, higher-purity silver alloys, 10% gold, platinum, a compound he called Black Silver, ceramics, DuPoint Corian, and a new laminate called "Complite", Sakurai-san also worked in woods. Lots of woods. He used Macassar ebony (Diospyros celebica), black ebony, kingwood, cocuswood, SNAKEWOOD(!), blue ebony, jacaranda, tulipwood, Rio rosewood, Honduran rosewood, African rosewood (bubinga), freaking PERSIMMON WOOD...the man used everything. He figured out a way to treat the wood to stabilize it for making flutes, and seemed to be doing quite a job of it. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Tragically, Mr. Sakurai passed away March 30th of last year. :( I never met him, but I cannot express how saddened I am by his passing, and thoughts of all the incredible flutes he'll never make, and all of the innovation he won't pass on to the flute world. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">One of the most special flutes I have ever played in my entire life was one of Sakurai's snakewood flutes (with gold keys, of course), and I would give an internal organ to find that flute again and own it. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24Qav9nGy9wzw-C_LC2ibju6NprEnGvK4mY0uKFaclimmC8oeQrGv5iAWpSMfXbIqImwZBwrba8AfW7IDGCfyUFhhkyQT0ZPdUHXbxT_5SmlepevVYpfTDEA5L9BaJV2CXtFBt09JG6-U/s1600/10150090121974259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24Qav9nGy9wzw-C_LC2ibju6NprEnGvK4mY0uKFaclimmC8oeQrGv5iAWpSMfXbIqImwZBwrba8AfW7IDGCfyUFhhkyQT0ZPdUHXbxT_5SmlepevVYpfTDEA5L9BaJV2CXtFBt09JG6-U/s1600/10150090121974259.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The magical Snakewood Sakurai!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1g5Nc8FxDKA9xCPzydjvvsUUmWJ2qupAkmM3iBhhEK9uoyzvpRnVrWtb0DIMQBZPEkr2sQsaLtjr5mDC2bn4Jn1pxCBhaqK-SglO6SLEe4GGHm6dWndxcPD0FWwUdNr2mlmY2loeu-JH/s1600/com_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1g5Nc8FxDKA9xCPzydjvvsUUmWJ2qupAkmM3iBhhEK9uoyzvpRnVrWtb0DIMQBZPEkr2sQsaLtjr5mDC2bn4Jn1pxCBhaqK-SglO6SLEe4GGHm6dWndxcPD0FWwUdNr2mlmY2loeu-JH/s1600/com_001.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Sakurai flute in "Complite" composite, tulip-wood finish, with artificial ivory tonehole inserts</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBX0-Ocp628ePHoxLIoXvQPmkAhETwYn4igZ-lKfHp-dzGi68bKWdvsGM7u_fEZnQQS1BYXav0xqYHEGhG5r69z3RstqN26zlA15bRkqzSeQwhyphenhyphencdDt3T9oFai4-3N73_P9FTeE6Qog4T/s1600/ebony_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBX0-Ocp628ePHoxLIoXvQPmkAhETwYn4igZ-lKfHp-dzGi68bKWdvsGM7u_fEZnQQS1BYXav0xqYHEGhG5r69z3RstqN26zlA15bRkqzSeQwhyphenhyphencdDt3T9oFai4-3N73_P9FTeE6Qog4T/s1600/ebony_001.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Sakurai in true ebony wood (with artificial ivory toneholes)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNNqyU04O3qQ_quQPLp2DNvwG2uRxzkSww-9u5HJ2AKCuD8Sr4-fIRdD1f3liqZoyRmwi67Wihpr6iz6BukAuIPomJPVi8nw-1KC8F34KQzYUM4uS9leidY_zKLjY6GN86k8sYJzSw7vY/s1600/kingwood_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNNqyU04O3qQ_quQPLp2DNvwG2uRxzkSww-9u5HJ2AKCuD8Sr4-fIRdD1f3liqZoyRmwi67Wihpr6iz6BukAuIPomJPVi8nw-1KC8F34KQzYUM4uS9leidY_zKLjY6GN86k8sYJzSw7vY/s1600/kingwood_001.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Sakurai flute in kingwood, with sterling silver tonehole inserts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Rest in peace, Sakurai-san! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Looking to the future, though, there is some exciting work being done by the Guo flute company, in their Grenaditte and New Voice materials, which are aiming to give the sound of wood with the projection and brilliance of metal, and the light weight of plastic composites. I've played many of these flutes, and they are truly something to be reckoned with! They're also incredibly, incredibly affordable!! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">This is me testing out a New Voice flute in Japan:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Listen to that high register! It's like butter up there!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">The New Voice flutes are only around $1,000, and available in a wide variety of colors. (I prefer the color of the flute I'm playing in that video, which looks almost like aged boxwood from a distance).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQEZZvKANm-cehbicEEc_ov0z6ncI7MZZbuUe7rOIpZ_vDnAOLwg2FMtMcsygDomXuHfxFVCZrJnDuExQjKWC0giGKMd3zcK_yhMQaZ_nvrAgEUSJt9BEul8PFOxnc2NqABuKTrOAcMwT/s1600/guo-flute-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQEZZvKANm-cehbicEEc_ov0z6ncI7MZZbuUe7rOIpZ_vDnAOLwg2FMtMcsygDomXuHfxFVCZrJnDuExQjKWC0giGKMd3zcK_yhMQaZ_nvrAgEUSJt9BEul8PFOxnc2NqABuKTrOAcMwT/s1600/guo-flute-05.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-size: small;">The Grenaditte flute is available only in black, with either black or white polymer mechanism. This compound is of a slightly different composition than the New Voice, and sounds a bit more on the wooden side of the spectrum. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZHCBAccG9ErgkZ5T0ssr7NjvWGeZKHYHitdW7b1iMk28XcNPTuPDpEYCPvOzgIXKcPINd0KIKnmuuVKXOnijL42_S1puWCOowBrbRWJcX1TBLVWjmdkh6SUx7Jq5wn4_WTzQE1YoBRS3/s1600/GC.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #cccccc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZHCBAccG9ErgkZ5T0ssr7NjvWGeZKHYHitdW7b1iMk28XcNPTuPDpEYCPvOzgIXKcPINd0KIKnmuuVKXOnijL42_S1puWCOowBrbRWJcX1TBLVWjmdkh6SUx7Jq5wn4_WTzQE1YoBRS3/s1600/GC.png" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Hear some lovely CPE Bach performed on a Grenaditte C flute! (Note that they also produce piccolos, G treble flutes, and bass flutes in this material! :) )</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/i2N2m3qqTLY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i2N2m3qqTLY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Should you have an interest in any of the Guo flutes, they are available from nearly EVERY flute retailer on the planet these days. Some of my personal recommendations of shops to deal with should you want a New Voice or Grenaditte are:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/" style="background-color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">FluteWorld</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flutistsfaire.com/" style="background-color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">Flutist's Faire - Betsy Winslow Trimber</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.theflutefarm.com/" style="background-color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">The Flute Farm - Robert Strouf</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">I do hope this has been as fun for you to read as it was for me to write, and I wish you all the best and as always happy fluting! (And welcome to the World of Wood!)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Stay tuned as we next talk about wooden headjoints and all of the different woods that are used in making woodwind instruments!</span><br />
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-256147530523964382015-01-28T20:24:00.000-05:002015-01-28T20:26:33.694-05:00Wooden't It Be Lover-ly? (Part 2!)In the last post, we discussed the wood flutes by Yamaha, Sankyo, Powell, and Di Zhao. Some of you may have been surprised that there were even *that* many modern wood Boehm flutes available, but as the late, great Billy Mays was wont to say...<br />
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BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!<br />
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Let us now take a short trip to Europe and explore some of the flutemakers there who are bestowing gifts of wood flutage upon the world.<br />
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First up, we have:<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">BERNHARD HAMMIG</span></u></b><br />
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In my very first blog post ever, I wrote a short review of my experience with his "Mezzo" flute, a collaboration with American flutentrepreneur Jason Blank that fits in the intermediate/pre-professional handmade head/Asian body market segment. It's a fabulous flute, and I very much enjoyed playing it. Bernhard makes amazing headjoints, and many people know of his magical 22K gold flutes (he also makes flutes in silver, 9K, 14K and 18K gold), but did you know he also makes a killer wood flute? He uses both grenadilla and cocuswood in his instruments, and they are simply stunning. They are entirely handmade upon order, so you can have them customized however you wish. (C# trill key, D# and/or C# rollers, hand engraving, and solid gold or gold-plated mechanism are all available).<br />
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Bernhard comes from a family with a very long tradition of musical instrument making, and his instruments are infused with that spirit. I've been fortunate enough to play several of his handmade flutes (including the aforementioned magic 22K gold flute, and an incredible 9K gold instrument), and I would strongly advise that anybody wishing to make the switch to a wood flute consider auditioning one of his instruments.<br />
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Jason Blank is the North American representative for Hammig flutes, and you can contact him via his website: <a href="http://www.bernhardhammig.com/bernhard_hammig_custom.html" target="_blank">Bernhard Hammig Custom Flutes</a>. You can read more about Bernhard and his instruments at his official site, <a href="http://www.hammig-flutes.com/english/" target="_blank">Hammig Flutes</a><br />
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Aren't they just beautiful?! (photo credit: B. Hammig, via Facebook)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>HOWEL ROBERTS</u></b></span><br />
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Well known for his wooden headjoints, it seems few people are aware that Howel Roberts also makes complete wooden flutes! A former member of the Flutemaker's Guild of London, Roberts has always been a great lover of the wood flute, and his handmade wooden flutes very much reflect that passion. Like Hammig, you can get a Roberts wood flute built for you in grenadilla or cocuswood, but you can ALSO opt for cocobolo wood (so very fashionable in the clarinet world these days, and to a slightly lesser extent, oboes). Also like Hammig, you can customize your flute with C# trill, rollers, engraving, gold mechanisms, etc. I've never personally played one, but of course I've played a great many of his headjoints, and if the flutes are anything like the heads....well, I wouldn't take umbrage if one were to appear under my Christmas tree. ;-)<br />
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Read more about them at: <a href="http://www.robertsflutes.yourweb.de/flutes.html" target="_blank">Howel Roberts Wooden Flutes</a> (and DO note that you can click on all photos on that page to embiggen them...I highly recommend it, especially that shot of the entire flute. It's cocus, and the detail of the wood in the large version of the photo is mesmerizing!)<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">ALFRED VERHOEF</span></u></b><br />
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Virtually unknown to the American fluteplaying sphere, Verhoef flutes are extremely well-regarded in Europe, and for very good reason. They are, simply put, freaking stunning. One of the things that sets Verhoef apart from many other makers is the variety of woods he uses in making his flutes. In addition to the standard <b>grenadilla</b> (African blackwood, or good ol' trusty <i>Dalbergia melanoxylon</i>), you can order a Verhoef in <b>palisander </b>(palisander can mean one of several woods, but it is most commonly used to refer to <b>Madagascar rosewood</b>, or <i>Dalbergia baronii, </i> and photos I've seen of his flutes in this wood support that assumption); <b>African rosewood</b> (or, as most people call it, <b>bubinga</b>. Not a true rosewood, as it isn't a <i>Dalbergia</i>, it's still a fabulous tonewood); <b>coromandel, </b>also not a <i>Dalbergia</i>, but a stunningly gorgeous wood often referred to (perhaps a tiny bit erroneously) as <b>Macassar ebony; </b>our old trusty friend <b>cocuswood; </b> and finally, <b>Bahia rosewood</b>, which is much more commonly referred to in the West as <b>Brazilian rosewood</b> (or <i>Dalbergia nigra</i>, which you may also see referred to as Rio rosewood or Bahia jacaranda), which is an incredibly colorful red wood that those of you who are savvy woodwind doublers may recognize as the brilliantly colored wood that Patricola uses in their rosewood oboes and clarinets.<br />
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(Now might be a good time to mention that I will be doing an upcoming blog post on all of the woods that are used in woodwind manufacturing, and addressing such topics as "What <i>exactly</i> is 'rosewood', anyway?". I'm sure you'll want to make some popcorn and gather the kids around for that one.)<br />
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I digress...back to flutey things.<br />
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Mr. Verhoef painstakingly makes every flute by hand to order, and turns out some pretty marvelous works of art that sound as fantastic as they look. There are some lovely photos on his website, <a href="http://www.verhoef-flutes.com/home.html" target="_blank">Verhoef Flutes</a>, and check out some fabulous performances using his flutes:<br />
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Katja Pitelina plays Bozza's "Images" for us, using her rosewood Verhoef:<br />
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And HERE is something I was *super* excited to find, a 20-minute interview (in Dutch) with Mr. Verhoef himself, about his flutes. In the latter half of the video, he disappears for a second and returns with THREE of his flutes, all in different woods, and plays them all for us. It's just fascinating!<br />
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Amazing stuff!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">VINCENT BERNOLIN</span></u></b><br />
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A name well-known in Baroque flute and recorder circles, Bernolin also makes a wooden Boehm flute in his atelier in France. I've no personal experience with his concert flutes, but I have played one of his traversos, and know several recorder players who swear by his instruments. His flutes are also quite reasonably priced for a handmade wood flute (in the same ballpark as Yamaha), and you can get them with a solid sterling mechanism or a silver-plated mechanism if you're feeling economical.<br />
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Take a gander at some lovely photos of his work at: <a href="http://www.bernolin.fr/english/traversiere.htm" target="_blank">Bernolin Boehm Flutes</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>ANTON BRAUN</u></b></span><br />
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From German flutemaker Anton Braun, we have perhaps one of the most recognizable flutes on our list. This is the flute that you will see in the hands of Michael Hasel and Andreas Blau in the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, and as such, examples of these flutes being played are readily accessible on Youtube. Unique among wood flute makers, Braun inserts a gold riser into all of his headjoints as standards, which gives his flutes a bit more of an edge in an orchestral situation, and adds a crispness to the articulation that is not always found in wooden headjoints. Braun flutes are available only in well-seasoned grenadilla wood, and you can order your flute with a one-piece body, if you so choose.<br />
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Like just about all wooden flutes, it's very reasonably priced, a base B-footed model coming in at slightly less than an average silver soldered-tonehole handmade flute.<br />
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Have a look around Braun's website, <a href="http://www.braunflutes.com/flute.htm" target="_blank">Braun Flutes</a>. There is a bounty of great information to be had, and his C-foot piccolo is also worth a look! :-)<br />
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Here is the amazing Andras Adorjan playing the lightning-fast last movement of the CPE Bach D minor concerto on his Braun flute (listen to that articulation!!)<br />
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And here is the legendary Andreas Blau, of the Berlin Philharmonic, playing the Reinecke Flute Concerto with HIS Braun:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>HERBERT NEUREITER</u></b></span><br />
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From the picturesque Tyrolean region of Austria, master flute and clarinet maker Herbert Neureiter is doing some of the most innovative work in woodwinds today. I will expound on his creativity in a future post, but for now let's take a look at his wooden flutes.<br />
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Neureiter makes two models of wood flutes, the Vario and the Soloist. The primary difference between the two is in the construction of the head to body connection; the Vario, as the name suggests, is a straight metal tenon which enables one to use <i>various </i>(I see what he did there!) headjoints on the body. The Soloist has a traditional piccolo-style corked tenon, which limits the choices of headjoint you can use on the body, though one must assume that the one supplied with it is the one that is intended for that particular body. :)<br />
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Like some of our other wood wizards, Herr Neureiter uses a multitude of woods in the construction of his beautiful flutes, including cocus; cocobolo; what he calls "vera-pok" on his website, but which we know much more commonly as <i>lignum vitae</i>, <i>verawood, guayacan, </i>or <i>gaiac; </i>and violetwood (kingwood). One infers from the Types Of Wood section on his website that other species outside of the dalbergia family can also be special-ordered.<br />
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Uniquely among the makers I'll discuss in this series, Neureiter also uses ebonite (or "hard rubber", which happens to be what my primary clarinet is made of, and I LOVE it). The Soloist model can be ordered entirely in ebonite, or you can opt for just an ebonite headjoint. This is a natural material, taken from a tree just as wood is, and the nature of this material enables the maker to produce a variety of colors and patterns in it. See below an example of a Soloist model flute in "emerald marmorate" ebonite (with his patented "Pieno Flauto" headjoint resonance/tuning feature):<br />
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Lovely, isn't it? This material can be made in a wide variety of appearances, and completely eliminates the worry of cracking or dimensional changes due to temperature and humidity, while preserving the dark, beautiful sound of the natural wood flute. See below for some of the possibilites! (All photos taken from the Neureiter website, which I will link below)<br />
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(the bottom photo is clarinet barrels, obviously, but it's a fabulous illustration of the array of visual options one has with this material!)<br />
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There is also a staggering array of wood headjoint options for the Vario, and these headjoints will fit any flute that takes a standard tenon, so you can use them on your silver or gold flute (or your wood Yamaha, Powell, Sankyo, Di Zhao, etc... ;-) )<br />
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I am relatively new to Neureiter as a flutemaker (I've experienced only one of his instruments, which was a German system clarinet, and it was lovely!), but I am very, very, very excited about what I've seen; so much so that I have reached out to him for further information. Perhaps a Neureiter demo video and blog review is in the not-so-distant future?? We'll have to wait and see! :)<br />
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Read more about his work yourself (really, I highly recommend browsing around the site, even the clarinet stuff!) at: <a href="http://www.musik-neureiter.at/index.php/home.html" target="_blank">Herbert Neureiter Flutes & Clarinets</a><br />
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That's all for Part Two!! In the third and final installment, we'll come back to the good ol' US of A for a couple final makers, and have a look at one of our British friends, as well!<br />
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As always, thanks for reading! :-)<br />
<br />Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-46629344470316282132015-01-27T03:11:00.000-05:002015-01-27T03:11:16.394-05:00Wooden't It Be Lover-ly? (Part Un)If you've read any of my past posts, watched many of my Youtube videos, or know me in real life, then you know that one of my greatest obsessions is the wooden Boehm flute. I love everything about wood flutes; the sound, the way they feel in the hands, the way they look, the gorgeous variety of woods that are used in their manufacture. The topic of wood flutes has randomly popped up in conversation with several different people over the last week or two, and it has come clear to me that a great many people, even within the flute playing community, are laboring under the same general set of misconceptions about wooden flutes; primarily, that they are unsuitable for modern-day orchestral use and that nobody plays them. Many are unaware that they are even currently being produced!<br />
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This...well, this makes me sad. The modern Boehm flute crafted from wood is an instrument capable of just as much power and projection as her silver, gold, and platinum sisters; it is also possessed of a uniquely colored voice that is nearly always distinguishable from metal flutes. Many experiments by many flutists (the multi-flute video demonstrations carried out by James Galway and Nina Perlove come immediately to mind) have pretty conclusively proven that a listener cannot tell the difference between gold, silver, and platinum or any combination thereof. I have done this many times myself, and I personally can't tell the difference, nor could any of the people I played for.<br />
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Now, to a player, yes, they feel incredibly different and probably cause different physiological responses (vis a vis transmission of vibration through the cranium, etc), that make them sound different, but to an audience? <i>Nein, mein herr</i>. <b>However</b>, every person I have ever blindly played several flutes for with a wooden flute in the mix has ALWAYS correctly identified the wooden instrument. There is just some magical, unexplainable element of the sound of a wood flute that makes what's left of my shriveled, blackened soul melt just a little bit. A bit of the ghost of Pan, perhaps...I dunno.<br />
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In the course of this particular series of blog posts, I am going to introduce you to the wide, wonderful world of the wooden flute in the 21st century, and you're gonna love it. :)<br />
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(Where possible, I've included a video of someone playing each of these and a link to either the maker's website or a retailer where they can be purchased.)<br />
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I've played (with one or two exceptions) all of these flutes, and I'd be hard pressed to say I have a favorite. I would very honestly be quite happy to own any of them!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">YAMAHA</span></u></b><br />
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Of all the currently active makers of wooden flutes, I think the one that elicits the most surprise when I talk about them is Yamaha. It seems that people are generally rather unaware of the insanely high quality of Yamaha's upper range of flutes, but they are particularly unaware that Yamaha makes an absolutely AMAZING wooden flute. In terms of available customization, it is a rather bare-bones instrument (for the purist, if you will), available in various combinations of the standard options of open/closed holes, offset/inline G, and C/B footjoints. The headjoint is a modified EC cut, and there are no further headjoint options, but they seem to have worked out an ideal cut that does pretty much whatever you need it to. For those who require something outside the realm of possibility offered by the standard Yamaha wood head, there are a plethora of aftermarket wooden headjoints that all fit the Yamaha (which is a standard metal tenon head, as opposed to a cork joint).<br />
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I have played quite a few Yamahas to date, and as one expects from a Japanese flute, they are remarkably consistent (insomuch as wood can be), and they tend to favor a darker, bass-heavy sort of sound that projects quite well but retains a great roundness to the sound. The third and fourth octaves are a bit more resistant than one may be used to, but speak reliably, with great control (owing to the resistance). I'd love to experiment with various headjoints on the Yamaha body...I bet it would be spectacular with the Yamaha Type A head in 14K gold!<br />
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Also worth knowing is that the Yamaha is the least expensive of the currently available high-end wooden flutes, and they are readily available from any Yamaha dealer. (And you didn't hear this from me, but fabulous deals on them are very often found on That Big Auction Site!)<br />
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Wanna buy one? <a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/Yamaha-YFL-894HW-and--YFL-874HW.html" target="_blank">Yamaha Wood Flutes at FluteWorld!</a><br />
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One of my most popular Youtube demo videos is of the Yamaha 894W wood flute, so here it is! :) (It's a C-foot, inline, open hole flute, for the curious)<br />
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And here is the incomparable Juliette Hurel, laying down some Haydn on her Yamaha:<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">SANKYO</span></u></b><br />
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Next up, we have our good friends at Sankyo. If I were magically given the money to buy any wood flute I wanted, the odds are that it would be a Sankyo. Of the many wonderful marques turning out wooden flutes these days, Sankyo is one of the only ones that offers theirs with a C# trill key, which makes it very much a frontrunner for me (my previously discussed love of Sankyo flutes nonwithstanding). You can also choose from three different headjoint cuts, all of which possess very individual personalities. The most traditional looking of the three, with a carved lip plate, is a very comfortable all-purpose head that will allow you to do just about anything you want, and for the newbie to the wood flute world, it is probably the one I would pick. The "Traditional" cut is a simple embouchure hole carved directly through the wall of the headjoint, with no surrounding lipplate. This is for the Baroque enthusiast, or the wood flute specialist. It is quite possible to produce a great deal of power with this headjoint, but where it really excels is in smooth transitions between intervals and producing hugely rich colors at soft dynamics. High register response is also stellar with this head. My personal favorite is the Modern cut, which incorporates a cutout opposite the embouchure hole (also with no lipplate), and this head gives you a big, huge, dark, fat sound that will make pant legs flap in the first row. This is a soloist's head, a principal player's head. It's just magnificent.<br />
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In addition to the traditional grenadilla wood, the Sankyo wood flute was also built in cocuswood. Now, according to the Sankyo rep that I hung out with in Tokyo 2 summers ago, they are no longer using cocus, as the supplies are dwindling dangerously. However, there should be some still in stock at Sankyo dealers around the globe, so if you happen across one, snap it up! There is nothing quite like the brilliant darkness of a cocus wood flute, with its vast color spectrum. (And it is a gorgeous wood to look at!)<br />
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You can see the difference between the two here:<br />
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Curious? Call Jeffrey at FluteWorld and tell him I sent you :) They're $14,000, but they're worth every penny! <a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/Sankyo-Wood-Flutes.html" target="_blank">FluteWorld: Wood Sankyo</a><br />
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Have a listen to first the grenadilla, then the cocus Sankyo (start the cocus video at 2:01 to get right to the playing, unless you're fluent in Japanese!):<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">POWELL</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>
Returning to our home shores, we find the venerable Boston flutemaking institution, Verne Q. Powell, turning out some truly exquisite examples of wood flute making, which are hugely popular around the globe. There are a great many symphonic players using wood Powells, and an even larger number of soloists and chamber players. The wood Powell delivers enormous power, a smoothness of legato, and an almost mystical sound color. While they do not offer a C# trill (Powell has very strong opinions about the placement of such a large tone hole next to another on a wooden-bodied instrument), you CAN order your wood Powell with a solid 14K rose gold mechanism! :-) (It doubles the price, but some things are just worth it!) Split E and D# roller are options, of course, as are the usual inline/offset, open/closed, and C/B foot. You can also choose from the wood version of Powell's popular headjoint cuts, the Soloist and Philharmonic, and upon special order, there is also a "Traditional" cut, which does away with the lip plate. You want options, they got options! :)<br />
<br />
During my time in Japan with the international tour of Dreamgirls, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a very special Powell flute made of the same laminate wood material that they are making the new Sonare piccolos out of, and I have to say, it was one of the most mind-blowing flutes I've ever played. It had the brilliance of a silver instrument, tempered by the mellowness of wood, and was a surprisingly lightweight instrument, very comfortable in the hands. I do not know the current availability of this instrument, but there are at least a couple of them floating around out there!<br />
<br />
Ringing in at $13,200, a Powell wood flute isn't exactly an inexpensive proposition, but it's not much more than a soldered tonehole silver flute, and it is CERTAINLY cheaper than gold! :-)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fluteworld.com/Powell--Handmade-Grenadilla-Wood-B.html" target="_blank">Buy A Wood Powell!</a><br />
<br />
You can see a wood Powell in many orchestras around the globe, including our very own Cleveland Orchestra, with the always-handsome Joshua Smith in the hot seat, wielding either his wood Powell or his gold Powell with a wood headjoint. The man's got taste! :)<br />
<br />
Now watch this performance of Cleveland at the Proms in London last year and tell me a wood flute doesn't project in an orchestra! Hrmph.<br />
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And here, we have the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo playing some Shostakovich 7, with their principal flutist on a wood Powell with 14K gold mechanism. Isn't it to die for?! (there is a fabulous flute feature around the 2:00 mark!)<br />
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If it's solo action you're after, here's a lovely performance of Bach on a wood/silver Powell:<br />
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Here is our aforementioned handsome wooden flute hero, Mr. Smith, serving us some contemporary flute concerto realness: <br />
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And last but not least, remember that magical laminate material Powell I talked about earlier?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> Yeah. That one. :) </span></b><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">DI ZHAO</span></u></b><br />
<br />
Though the brand is a newcomer to the flute scene, the man behind it is not. Di Zhao worked at Powell for 13 years, eventually becoming Vice President of Quality; he then moved to Haynes and worked as their Vice President and General Manager. Prior to all that, he had a decade-plus career in China as a principal flutist in two major orchestras. Now, if that isn't a man who knows flutes, I don't know what is.<br />
<br />
The Di Zhao wood flute holds a very special place in my heart, if for no other reason that it is currently the only flute I will discuss in this series that could also hold a special place in my bank account. This instrument (which reminds one AMAZINGLY of the wood Powell flutes), will set you back only just a bit north of $3,000, which is absolutely unbelievable for an instrument of this quality. Di himself finishes each flute, making sure the mechanism is completely free of excess play and then play tests it to ensure it meets his lofty standards before it goes out the door.<br />
<br />
Please don't let the low price fool you into thinking that this is an instrument of low quality, though. Nothing could be further from the truth. These flutes were a massive hit the moment the were released onto the market, and have continued to be so. It really is like buying a Powell (or a very, very close sibling of a Powell) at the price of an intermediate flute. The sound quality is rich, vibrant, and colorful, and the scale of these instruments is very good. The headjoints are also expertly cut...so much so that they are an incredibly popular choice for people who wish to buy a wood headjoint for their silver or gold instrument. (I personally know 5 flutists who have purchased Di Zhao wood headjoints for their flutes, and they adore them.)<br />
<br />
The Di Zhao is also available with a C# trill key (yay!) and a D# roller and/or split E.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://fluteloft.com/products/di-zhao-wood-flute" target="_blank">Order yours today! :) </a><br />
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Watch the Man himself play one of his own flutes! (With someone else's headjoint, though...)<br />
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I think that's enough to digest for now, so stay tuned for Part Deux, where we head to Europe and see what's going on over there! :-)<br />
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Until next time, happy fluting!!Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-9311469051695460452014-11-07T00:13:00.001-05:002014-11-07T00:13:50.209-05:00My flute is Japanese, I think my flute is Japanese, I really think so...<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since my last few posts have been
clarinet-centric, and I've been spending a lot of time lately
thinking about flutes (which isn't really all that new or unusual), I
thought I'd do some talking about a topic that seems to generate some
mild disagreement in the flute world, or at the very least is the
source of a bit of division among flute players, and that
is...Japanese flutes vs. American flutes. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much is written and heard about the
glorious Haynes sound, or the unrivaled mechanics of the Brannen
Brothers' offerings, or the rich history of Verne Q. Powell. Let us
also not ignore Lillian Burkart and Kanichi Nagahara, also churning
out much-beloved magical flutey-tubes from their Boston workshops. (It should be noted that Nagahara, while certainly of Japanese
origin, lives and makes his flutes in Boston, and as such is
considered an American maker.)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, this isn't about them...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the other side of the globe, we have the big
Japanese heavy-hitters of the last few decades, Muramatsu, Miyazawa,
Altus, Yamaha, and Sankyo, flutes we've all heard of and most of us have played at least one or two of them. Proponents of the American flutemakers
often decry the Japanese flutes (as if you could lump them all
together and assign characteristics to the whole lot!) as being
one-dimensional in sound, too limited in dynamic range, colorless,
devoid of personality...to them, I say “pfffffffft”. The Japanese
flutemakers, both the globally renowned (Muramatsu, Sankyo, Miyazawa,
Yamaha) and the secret local gems (such as Akiyama, Aihara, and
Mateki, which is distributed globally, but for some reason the Mateki
flute has never achieved the widespread popularity they deserve), are
turning out instruments of impeccable fit and finish, ever more
nuanced and colorful headjoint cuts, and they are utterly unafraid to
be innovative and try new things.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would love to write this from a
completely balanced and unbiased perspective, but it should be noted
that I have always been a great lover of Japanese flutes, and for the
majority of my adult life, and certainly the portion of which has
been financially supported by my flute playing, I have primarily been
a Sankyo player, and I have a bit of a fanatic love of the company
and their flutes. However, this does not preclude me from finding
many other makers' instruments to be delightful and worth playing
on...in fact, I have over the years owned a good number of flutes by
other makers, and loved them all in their own way, but I find myself
always drawn back to the magic flutes of glorious Nippon! :)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MURAMATSU</span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When discussing Japanese flutes, one
should begin with the internationally recognized king of them all,
Muramatsu. Most people are aware that Muramatsu was the great James
Galway's flute of choice for many years, but it is also worth noting
that Muramatsu is consistently the best-selling professional flute
globally. Many prominent flutists around the world, both soloists and
orchestral players, play on a Muramatsu. They began making flutes in
1923 (which may surprise many people), and continue to make
incredible flutes, from the basic EX model, with a silver-plated
nickel silver body and solid sterling head, up through their 24K gold
model. (It should be noted that Muramatsu is one of only 4 flute
makers on Earth to make flutes in 24K gold, and all of them
are...Japanese. Hmm.)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the things I love about
Muramatsu flutes is the incredible consistency from model to model,
flute to flute. If you lined up one of every model they make (EX, GX,
DS, SR, PTP, 9K, 14K, 18K, 24K, platinum) and played them back to
back, you should find that from one flute to the next, there is very
little difference in what you experience as a player in terms of
resistance, evenness, intonation, and ease of color production. This
is, I believe, due in large part to the fact that unlike many other
flutemakers, Muramatsu does not offer a wide variety of headjoint
cuts; there is the standard and the Tsubasa, which is Mura's take on
the winged headjoint. That's it. They've figured out a headjoint that
allows just about any player of any style to find their own “sweet
spot” and, regardless of how much air you use, how strong your
stream is, or the angle you prefer to play, you will get just about
anything you want out of a Muramatsu.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is also a distinct styling to
their keycups that, to the keen eye, renders a Muramatsu flute almost
instantly recognizable. The cup itself appears somewhat diminutive,
and there is a beautiful simplicity about the design of the radius
leading to the point at the center that just screams “That's a
Muramatsu!”. There aren't many flutemakers this can be said of,
save perhaps also Sankyo, which has a similarly unique key styling.
Muramatsu flutes are simply one of the most elegantly designed flutes
in existence.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something else to think about when
you're considering your new flute choice is that all Muramatsu flutes
are handmade, even the least expensive silver-plated model. So, no
matter what your budget is or at what stage of flute playing you find
yourself, you can be assured you're getting a handmade instrument of
full professional quality, even if you can't afford a $15,000-$70,000
instrument. (And, if you happen to find yourself desperately wanting
a solid gold flute but don't have a solid gold budget, Muramatsu is
one of the only flutemakers in the world that can give you a gold
instrument for under 20K...the 9K gold flute comes fully loaded with
C# trill and D# roller as standard features in the US market, and it
is less than $19,000. That's a pretty fantastic bargain!)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the most interesting things
about the Muramatsu lineup, IMO, is that they are the <b>only</b>
flutemaker on the planet that includes, as a standard part of their
model catalogue, a fully platinum-bonded instrument, <b>INCLUDING</b>
the keys and mechanism. It's a DS model (all sterling silver, drawn
toneholes) that is then very
thickly electro-bonded with platinum from top to bottom. You really
have to play this instrument to truly understand just how magical it
is...It really does approach the power and color of a solid platinum
instrument, but with a voice of its own that's really quite unusual
and totally intoxicating. There used to also be a gold-bonded model,
but for some reason or other, it's been discontinued, which makes me
super-duper ultrasad. :-(
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And
finally, of course, Muramatsu makes the ne plus ultra of alto
flutes...well worth a try for any serious professional flutist who
requires an alto in their career.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While
we're in this part of the alphabet, let's talk about...
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MIYAZAWA</span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Another long-established member of the Japanese Flute Family,
Miyazawa flutes have long been favorites of younger flutists seeking
to push boundaries or somehow distinguish themselves from the pack;
much of this seems to be because Miyazawa themselves have never been
afraid to be different. (I'm still in mourning for the Modern Style
key cups! They were absolutely beautiful.) Miyazawa has also been a
big proponent of material experimentation...over the years, they have
developed and made flutes out of such materials as PCM (a proprietary
alloy containing copper, silver, palladium, and other precious and
semi-precious metals), rose silver (a beautiful pink silver alloy
which I wish they still made, but suffered some tarnish/discoloration
problems, I believe. Perhaps a reformulation is in order?), and the
Miyazawa GS alloy, which contains 10.5% gold and 89.5% silver, a
truly magical blend that fits in the low-karat gold category along
with the Lafin/Brannen 15/85 and Hammig's 15% gold alloys. There
really is just something for everyone!
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Miyazawa is the second member of the ultra-elite 4-member club of
flutemakers that offer a 24K gold instrument. It is also, sadly, the
only one of the 4 whose 24K gold flute I have not had the pleasure of
playing. (Maybe that could change? <b>hint hint hint :) </b>)
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvoRW5NgpoKQQbc8TiD0Dpv1joW7rAoFiy6K2OruATUnSBuiGDHWUtfqS2APGlLysoldCcWXb-zNGoeiZu1Mcp8y6BSO34WYoWJC1PsF5LPfNxCERVRTxrbOwotiVy0uP57yoz80kMPFn/s1600/24k_boston_enlarged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvoRW5NgpoKQQbc8TiD0Dpv1joW7rAoFiy6K2OruATUnSBuiGDHWUtfqS2APGlLysoldCcWXb-zNGoeiZu1Mcp8y6BSO34WYoWJC1PsF5LPfNxCERVRTxrbOwotiVy0uP57yoz80kMPFn/s1600/24k_boston_enlarged.jpg" height="56" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24K gold Miyazawa w/14K mechanism!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Since I played my very first Miyazawa flute in 1996, I would
conservatively estimate that I have played somewhere around 200 of
them over the intervening 18 years, so I feel like I have a pretty
decent grasp on the marque, and I have to say they have continued to
improve tremendously over the years. My distinct recollection of the
brand from back then was that, when you got a good one, it was a VERY
good one, but much like with Buffet clarinets, it behooved you to try
a number of them. Today, however, it seems that no matter how many
you play, you are just about guaranteed to get a Miyazawa that plays
smoothly and beautifully with little effort or compensation for
intonation and resistance on certain notes. In fact, one of my
favorite flutes I've encountered in the past few years was a
Miyazawa...followers of my blog and Youtube channel may recall the
“Magic Miyazawa”, a 14K Miya body with a 14K Faulisi headjoint
that was being sold by the inimitable Joan Sparks of Flute Pro Shop.
I got to play this flute on three separate occasions, and it was
absolutely breathtaking. Now, yes, I know that it didn't have a Miya
headjoint, and that is where the bulk of the playing experience comes
from, but the scale of the body was a perfect match to the Faulisi
head, and the Brogger mekanik of the 14K body was an effortless joy
to play. It remains one of the most beautiful flutes I've ever
encountered, and I hope whoever finally bought it (I HATE YOU FOR
HAVING THE MONEY TO SNAP IT UP, WHOEVER YOU ARE) realizes how truly
special it is and cherishes it! :-)
</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
The magic of their gold flutes aside, Miyazawa is a fabulous choice
for the advanced student/collegiate flutist, in that much like the
other major Japanese makers, even their silver plated entry model is
handmade and paired with a sterling silver headjoint, so you don't
have to break the bank to get a beautiful flute that will easily take
you through to your post-grad work, and even into your first
orchestral job.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
For those who want something a bit more sonically complex than
standard sterling, but either don't like gold or don't have the
budget for it, Miyazawa also offers a higher-purity .958 Britannia
silver alloy on the 602, Elite, and Vision models.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
One thing to be aware of when choosing Miyazawa is that they offer a
wide array of headjoint styles, so it may take you some time to find
the one that is the best fit for your style of playing, your
airstream, and your preferred angle of attack. If you're an
inexperienced player, or perhaps don't have the chance to try all the
headjoints, the MZ-7 and MZ-10 (for the gold players) I find to be
good all-around headjoints that would work well for 90% of flutists.
</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Miyazawa also makes a spectacular platinum flute...if you have the
budget, it is very much worth considering!
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their alto flutes are also very, very, very good, and in the case of
the PCM model, absolutely exceptional. (Miyazawa no longer makes PCM
concert flutes, but it has proven an ideal material for the
particular resonance of the alto). While I don't believe they're
available in America, when I was in Japan last year, I discovered
that Miyazawa also makes VERY good piccolos!</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
A final note about Miyazawa (and this is neither good nor bad, just
information) is that the pricing of their gold flutes is quite a bit
more than comparable flutes from other makers, owing to the fact that
all Miyazawa gold flutes feature soldered toneholes as standard. For
example, the 9K gold Miyazawa flute is $25,000, which is more than
$6,000 over the price of the 9K Muramatsu and the 10K Sankyo (which
is just a hair more expensive than the 9K Muramatsu, still coming in
at under 19,000 via FluteWorld), both of which are available with
drawn toneholes. Just something to think about :-)
</span></div>
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I wanted to save the best for last, but I'm too impatient...it's time
to wax rhapsodic about:
</span></div>
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<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">SANKYO!!</span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
So, here we are. This is probably going to sound a bit like an ad for
Sankyo, and...well, it sort of is. After all, the mission statement
of this blog is to spread the word about instrument makers that are
outside the mainstream in the US, and if that doesn't describe
Sankyo, I dunno what does! I never claimed I'd do it without bias,
though. :-P</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Quite a number of years ago, I had an encounter with a very famous
international flute soloist and pedagogue (who, I should disclaim, is
a very lovely person and has been delightful in subsequent meetings)
and said flutist, who happens to be a Brannen player, asked me what
flute I played on. At the time, I was playing a beautiful 14K Sankyo
that I had recently purchased and was madly in love with (selling
that flute is one of the greatest regrets of my life), and said as
much. Aforementioned Flutist responded with a slightly derisive
chuckle and said “Oh, my...I didn't realize people still played
those. How cute.” This anecdote seems to me to encapsulate the
general attitude toward Sankyo flutes in the United States until
quite recently, and I've never been able to understand why. After
all, not only are they wildly popular in Asia and continental Europe,
but the great flutist and pedagogical father to many of the world's
top players today, Alain Marion, played an 18K gold Sankyo! I can't
seem to unravel the mystery of why Muramatsu caught on like a house
afire and Sankyo was regarded largely as a curiosity, but it's
certainly a disservice to Sankyo, because they make flutes every bit
as wonderful as Muramatsu. I can only imagine it's because Muramatsu
happened to land in the hands of a couple of prominent American
flutists such as Ervin Monroe and Murray Panitz, who loved them and
championed them, and Sankyo was not so fortunate.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
That, however, is changing. A recent change in the distributorship
model and a re-evaluation of their pricing scheme to bring them more
in line with the other major American and Asian handmade flutes has
gone a long way towards making the flute-playing public take Sankyo
seriously as a contender in the upper echelons of flute making. It
also doesn't hurt that the new principal flutist of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, the dashingly handsome Julien Beaudiment, is a Sankyo
player. If that isn't street cred, I don't know what is! :-)
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
What is it about Sankyo flutes that I find so special? It's hard to
put into words...there is just such a harmonious matching of the
sound that I hear in my head, the sound I'm constantly striving to
produce, and the sounds that I am able to get from a Sankyo flute. My
fundamental sound concept is a very strong, solid, stentorian sort of
sound that is capable of a great deal of volume, particularly in the
low range, but also possesses a very dark primary color that stays
dark as you ascend into the third octave, but with the flexibility to
change colors as the music requires. This is never as easy for me on
any flute as it is on a Sankyo, particularly with any of the RT
headjoint cuts. (My personal preference is for the RT-3, which is the
head style I've played on for the past 9 years).
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
As I also mentioned with Muramatsu earlier, there is a remarkable
consistency with Sankyo flutes, not just between individual flutes of
the same model (ie, 14K to 14K), but also throughout the entire
range. Like the other major Japanese makers, Sankyo's least expensive
flute is a handmade model with a sterling silver headjoint and a
silver-plated nickel-silver body (the 201), and in a blind listening
test, you would be hard-pressed to differentiate between that flute
and the $125,000+ solid 24K gold one. The craftsmen at Sankyo take
enormous pride in their instruments, and lavish just as much
attention on the lower models as they do on the gold flutes.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Speaking of gold, it seems that gold flutes have become what
Sankyo is most closely associated with in the minds of those who love
them...nearly every major player around the world who plays a Sankyo
plays a gold one (or a wooden one, which I'll get to in a bit). Over
the years, Sankyo has produced flutes in a wide variety of gold
alloys, one of the most popular of which was their now-discontinued
5K gold, which was then plated in a double layer of 18K rose gold. I
can only surmise that Sankyo discontinued that flute because it was
so affordable and fantastic that it bit into the sales figures of the
higher-karat gold models. (I have also heard over the years that
there may have been some occasional issues with the integrity of the
gold plating over the 5K body, but those reports have been few and
far between. I do wonder, though, what the 5K gold would have looked
like on its own without the rich 18K red gold over it. Perhaps just a
hint of a pale blush champagne against the stark white gleam of the
sterling mechanism? I guess we'll never know!)
</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
They also had a lovely 9K gold flute for quite some time that is also
discontinued...the low-karat niche in the lineup has been filled by
their beautiful rosy-pink 10K gold alloy, which is only available in
the -2 configuration (10K-2), meaning that the only thing that is
solid gold is the actual body tube itself (and the entirety of the
headjoint), all ribs, posts, keys, and rings are silver. It's quite a
beautiful instrument, but I can't help but wonder how gorgeous an
all-10K Sankyo would be! :)
</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Above the 10K, we have a 14K, 18K, and yes, 24K. (Sankyo is #3 in the
24K Gold Club!). The 14K and 18K are available in -3, -4, and -5
configurations, each number denoting additional gold as you go
higher. (A 14K-3, for example, will have a gold body and rings with
silver ribs, posts and keys; -4 adds gold posts and ribs with silver
keys, and -5 means the entire thing is solid gold.) The 24K, a very
special flute indeed, has a base configuration of 24K (14K)-4,
meaning the only thing that will be silver if you choose is the keys
themselves. All parts that attach to the tube (ribs and posts) are
14K gold. If you desire gold keys, you can have them made in 14K or
18K. Gold plating of the silver keys is also, of course, an option.
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPkVtJ14Vs9bqfx0bpS9iR8NWO6iYyOGJMWvIveDkTxFSn1dhkvhtNAY80sAO0-Tn7ISZea_HgG_OamBT5fJeUCaABpKp5c4IFBM1fDzJEbSamIIV4G8KKkC_6Nj5r_CA3yb00pzYEnuC/s1600/GoldSankyoFlutes1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPkVtJ14Vs9bqfx0bpS9iR8NWO6iYyOGJMWvIveDkTxFSn1dhkvhtNAY80sAO0-Tn7ISZea_HgG_OamBT5fJeUCaABpKp5c4IFBM1fDzJEbSamIIV4G8KKkC_6Nj5r_CA3yb00pzYEnuC/s1600/GoldSankyoFlutes1.jpg" height="218" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGf95HypHlge36MnCQLIRiGgQti0z6AUHNkKg4ysjUfIw6hTP4s-vCLQjO01eDgM2aJnaiCtc0QCZzJfVSEi2EFXbFOt3unl-ao1fxaLm_MtbRe9TffqLFQuEFXjK4gzynaBU2cVxIOerc/s1600/GoldSankyoFlutes24K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGf95HypHlge36MnCQLIRiGgQti0z6AUHNkKg4ysjUfIw6hTP4s-vCLQjO01eDgM2aJnaiCtc0QCZzJfVSEi2EFXbFOt3unl-ao1fxaLm_MtbRe9TffqLFQuEFXjK4gzynaBU2cVxIOerc/s1600/GoldSankyoFlutes24K.jpg" height="184" width="640" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Glitzy, eh? If you want to know how much of a hit your bank account
would take for one of those </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">beauties, the German Sankyo website has a
current 2014 pricelist available on their website (<a href="http://www.sankyo-floeten.de/preise-goldfloeten.php" target="_blank">Sankyo Gold Flute Prices 2014 </a>) and you can have a look...you should probably
be sitting down first, though. Don't say I didn't warn you!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
While Sankyo certainly makes exquisite gold flutes, we shouldn't
ignore their magnificent silver instruments, either. Sankyo was an
early pioneer in the usage of higher-purity silver alloys (“Sterling
silver”, for those who may not know this, is only 92.5% actual
silver, the remaining 7.5% of the alloy is traditionally copper).
Sankyo offers flutes in .950 silver (95% pure silver) and .997
silver, which is 99.7% pure silver, and has an absolutely remarkable
sound. Playing the Sankyo Pure Silver model (officially called the
901) is an experience that I think every flutist should have. It's
nearly impossible to describe, and equally impossible to forget.
There is something of the platinum color in the sound, but there's
also the shimmer of silver and a bit of the burnish of gold....it's
really just something else!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhm8n9L6R_DAqxPD_L9eKjhOUNvFNmnyISZvClY7FkSJO0OBo2CGNaN9saURaSTr0hc9uleUYl33saRUWokDvUo4uDEzeNDMpan0YXDkXCglKwSTqbz8E210z9OFYXxhGoBtpuAp6x_ysJ/s1600/10413437963_670f19dd94_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhm8n9L6R_DAqxPD_L9eKjhOUNvFNmnyISZvClY7FkSJO0OBo2CGNaN9saURaSTr0hc9uleUYl33saRUWokDvUo4uDEzeNDMpan0YXDkXCglKwSTqbz8E210z9OFYXxhGoBtpuAp6x_ysJ/s1600/10413437963_670f19dd94_o.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Another wonderful thing Sankyo does is to create a special instrument
every year to add to the lineup. This year we got the fabulous
B-footed bass flute: </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaaCzrll3fhM1jdIqB6u6ZvjURhPPOCcTB0f1yBf90U7MZrM5fluVmbaRiyd-XQYr92RdVKXG1gey14xzV_ONRU-cTDl5j3YMcT6oDENFyZ8ZtiK3H-FO48w0GcKgKCZRCSbvX_UL0a67/s1600/bass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaaCzrll3fhM1jdIqB6u6ZvjURhPPOCcTB0f1yBf90U7MZrM5fluVmbaRiyd-XQYr92RdVKXG1gey14xzV_ONRU-cTDl5j3YMcT6oDENFyZ8ZtiK3H-FO48w0GcKgKCZRCSbvX_UL0a67/s1600/bass.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">last year brought us the LOW A FOOT (yes,
seriously) concert flute:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLT5UgqvdgSLLIzZETyyuW-uA9T9mEzc3PIYzJuP3hrC0LOyzn8VQqTob7u9iID5EsqkVubqPZXhujbDCiT3SGNBkYAPT7MovdIzLy2LW7RY0mPf-2rMymK6Xe2iYdOqhN1Hn_TN_4QCnZ/s1600/a-foot-ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLT5UgqvdgSLLIzZETyyuW-uA9T9mEzc3PIYzJuP3hrC0LOyzn8VQqTob7u9iID5EsqkVubqPZXhujbDCiT3SGNBkYAPT7MovdIzLy2LW7RY0mPf-2rMymK6Xe2iYdOqhN1Hn_TN_4QCnZ/s1600/a-foot-ad.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and prior to that there was a special gold-engraved model (the keys, lip, and crown are engraved and within the engravings is a beautiful shimmering gold fill):</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipPXpg4dNaY3CaauA43vqHXVyDU6xfN4-dhSqByCzYm8gJLffpdq6brJjsWzR76n2CPsUULydTJuxMVS2xLmHDr_8UakTAw6nV2IKN4QfKFBRmuZV0F3uk4G21eA84UU9uaud5bB7-6IQT/s1600/1149123_10151791987009259_989678381_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipPXpg4dNaY3CaauA43vqHXVyDU6xfN4-dhSqByCzYm8gJLffpdq6brJjsWzR76n2CPsUULydTJuxMVS2xLmHDr_8UakTAw6nV2IKN4QfKFBRmuZV0F3uk4G21eA84UU9uaud5bB7-6IQT/s1600/1149123_10151791987009259_989678381_o.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and before that, the “Crystal Light”, which is a .950 silver body with special thinned keywork for added resonance, an engraved G# key, 10K gold rings, and a Swarovski crystal in the headjoint:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I have played several of both of the Crystal Lights and the gold-engraved flutes, and they're just magical. The gold engraving is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on a flute. Dare to be different!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BUT WAIT, there's more! :)
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Sankyo also makes one of the absolute finest modern wood Boehm flutes
on the market today. Available in grenadilla or cocuswood (though I
believe the cocus has been recently discontinued, there are still
stocks available at certain dealers around the world), the Sankyo
wood flute distinguishes itself among the other wooden flutes
available by dint of the fact that it is one of the ONLY ones you can
buy with a C# trill key. (A feature I consider indispensable). I've
played about a dozen wood Sankyos, and I would happily have taken any
one of them and played it for the rest of my life. I am about 90%
certain at this point that my next major flute purchase is going to
be a wooden Sankyo.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
In addition to the concert flute lines, Sankyo also makes a stunning
alto flute in several different configurations of silver, from a
silver lip plate on a plated head/body to an entirely sterling
instrument and a silver piccolo with soldered toneholes that plays like a flute. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sankyo also produces a flute d'amore
in A which beautifully fills the gap between the alto flute and the
concert C flute. There is a great deal of repertoire for this
instrument, particularly from the 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup>
centuries, and it's lovely to have a modern flute upon which to play
it all!
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
You may never have heard of Sankyo flutes, or you may have only heard
of them peripherally, but I encourage all of you to consider them
when you're looking for your next flute. At the very least, whenever
you have a chance to try one, do so. You just might be taken by
surprise :-)
</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ALTUS</span></b></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another
beautiful Japanese flute that has reached great heights of popularity
in the States over the last decade or so is this gem from the
picturesque mountainside
town of Azumino, Japan. It would be impossible to talk about Altus
without mentioning the great British flutist William Bennett, who
combined forces with Japanese flutist and engineer <span style="color: #555555;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Shuichi
“</b></span></span><span style="color: #555555;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Speedy”
</b></span></span><span style="color: #555555;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Tanaka</b></span></span>
in the late 1970s to see what they could do about recreating their
beloved Louis Lot flutes for the modern era. A little mathematics,
some artistic inspiration, and a few prototypes, and in 1981, the
Altus flute was officially born, featuring the Altus-Bennett scale.
</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This fascination with the old French
flutes has led Altus to a great deal of experimentation with the
metallurgy behind flutemaking, in an effort to replicate the sound of
the time-hardened silver and maillechort tubes of the Lots and
Bonnevilles with modern alloying techniques. This experimentation has
resulted in several proprietary alloys, including the extremely
popular PS (Powdered Silver), a tube formed of 99.7% pure silver and
trace elements of other metals in fine powdered form that is then
compressed under great pressure into a tube. There's also the AL
(Altus Limited) alloy, formed of 94.6% silver and 18 other metals,
including gold and platinum, that very closely approximates the
properties of the age-hardened silver found in the prized old French
flutes. Finally, we also have Britannia silver, which is a
traditional 95.8% silver alloy long used in coin making in England.
</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In addition to these innovative new
materials, there is of course also the option of traditional sterling
silver and 14K gold. (I believe they will also make flutes in 9K and
18K on special order, and of course there's also platinum if you have
very deep pockets and are willing to wait a while). Another unique
feature of the Altus flute is that above a certain model level, the
option of a thick layer of 18K rose gold or platinum plating is
available on all models, which is a fabulous way to further customize
your instrument and your sound. (Though I believe the plating is now
available on the body only, whereas in the past, you could also get
the mechanism plated.)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the things I've always found
fascinating about the Altus flute is the complexity of the sound that
seems built into every flute they make, even the humble 807, which,
in a step further into affordability, has just a sterling silver lip
plate and riser, with the remainder of the flute being silver-plated
nickel silver. (And, like our other Japanese friends, it's handmade!)
There really is something of the complex Louis Lot sound present in
Altus flutes, and more than just about any other flute maker out
there, there is a richness of color available in the Altus sound that
makes them a very compelling instrument to consider. The “Artist”
models (807, 907, 1107) are particularly popular with woodwind
doublers and commercial/jazz musicians because of their great
economic value without sacrificing that refined handmade sound and
flexibility.
</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(I should disclose that I have owned 2
Altus flutes, an all-18K-gold plated 1307 and a platinum-plated 1407,
and both of them were amazing instruments that I wish I still had!
The Telemann Fantasie #12 recording on my Youtube channel was made
with the gold-plated Altus)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Altus also makes a killer alto and bass
flute, and like Sankyo, offers a flute d'amore, but UNLIKE the
Sankyo, which is in the key of A, the Altus can be had in either Bb
or A. No piccolo (yet), though!
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Worth noting...several of the world's
greatest current orchestral principal flutists play Altus flutes,
such as Emily Beynon of the Royal Concertgebouw, Denis Bouriakov of
the Metropolitan Opera, and Gareth Davies of the London Symphony
Orchestra. (All of whom play on either the PS or AL material,
coincidentally!) If you've been hesitant to consider Altus, perhaps
that little piece of trivia will convince you to take the plunge :-)
</span></div>
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Playing a solid platinum Altus in Tokyo: </div>
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<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">YAMAHA</span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Well, well, well...I couldn't very well avoid talking about El Grande
Papa of them all, Yamaha. It's been very easy to dismiss Yamaha as
not a terribly serious option in high-end flutes because, hey, they
also make motorcycles and pianos, and who wants to play a flute made
by a motorcycle brand, right?
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Wrong. They're freaking awesome.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
One of the major benefits of being a ginormous global conglomerate is
that there is a HUGE budget for research and development, so they
have unlimited resources to explore the advancement of flutemaking,
and given the experiences that I've had with Yamaha flutes in the
past year, I'd say they are doing a bang up job. With the input of
some of the world's leading flutists, they have developed new models
and new headjoint cuts that are absolutely on par with anything that
Muramatsu, Sankyo, Haynes, or Brannen for that matter have to offer.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
While I was in Japan for two months last year with the international
tour of “Dreamgirls”, I got to spend a considerable amount of
time at both Yamano Music and the Yamaha Showroom, both in Ginza
(just a few blocks from each other!). Between the two, I would say I
played somewhere around 25 different Yamaha flutes of the newest
generation, and I would be terribly hard-pressed to have picked just
one of them as a favorite. (Ok, fine, it was the 14K gold Ideal model
with the type A headjoint...) From the silver Merveille model to the
all-gold Ideal and the delicately beautiful Bijou, I was consistently
blown away by how refined Yamaha's flutes have gotten. They have
always been very popular in the student and intermediate categories,
but perhaps not so much in the upper end. I distinctly feel that that
is all about to change with the newest generation of Yamaha
professional flutes...even the “standard” pro models (the
500/600/700/800 series) have been revamped with new body designs and
headjoint styles that put them on par with anything else I've ever
discussed on this blog. The type A headjoint in particular is just
mind-blowing to me...it is VERY reminiscent of my beloved Sankyo
RT-type headjoints, and that is a very, very good thing. The M
(Merveille), K (Khaner) and HC (Bijou), A, and Am (American version
of the Type A) headjoints are all equally fabulous and have very
distinct personalities that provide something for every type of
player, whether you're a big-sound-American-guy kind of player, or
you prefer the beautiful delicate French school of playing. They've
even created a German-style flute with an entirely new headjoint
style, and features a traditional German setup of closed holes, C#/D#
footjoint rollers, and a G/A trill key (which features two small
trill keys on the back of the instrument, instead of one large one
like the C# trill)</span></div>
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Yamaha is not playing around, kids. They mean business.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">AH, and I haven't even talked about
their wood flute yet! It is the most affordable of the handmade wood
Boehm flutes on the market right now, and it is a wonderful,
wonderful instrument. It's quite barebones in terms of options (you
can get a split E, probably some footjoint rollers, and I've seen
them with gold plated mechanisms, but no C# or G/A trill keys), but
MAN do they play beautifully! Huge bottom register and a gorgeous,
colorful high register.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think we're all pretty familiar with
Yamaha as a brand, but you may not be aware that they've stepped up
their game and are making Serious Flutes now...try one and let me
know what you think! :)
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<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">PEARL</span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ah,
Pearl flutes...one of my favorite
recommendations to students, doubling friends, and amateurs on a
budget is the Pearl 665/765 series of flutes, and for those with a
bit more scratch, the Coda versions. They are sturdily built
instruments that are well in tune and sound beautiful, and most
people have heard of them. However, how many people know they also
made fabulous handmade flutes? From the .970 Pristine Silver Maesta
to the all-18K gold Opera model, Pearl turns out some extremely
beautiful high-end flutes that are played by soloists and orchestral
principals all over the world, particularly in Europe. Much like the
other Japanese makers, Pearl offers a wide range of options to
customize their instruments, from standard options like elaborate
engravings, C# trill key, C#/D# rollers, and split E (also available
in on/off clutch form), to
things you just don't see on American flutes, such as
gold plating of either the tube or the entire flute in yellow, rose,
or <b>champagne</b>(!)
gold and
the
G/A trill key system which is very popular in Japan and Germany.
Pearl
has also developed a
lovely array of headjoint cuts to
speak to a wide range of playing styles (my personal favorite is the
Forza, on
which you can peel the paint from the walls with a low B, but
the Vivo and the Calore are also excellent, colorful
choices!).
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mechanically,
Pearl's greatest claim
to fame is the one-piece core bar system, which
mounts the entire mechanism on one long rod and eliminates many of
the typical wear and tear issues one encounters with the flute. All
Pearl flutes are also constructed with pinless mechanisms, which is a
boon for any of us who have ever snagged a sweater or stabbed a
finger on the tiny little evil buggers. Pointed
key arms are also standard on every flute in the entire range,
including the most basic student models, which I think is a lovely
touch that not only lends an aesthetic uniformity to the entire line,
but I think offers a psychological benefit to younger players. Having
a beautiful flute that LOOKS like the five-figure handmade flutes
would certainly have encouraged <b>my</b>
12 year old self to practice more. :)
There's just something extra-inspiring about having an instrument
that is as fun to look at as it is to play!</span></div>
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<u><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MATEKI</span></b></u></div>
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In Japanese, “Mateki” means “Magic Flute”, and having
experienced quite a few of them over the past year, I would have to
say they are very appropriately named.
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In parallel with our most illustrious American flutemakers, Mateki
flutes began as the independent venture of a flutemaker who had
worked for many years for Muramatsu. S. Watanabe left Muramatsu along
with his friend Shuichi “Speedy” Tanaka (remember him?). They
formed a very short-lived flute company called “Takumi”, but they
had very different ideas about how the company should be structured,
so they parted ways (amicably, one hopes) and formed their own
companies. Tanaka went on to create the Altus flute, and Watanabe
started the Mateki company.
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I've known of Mateki flutes for years, but the only ones that have
traditionally popped up in the states have been the older lower-level
models. The ones I'd encountered were lovely and played well enough,
but I didn't think they were anything particularly special, and I had
no idea that the company was as reknowned as they are in Japan. Like
many of the other companies I've discussed so far, one of the
distinguishing features of Mateki is the vast array of materials they
use in flutemaking, and the innovation in experimentation of both
material and design. They have, for example, developed an alloy
called “G10”, which is 10% gold, 20% palladium, and the remainder
is primarily silver with a few other trace elements added. This alloy
was inspired by the Japanese tradition of adding gold to the bronze
used to make temple bells, and when the tube is pinged with a
fingernail, there is indeed a bell-like resonance. It's quite an
experience to play, as well! In addition to this brilliant alloy,
they also use several different grades of silver. You can order a
Mateki in sterling (.925), .943, .990 (99% silver, 1% platinum), and
.997 silver.
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Bridging the gap between silver and gold is the G10 alloy, and from
there we have 9K, 14K, 18K, 24K (there's member #4 of the 24K Club!),
and platinum. All gold/platinum flutes are available with a choice of
silver, gold (any karat up to and including the karat of the body;
ie, you can get an 18K gold body with 9, 14, or 18K keywork), or
gold-plated silver mechanism, and in the case of the platinum flute,
you can also choose platinum-plated or a G10 mechanism.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQc7pcHt81e9aljq5xEWjFZVEh9LnnynWiCJc_QqKTX1DKVmWsba2qAJTy5Ql5q9Z9yFSUJiPfD9ie1lqcnZfhrS-kWDuJjsqx4gv7Gv_rwJzHwLJqLjDD9w9VBGgD3V09rHrXV263vNRW/s1600/MatekiG10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQc7pcHt81e9aljq5xEWjFZVEh9LnnynWiCJc_QqKTX1DKVmWsba2qAJTy5Ql5q9Z9yFSUJiPfD9ie1lqcnZfhrS-kWDuJjsqx4gv7Gv_rwJzHwLJqLjDD9w9VBGgD3V09rHrXV263vNRW/s1600/MatekiG10.jpg" height="128" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The G10 Mateki! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">14K Mateki</td></tr>
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I mean, how to choose, right??
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In Tokyo last year, at the Yamano Flute Fair in Ginza, the current
scion of the Watanabe family and head of Mateki flutes was there with
a table FULL of flutes and headjoints, and this ended up being one of
the places I spent the most time. I fell absolutely MADLY in love
with two of the flutes in particular, both of which were heavy-walled
.943 silver models, one of which was very heavily gold plated (I
believe there were 3 separate plating processes applied), the other
of which was heavily platinum plated over a base of gold. I cannot
tell you how fabulous these flutes were. I was floored...the power
and color in them was just mind-blowing, and there was a real
elegance in the sound that remained even when I played like a brash
American pig. I took them out into the then-empty recital hall along
with a lovely young lady who was one of the artists presenting later
that day, and we recorded each other playing both flutes back to
back. You can see the results of that below. I recall that I
preferred playing the platinum one (it was rather like what I'd
imagine driving a sports car to feel like; just pure exhilaration and
a sense of limitless power), but upon listening to the playback, I
preferred the sound of the gold-plated one, regardless of which of us
was playing it. Still, I would have been hard pressed to choose one
if I'd actually had the money to make a purchase that day.
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These flutes are incredibly well made with a great deal of attention
to detail, it's a multi-generational family business, and thanks to
Sherry Lee, there's now a US distributor! I would strongly encourage
any of you who read this to get in touch with her and try out a
Mateki flute. Check out her website at:
<a href="http://www.lflutes.com/mateki_flute.html">http://www.lflutes.com/mateki_flute.html</a></span></div>
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I just can't say enough good things about them...it's the only other
flute that I can see tempting me to switch from Sankyo forever, and
that's saying something! :-) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>FMC (Flute Masters Co.)</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A relative newcomer to the flute scene, FMC has been in existence just since 1992, but in that time, they have firmly cemented a niche for themselves as a top-notch maker of fine handcrafted flutes. FMC began when 3 former technicians who worked at Yamaha for many years branched off and initially were in business as the go-to repair shop for professional flute players around the world. After repairing a huge number of top-level flutes, they decided they could improve upon what they'd been seeing and perhaps avoid some of the common problems they were encountering, as well as devising a better scale, so they started to design and build their own flutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Similarly to how companies like Nagahara (with the Standard and the Full Concert) and Pearl (with the Maesta and Opera lines) have structured their lineups, there are now 3 series of flutes being produced by FMC: The Standard, the Seamed Tube, and the Master Made. Perhaps unique in all the world of flutemaking, FMC's flutes ALL have soldered tone holes, even on the "Standard" series. The difference lies in material and available options. The Standard flutes are sterling silver with soldered toneholes, a standard 0.35 wall thickness (optional heavywall .40 is available), and only a split E and 10K gold lip/riser as available options. In Japan, the typical flute setup is a very basic one, with the vast majority of players opting for open hole, inline G, and a split E, and that's all. Closed holes and C foot are also quite common on professional flutes, but the majority do not opt for things like extra trills and rollers, so the Standard model fits the local mold quite well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Master Made flutes are where the fun stuff happens...included in the Master Made box is the Seamed series, which is a .970 high-purity silver tube that is rolled and seamed much in the way that Louis Lots were, and the Altus 1807 is. There are also options for .970 standard tubes, .997 silver, 10K, 14K, and 18K gold in all possible configurations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had the opportunity to get acquainted with a .970 seamed tube, a .997 silver, and a 14K gold FMC at Yamano, and they reminded me a lot of a nice Powell, actually, but with a bit of a Louis Lot character to them. Very sweet, yet capable of a lot of power. They would be fabulous orchestral flutes for a principal player from the power standpoint, but a 2nd player would also enjoy them because of the ease of changing tone colors and blending. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They also make a piccolo that has done very well in the Japanese market, and plays with an unusually even and dark sound, though perhaps a tiny bit much resistance in the top for my liking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The design elements of the flute are quite lovely, with a redesigned thumb key and a beautiful scalloped crown, and the key cups themselves are quite elegant, with a very French-throwback feel to them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I near the end of this post, I'd like to talk about a couple of makers that I discovered in Japan that absolutely blew my mind with not only the quality of their craftsmanship, but the uniqueness of their instruments. </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">AKIYAMA</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first is the wonderfully sweet and gifted Yoshiteru Akiyama. Mr. Akiyama made it his mission to recreate the essence of the great Louis Lot flutes, using the techniques of the time, but applying a modern scale to his flutes. He has gone so far in this pursuit of that Old French Sound that he actually has obtained a large supply of solid silver flatware and other objects from the 19th century and uses those in his flutemaking! This man is actually building flutes using silver FROM Louis Lot's time! I mean, how amazing is that?! He of course also works in gold (14K and 18K), and his instruments. Are. Freaking. Exquisite. I don't know if I've ever played anything so majestic and alive...I swear you can FEEL his spirit and his craftsmanship in your hands when you play his flutes. There's just nothing like it out there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The man himself is a treasure, as well. He's so charming and committed to his work that you can't help but get excited about what he's doing! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enjoy these photos of his beautiful work...they don't do it justice, but it's all I have! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>AIHARA</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last but certainly not least, we have the Aihara flute company. These charming instruments are made entirely start to finish by one person, and goodness are they ever clever! Innovation is definitely the name of the game with this maker...he has come up with a new kind of split E, a new system of activating the low B key that eliminates the second roller next to the low C and instead places the low B finger touch to the right of the low C with a small roller that facilitates travel; a new kind of C#/G-A combination trill, and a C# trill that is activated via clutch mechanism on the D trill key. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The REALLY noticeable stuff, though, is the experimentation that Aihara has done with headjoint making, specifically lipplate/riser/crown material. I played an array of about a dozen heads that had lips and crowns in three different types of coral, crystal, different varieties of wood, ivory, buffalo horn, different silver and gold alloys, composite and ceramic materials. What a range of colors! (both visually and sonically speaking...) I can't imagine having a full case of these at one's disposal. Now if I could just win that Powerball jackpot...</span><br />
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-20900234326626117012014-08-05T01:46:00.000-04:002015-01-28T23:43:08.642-05:00ClarinetFest2014: All The Laughter, All The Smears...<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This past Friday, August 1st, 2014, I found myself on a bus at the crack of 8am from New Orleans to Baton Rouge to spend a day at the International Clarinet Association's 2014 ClarinetFest, a trip made possible by the kindness and generosity of Tom and Ted Ridenour, who had extra admission badges and allowed me to have one. Thanks, guys! :-)</span><br />
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This article is going to be primarily a review of what I felt to be the standout instruments of the day, but I would be a terrible blogger if I didn't mention the unholy cacophony of 50 clarinetists at a time (most of whom I imagine to be collegiate underclassmen incapable of controlling their desire to strut their stuff, no matter how ill-advised that desire may have been) playing the smear from Rhapsody in Blue over. And over. And over. And over. All. Day. Long. There was one particularly charming fellow who thought it was a fantastic idea to try it up an octave. Multiple times. At FFFFFF. Without success. I don't know how I've made it through 3 decades of life without truly understanding just how unbearably irritating the clarinet can be in the wrong hands, but rest assured, that has been rectified. Why DARPA hasn't taken it upon themselves to weaponize the clarinet is beyond me, but I think they could do a bang up business in non-explosive warfare that way.</span><br />
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I digress...</span><br />
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Of course, I wanted to try as much stuff as I could possibly get my hands on (y'all know how I do), but I had two clear goals for the day, and anything else was icing: playing the new Buffet Tosca bass clarinet and the new Selmer “SeleS” Presence clarinet. (Turns out that cake had a LOT of icing on it, though...read on!)</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">BUFFET TOSCA BASS CLARINET</span></u></b></span><br />
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I've been having vivid fantasies about the Tosca bass since the first second I saw Buffet's slickly-edited Youtube video announcing its existence a couple months ago. All that daydreaming built up some pretty lofty expectations, of course...and I have to say, I was not in the least disappointed by the fact of the thing. I didn't get to spend as much time with it as I would have liked, and of course a festival is HARDLY the ideal environment for getting a true picture of an instrument, but I did what I could. There were several available, the one I ended up trying was at the booth of Lisa's Clarinet Shop. I waited for a relative lull in the action, and then I went for it. (For those who may want to know this sort of thing, I tried it with my Ridenour Artist bass clarinet mouthpiece) From the moment I picked it up, I was smitten. I hadn't even played a note, and I was ready to sell a kidney. The mechanism on this instrument is almost freakishly perfect. Somehow, they have managed to achieve a totally balanced resistance on every key, even the left hand pinky low D, which took no more effort to depress than, say, the LH3 C key. Replacing the right thumb low D with an alternate low Eb was an absolute stroke of genius, and once you get used to it being there, using it is almost intuitive. The roller on the low C key was also a nice touch.</span><br />
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In the short cell phone video I made of it, you can see the left hand low D lever depress itself whenever any of the other basset notes were deployed, and it's a visible testament to the smoothness and responsiveness of the action on this instrument. The other big thing I noticed about the keywork is that it is just about completely SILENT. There was hardly a key-click to be heard, and on a low C bass clarinet, that's just about miraculous. It's also extremely comfortable under the hands...I have relatively large hands, but I would imagine that someone with smaller hands would be just as comfortable on it. In fact, there could have been a bit more spread on the right hand pinky feather keys, and still have been fine with.</span><br />
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Then I played it...wow. From the first note I played (which was, logically, an open G), the resonance and warmth of the Tosca bass was evident. There wasn't any of the hollowness or buzziness that one often encounters in the throat tones of the bass, and descending chromatically to the low C, there was a beautiful evenness of tone color and resistance that was really pleasant, as a player. Crossing the break was smooth as silk, and the traditional "pinch" throat Bb was full and robust, and matched beautifully with both the A directly under it and the B over the break. The B and C were wonderfully in tune, thanks to the redesign of the register mechanism, and it maintained a full-throated lyrical quality into the upper register. (Soundwise, it actually is remarkably similar to my Ridenour Lyrique hard rubber low-C bass, which has one of the darkest and most beautiful bass-clarinetty sounds I've ever heard).</span><br />
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When Buffet first released the Tosca bass information, I thought for sure it was going to be ungodly expensive, on the order of a German bass clarinet, at least $20,000USD or so. Now, I don't have any American dealer pricing information, but I've found it already listed on the Thomann website, and the list price is 11,008 Euros, which works out to $14,773USD, and their actual selling price (ex-VAT) is 7,740 Euro, or approx. $10,387. This actually makes it a significant chunk less expensive than the Selmer Privilege (currently clocking in at a street price of just north of 12 grand), and only slightly more expensive than the existing Buffet 1193 Prestige bass (which is riding just below the 10 grand line in most places). Hey, if I had it, I'd pay it.</span><br />
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I am greatly looking forward to spending more time with the Tosca bass, which I hope to do at the Buffet Showroom on my upcoming trip back to New York. Look for a much longer, proper demo video. In the meantime, check out this short crappy cell phone video, and look at that mechanism! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, the newest offering from Selmer Paris, under their new branding, "SeleS"...the "Presence" clarinet. There has been much ado and ballyhoo about this clarinet since they announced it, it was one of the most popular items at ClarFest, and now that I've tried it, I can see why. Honestly, at first, I was a bit skeptical, almost to the point of being annoyed. I mean, did Selmer really need ANOTHER snazzily-named clarinet model in the multiple-thousands-of-dollars price range? Wasn't the recent fizzle of the Artys and Odyssey and St. Louis enough? Well, it turns out, yes, it was. They have scrapped those three models (which can still be had as new/old stock for AMAZING bargains on the Bay of E, just sayin'. They're great clarinets!) and replaced that entire price category with the Presence. It fits nicely in that space between "Super Premium I Totally Can't Effing Afford This" and "I Really Need To Upgrade From This POS But Am Never Going To Be Auditioning For The Phil". (Though, frankly, even if you were, you could do it on a pair of these.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> At around $3500, it's squarely in competition with that old warhorse, Buffet's R13. I say "competition" merely as a function of price point, because after playing ten of them, there isn't any competition. The Presence is freaking wonderful. I actually don't really see much of a difference between it and the upper level Selmers (the Privilege, Signature, and Recital) in terms of playability or sound. It is very much what you've come to expect from Selmer Paris over the past several years; it is extremely comfortable in the hands, the mechanism is very well made and beautiful to look at (you'll note that there has been some redesigning of the left hand pinky keys, and it's all very chic), and the sound is even, focused, and dark but flexible. Intonation is very stable throughout the range, as with the other more expensive Selmers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Available in both Bb and A, with an optional left hand Eb/Ab lever, I'd say this should be on the short list of every person looking for a new professional wooden clarinet. My only major gripe about it is that for that price, the damn left hand Eb key should be standard, but easily removable for those who don't like having one. I rather dislike the idea of having to pay extra for it at that price point. In summation, if you really want a Signature or a Privilege but your bank account says "no way, Jose", then try the Presence. You'll probably really like it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we're on the topic of new offerings from Selmer Paris... </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">SELMER PRIVILEGE VERSION 2.0</span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OkSc8WMy5y7HFlXE7fnmFwU5hEXkfTu6Vzc75Qr3HQYaWpYJy3SQoXOivS0MLJyFe6Iut86Lcbff9B_q7GPuiWIGhC8MMAgc7J-tvXllladAuDj5wZhj2ctZkKhOWCPKiEVqA6u5k2Hx/s1600/Privilege7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OkSc8WMy5y7HFlXE7fnmFwU5hEXkfTu6Vzc75Qr3HQYaWpYJy3SQoXOivS0MLJyFe6Iut86Lcbff9B_q7GPuiWIGhC8MMAgc7J-tvXllladAuDj5wZhj2ctZkKhOWCPKiEVqA6u5k2Hx/s1600/Privilege7.jpg" height="243" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, a few years ago, Selmer came out with a new flagship clarinet called the Privilege, and it was good. It was very, very, very good. I was kind of in love with it. Ok, more than kind of...a lot. As is usual in these cases, though, apparently I was one of the only ones. I was chatting with the Selmer rep at the festival about why on earth they went mucking about with one of the best things they've ever made, and apparently, we (or rather, you...I might hold a US passport, but the clarinet player inside me is 100% German!) American clarinet players just didn't think it was...American enough. It was too free-blowing and even, and I guess y'all thought the gold rings were just a little too snazzy or something, but for whatever reason, they weren't selling terribly well here. So, they went back to the drawing board and came up with a Mk II version of the Privilege, this time with engraved black-nickel-plated rings and a new spiffy inlaid silver "S" Selmer logo for the upper joint. It's also a bit more resistant (because if there's anything we know about American clarinet players, it's that most of them think that playing the clarinet should involve a bit of work; why else would the R13 be so popular, eh? ;) ). It is still a lovely, lovely instrument, but honestly, I liked the old one better. The tuning is still excellent, and the sound is still sweet and ringing, though a bit less "alive", if I had to pick an adjective. Keywork is still beautiful and comfortable, though, and I'd still very happily play one (especially if someone gave me a pair!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now that that's out of the way, let's talk about some of the other things I played at ClarinetFest that really, really stood out to me, and I think y'all should give a try! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would be remiss not to talk about this gem from my wonderful Fest hosts, the Ridenours. Everyone knows I play the Lyrique low C bass and the Libertas clarinet, and I love 'em both, so I don't need to tell you about those (especially since I already have two blog entries dedicated to them :) ), but we should REALLY talk about this lil' C clarinet, you guys! I mean, wow. I know that most of us have always thought of the C clarinet as a shrill, evil, impossible-to-tune, slightly-less-uncontrollable big sister to the Eb clarinet, but it really doesn't need to be that way. Talking with Tom about the C, he confessed that it's actually his preferred instrument to play (which may surprise you in much the same way I was surprised to find out that the alto flute was Boehm's preferred instrument of personal expression!), and in his opinion, it should be the most naturally in tune and free-blowing instrument of the clarinet family. I don't know about the rest of you, but when the man who designed the Leblanc Opus has an opinion about the clarinet, I'm not going to take it lightly! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of all of the instruments I played at the festival, there were two that I simply could NOT put down, and returned to over and over again all day...this C clarinet was one of them. It is just SO much fun to play! The sound is sweet and pretty, and really has its own character. It isn't a Bb, but it isn't an Eb, either. It possesses little bits of both of those personalities at times, but it's honestly just its own thing. I understand why Strauss and Beethoven liked it so much! There is a flutey delicacy in the upper register that comes across as very charming, and the intervallic agility of this instrument is most impressive indeed. I played some "Barber of Seville" and "Der Rosenklavier" on it, and it seemed that the intervals just leapt out of it on their own; Debussy's "Syrinx" for flute took on an entirely new persona on the C clarinet, and the Mozart clarinet concerto just sounded...weird. Don't do that. Ever. :) (the Oboe Concerto was kinda fun, though!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>LYRIQUE 576BC Bb CLARINET</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, if the Libertas is the Opus (or Tosca, if you will) of the Ridenour Lyrique lineup, then the 576 is the Concerto/Infinite (or R13). It's a workhorse, all-around, pro-grade clarinet. I hadn't ever really spent any time with one before, so I played both of the ones that were on the table pretty thoroughly throughout the day, and boy, was I impressed. Getting that much clarinet for under a thousand bucks, man...who can argue? They are crazy in tune, very flexible and easy to play, and the keywork is top notch. I would say that the Libertas has a bit more "punch" overall, particularly in the bottom quarter of the range, but the 576 is no slouch, either. It would make an amazing all-around clarinet for the gifted student or the adult player who doesn't want to invest thousands of dollars into an instrument but still wants to sound like they did. Give one a try, I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is to overcome any bias you might have about inexpensive hard rubber clarinets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A minute ago, I said of all the things I played during the day, there were two I could not stop going back to over and over again...one of them was the Ridenour Lyrique C clarinet, the other was the newest incarnation of Yamaha's German-inspired CSG clarinet, the CSG-IIIL, particularly the "H" version, with the Hamilton plated keys (an alloy of nickel and gold). This thing...good god. It's like the R&D department at Yamaha somehow found a way to get inside my head and find out *exactly* what I think the clarinet should sound like, and then made it...with really, really awesome keywork. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The CSG (for "German") clarinet has taken the sound concept of the German Oehler-system clarinets, that beautiful, polished, darkdarkdark, focused sound and applied it to the French system of clarinet keying, with a bit of an international sensibility. It doesn't sound *exactly* like a German clarinet, but it is very considerably different from the standard French instruments that we've all been playing. The upper joint is longer than the standard French clarinet, with a correspondingly shorter barrel (like the German instruments), and the bell is of the thick-profiled ringless variety. The keywork has been extensively redesigned and sculpted, and is a thing of abject beauty. The left-hand Eb/Ab key stands out from the rest of the key cluster and is set at a steep angle, putting it exactly in reach and exactly out of the way. The thumb-activated low E/F correction key is right where it needs to be for easy access, and doesn't really affect the balancing of the instrument at all once you get used to it being there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the left hand, the third finger D/A tonehole, which was the standard drilled-through-the-wall type on the original CSG, has been changed to the chimney-style raised hole seen on some other top-level clarinets, and it really has aided in the clarity, intonation, and projection of the low C# and upper G#. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of the intonation, it's very, very good, and there is an ease of playing about this instrument that is nearly unmatched by any other clarinet. Wide intervals speak easily and without hesitation, and the altissimo is sweet and very easy to control. The sound does not spread at high dynamic levels, and it does not dissolve on the whisper-quiet end of the spectrum, but maintains its core and clarity. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yamaha has increased the price considerably on these since their inception, but they have also improved them in proportion, so one can't complain too much. They're still very much less expensive than other premium-level Boehm clarinets on the market. You can buy them with silver plated keys or the beautiful gold Hamilton plating...purists may prefer the silver, but there is a warmth about the appearance of the gold against the unstained colorful grenadilla that I just can't resist. (I also tarnish silver only slightly less quickly than would wrapping it in a giant rubber band and putting it in a closet...) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they ever make this in an Eb clarinet version, I am going to sell whatever internal organs I need to in order to afford a full set. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Since we're on the topic of my love of the Germanic clarinet sound, let's talk about my favorite new discovery...the</span></i>: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Uebel Superior Bb/A Clarinets and Emperior Bass Clarinet</u></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTG3rDeoI7J2tzefq8INmayAPBAYu_7oVYSW1BLlnQ3DlobNgilwF5m313S9-dHFnlj0P7fnL2UDTS1RL3O-4LwNAksj7Au9pv9n7JZEa5ygcHxKNgGj-CQA2qdCo06Z9HLVJrQLhPqV5/s1600/boehm_bass_klarinette_emperior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTG3rDeoI7J2tzefq8INmayAPBAYu_7oVYSW1BLlnQ3DlobNgilwF5m313S9-dHFnlj0P7fnL2UDTS1RL3O-4LwNAksj7Au9pv9n7JZEa5ygcHxKNgGj-CQA2qdCo06Z9HLVJrQLhPqV5/s1600/boehm_bass_klarinette_emperior.jpg" height="307" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uebel has been around for a really, really long time (since the '30s, at least). Over here in the States, though, if anybody has heard of them, it has been primarily in connection with flutes that looked like this: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCky1RUfm95MhBQNh0PHLfc2E_f4o2gHg6QJQljqHWvWGLQU-B9xXzepLySLU-sR5NfgXTJwT5NrA_Ko_6VLTknOf-CkR13NKLnaQkHgFIUWVS8a9mfQg-26IRbsZoEeJ5YF9G-qggwqMW/s1600/UebelFlute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCky1RUfm95MhBQNh0PHLfc2E_f4o2gHg6QJQljqHWvWGLQU-B9xXzepLySLU-sR5NfgXTJwT5NrA_Ko_6VLTknOf-CkR13NKLnaQkHgFIUWVS8a9mfQg-26IRbsZoEeJ5YF9G-qggwqMW/s1600/UebelFlute.jpg" height="208" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and/or bass clarinets that looked like this (which I actually think is cool as all get out): </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBj7Mig70F1cExXUVywqb05CmLfmxKR9q2MN1UB9hADwTuo-9C9AqZZ0IvwhS7KH1Bamz2LMJEj3hyphenhypheniwW9KNwvYArJjzVP-MyG4We6Pp9b6a-xjjGYr1oQmiP6yvBEF9-ZhRrpmmgW-c1/s1600/uebellaluminumbassclarinet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBj7Mig70F1cExXUVywqb05CmLfmxKR9q2MN1UB9hADwTuo-9C9AqZZ0IvwhS7KH1Bamz2LMJEj3hyphenhypheniwW9KNwvYArJjzVP-MyG4We6Pp9b6a-xjjGYr1oQmiP6yvBEF9-ZhRrpmmgW-c1/s1600/uebellaluminumbassclarinet.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, that was quite a long time ago. In Germany, they have long been known and respected for their German-system clarinets, which are played in quite a number of orchestras. For the past several years, they have been working on developing a clarinet for the Boehm market that combines the most desirable traits of both worlds, without quite going the Reform-Boehm route. What has emerged as the final product of that process is the line of Boehm clarinets that tops out with the Superior Bb/A, and the Emperior bass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Uebel table was directly across from the Ridenours at ClarinetFest, and for the first half of the day, every time I went to talk to Tom or Ted, I'd sneak an eyefull of the Uebel table and think "I really should go check those out, I've seen them online and I'm super curious", but there were always tons of people there, doing their shrieky screamy awful altissimo Festie-showoff thing, so I kept putting it off. Finally, there was a significant downturn in the action (I think a big recital or lecture had started, and most of the Festies scampered off to see it), so I walked over and asked to try a clarinet. The poor fellow (a charmingly harried Mr. Moe, husband of Victoria Moe, CEO of Moe-Bleichner Music Distribution, the US distributor of these amazing instruments), having been subjected for the entirety of ClarinetFest to the wailing, screaming antics of 80% of the attendees, understandably looked a little apprehensive. He handed me the base model in the lineup (the "Classic", intended to compete with the likes of the Buffet E11, but after playing it for about a minute, I'd rate it much, much, much higher than that), but after listening to me play (primarily long tones and Brahms legato passages), got an absolutely adorable twinkle in his eye and said "Ah. No, no, THIS is the clarinet for you..." and handed me the Superior. Dear god, that clarinet! I played four notes and had to stop because I started grinning involuntarily. It was everything I loved about the Yamaha CSG, but with perhaps a slightly more restrained Bavarian sensibility, which is very up my clarinet-alley. Even more so than the CSG, they have managed to capture the essence of the German clarinet tradition and put it in a Boehm package. The bore design is quite proprietary, neither pure Boehm nor Reform Boehm, and I can only imagine the extent of the research and development that went into this instrument. I don't think I have ever played a French system clarinet that behaved quite the way the Uebel Superior does. It's almost perplexing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was very obviously taken with this instrument, and as I kept playing it and acclimating to it, I realized I was working less and less and getting more and more color out of it, and the more I played it, the closer attention I noticed people around me were paying. I wasn't playing anything at all technically flashy, just things that I felt spoke to me musically and showcased the idiomatic color palette of the clarinet (Tosca, Act III; Forza del Destino; Tristan...), but the sound I was getting out of this instrument was so unusual and just GORGEOUS that people seemed interested in what I was doing. It felt kind of awesome, not gonna lie. :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing that struck me in particular about the Superior is that, much like the CSG (I'm going to keep making this comparison, because they're extraordinarily similar in about 90% of all possible aspects), no matter WHAT dynamic level I was playing, the sound stayed exactly in character. It never, ever broke, not even when I pushed it as hard as my six-foot-plus Scandinavian frame could muster, and I did that on an A above the staff. If ANY note on the clarinet is gonna crack, it's gonna be that A. Didn't on the Yamaha, and it didn't on the Uebel. It also kept all of its shape and focus at the most -issimo of pianissimos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you look at the bell in the photo above, you will see a little hole lined with a silver grommet...this is genius, and a very simple solution to the low E/F problem. (You often see this on C and Eb clarinets, and most of the tip-top clarinet repairmen from Ridenour to Backun to Yan to Hammer have drilled holes in bells to fix the low E and F; it's what the bell key on Oehlers does.) I particularly love their approach to it, because it is exactly what my favorite French oboe/English horn maker, Fossati, does on their English horns and oboe d'amores in lieu of a bell mechanism for low B resonance, except Fossati uses mother-of-pearl instead of silver for the grommet. (See below)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A simple and elegant solution, non? :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finally tore myself away from the Superior and focused my attention on the Emperior bass. Now, I know what you're thinking...yes, it does indeed bear an uncanny and downright <i>remarkable</i> resemblance to the Buffet 1193 Prestige bass, and I can't argue with that. The keywork is, well, I won't say identical, but I won't argue with you if <i>you</i> say it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, two notes was all it took for me to assure you that it is NOT a copy of the Buffet. Uebel has taken the same wizardry they used on the soprano clarinets and applied it to the bore design of the bass. It plays with one of the most vocal sound qualities I've ever heard on a bass clarinet, and while the response all over the horn is excellent, the upper clarion is particularly beautiful and effortless. Haunting, even. The instrument was a fabulous match with my Ridenour Artist mouthpiece, and handled as nimbly in the basement as it did in the stratosphere. Written C7 was no problem on this beast. Victoria and I took it out into a stairwell away from the noise of the exhibition hall so I could really hear what I sounded like on it; I almost wish we hadn't. I have not been able to stop thinking about it since I left Baton Rouge. It was like an extension of my own voice, and it was very, very difficult to stop playing it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somehow, I'm going to get my hands on this anointed trio again and make a demo video for my Youtube channel so you all can hear just how beautiful these things sound! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A final point (and the last time I'll compare the Superior to the CSG, honest!)...they are VERY affordable in relation to the level of craftsmanship and playability. You can have a Bb/A pair for the price of one Buffet Divine, they are quite a bit less expensive than the CSG, and you can in fact have the bass for about the same as the Divine or a pair of the sopranos. The Emperior is SUBSTANTIALLY less than the Buffet 1193, and made from the same grade of beautiful grenadilla. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DO check them out! <a href="http://www.uebelusa.com/" target="_blank">Uebel Clarinets USA</a></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Royal Gao Clarinet (G-Soloist model)</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well this certainly was an interesting find...it was on the Lohff & Pfeiffer table, and it turns out it belonged to one of the evening's performers, who left it at their table for the day! It is the Royal Gao G-Soloist model, but was custom made with a one-piece body (a la Rossi) and gold-plated posts, with a RH1 C#/G# touch. It came with a Royal Gao Cohler barrel and bell (famed clarinet soloist Jonathan Cohler helped design them, and plays them exclusively on his Rossi clarinet). It was the first thing I tried at the L&P table, and I gotta say...it's a pretty sweet rig. It had a very idealized-Buffet kind of thing going; it was very focused, a bit bright, but very colorful, and just the right amount of resistance. The sound wasn't terribly large to the ear, but it bloomed at a distance (I had someone listen to it and report back). Keywork was quite comfy, and I love the adorable tiny little left hand Eb/Ab key! The RH C#/G# touch is also well sized and placed, and very easy to access for those pesky E-F Weber and Spohr trills (and yes, if you insist, the G to Ab in Rhapsody in Blue, which by the way, I DO NOT EVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN. EVER.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one-piece construction also enabled ideal sizing/placement of the C#/G# tonehole, so those notes were delightfully clear and full. Not sure what the pricing is, but I do know that Heather Karlsson is a Gao dealer, so if you're interested in trying one out, she'd be the person to contact! :) <a href="http://www.hkarlssonwoodwinds.com/Gao-Royal-Musical.html" target="_blank">Heather Karlsson Woodwinds: Royal Gao Dealer</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Whew, almost there!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Wolfgang Dietz Reform Boehm and pure Boehm</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And last but most certainly not least, it wouldn't have been a clarinet event without me being able to indulge my obsession with the German clarinet sound as expressed through the Reform Boehm clarinet, and this ClarinetFest didn't disappoint! Also at the Lohff & Pfeiffer table (you should check them out, btw. They are GENIUSES at setting up/repairing clarinets, and have a colossal stock of amazing instruments! <a href="http://www.lpwindsusa.com/" target="_blank">Lohff & Pfeiffer</a>), I came upon a happy surprise, a pair of Wolfgang Dietz (<a href="http://www.dietz-klarinetten.de/boehm_system_eng.html" target="_blank">Dietz Boehm-system clarinets!</a>) clarinets, one Reform Boehm and one pure Boehm system. HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY :) I've long wanted to try a Dietz, and I got to try TWO! O frabjous day, indeed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pure Boehm was a delight, reminded me a lot of the Leblanc Opus (and my own Lyrique Libertas). Perfect balance of darkness and color, excellent presence to the sound, very even resistance. One of the sweetest altissimo registers of the day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The R-B was, of course, a near-orgasmic experience, as far as clarinets go. Much like the Wurlitzer R-B model 185 I played in Tokyo last year, it was everything I think a clarinet should be, sound-wise. It was incredibly comfortable ergonomically (something I could NOT say for the Wurlitzer), with an adjustable thumbrest and an ingenious cork thumb pad, Loree Dutch-thumbrest style, but thinner, right next to the thumb low E/F correction lever. There isn't much to say about the Dietz that I didn't say about the Wurlitzer in my earlier blog post, the sound is just beautiful. Focus for days, like a dark amethyst-colored laser beam. It's a Brahms-lover's dream come true! Those C/Eb rollers are handy as all heck, too, I gotta say. Positioning of the left hand pinky cluster was also very ergonomically friendly and intuitive, and the C#/G# key is just a stroke of lovely quirky genius. I'm glad I got to spend a little time with the lil' guy! :-) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we go, though, I must put forth...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>The First Ever Woodwindwonderland Sadface Panda Rant (Oh no!)</u> :-( <u>(Buffet BC1180 student bass clarinet)</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bit ago, I gushed and waxed poetic about the new Buffet Tosca bass clarinet, which I think is truly one of the most innovative and wonderful instruments to hit the clarinet world in quite some time, and Buffet should be very, very, very proud of it. Seriously. I want one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As proud as they should be of the Tosca, they should be the opposite of the "new and improved" BC1180 "student" bass clarinet. It's bad, y'all. Like, shockingly so. Now, to be TOTALLY fair, I'm going to play as many as I can when I go to the Buffet showroom in NYC to get as much of a sample size as I can, because the one I tried at ClarFest was abominably set up. I actually had to spend about a full minute prying open the register vent and cleaning the pad because it was so ungodly sticky. It's as though the vendor <i>wanted</i> us to hate it and buy a Prestige or a Tosca instead. Or just, you know, run away crying and vowing to never, ever touch a bass clarinet again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of the register vent, could it even *be* smaller? No way in hell is sufficient venting occurring for a clear and responsive upper clarion...it was so stuffy and small-sounding, I would have given anything for a plastic Vito or Yamaha 221 to magically appear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, the wood is absolutely stunning, and yes the keys are beautifully sculpted and super shiny and silver plated, and yes, the (plastic) thumbrest is comfy (Seriously? Plastic?), and yes the bottom register sounds full and fine, because <i>*IT IS A BASS CLARINET*, </i>and full, fine low notes are what the bass clarinet is designed to do. All bass clarinets sound lovely down there. It's their job. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Above the break, though, it's a whole different (sad) story. Just awful. Stuffy, tinny, wretched sounds were all it had to offer, and no matter how much I voiced and throated and pleaded and begged and voodoo doll-ed, it wouldn't give me anything close to what I wanted up there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, for a student level bass clarinet, I don't suppose one should expect great things in the high register. (Although I've gotten some rather decent results from plastic Bundys, Yamahas, and Vitos over the years; for example, this was recorded on a Bundy bass from the 70s: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/joshua-j-nsson/weber2nccto2ndmvt-bundy-bass-clarinet" target="_blank">Bundy Bass Clarinet</a> ) but look, for <i style="font-weight: bold;">OVER FIVE THOUSAND COCKADOODIE DOLLARS </i>I'd kind of like to be impressed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And really? Five grand? What kind of "student" is going to spend that, or even HAS that kind of money? Weiner Music, for example, is currently selling this <strike>monstrosity</strike> instrument at a "discounted" price (the list price is $8585) of $5,366. <a href="http://shop.weinermusic.com/BUFFET-STUDENT-BASS-CLARINET-SILVERPLATED-BC1180-2-0/productinfo/IBC118020/" target="_blank">Be Still My Heart</a> (not their call, of course, they gotta charge what Buffet tells 'em to charge)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> You have really got to be kidding me. Furthermore, if this is truly for students, can you IMAGINE what kind of condition this thing would be in after one school year? Students do NOT need beautifully grained unstained grenadilla bass clarinets, they need something that isn't going to crack in half the second some clumsy freshman knocks it off their chair during a break in concert band rehearsal, or, horror of horrors, takes it outside on the field for marching band. (You <i>know</i> somebody would do this. You just know it.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For fitty-three hunnit bucks, a school could buy TWO brand-new current-model Yamaha student bass clarinets (which are EXCELLENT) with a little left over for decent mouthpieces, or up to five used ones in good condition (or Vitos or Bundys). If one really wanted a wood bass clarinet and had that to spend, a quick web search turns up no fewer than 2 dozen fully-reconditioned professional model low Eb bass clarinets (and a couple of low Cs!) for well under that price. (or you know, GET A LYRIQUE.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I dunno, man, I just...dunno. I can't get into it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, though, I have to say that this ClarinetFest was a total joy to attend...not only did I get to play some truly magnificent instruments, I met some truly magnificent people; the <b>Ridenours</b>, <b>Mr. and Mrs. Moe</b> of Uebel; my online clarinet friend of over a decade, <b>Josh Redman</b>, who was working (and I mean WORKING, honey!) the D'Addario booth (by the way, try the new D'Addario Reserve reeds. Just do it.); <b>Elise Curran</b>, another lovely online clarinetiquaintance and fellow Lyrique lover; and last but most certainly not least, composer <b>Kathy Henkel</b>, who is just a dear little charming confection of a person and whose beautiful and fun piece for unaccompanied bass clarinet, <i><b>Tintagel Dreams</b></i>, I purchased and will be making what I believe will be the first recording of in this coming year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So much fun, I can't wait for next year in Spain! (Where I will have to endure all 4 days of smears and high notes, but I have a feeling it'll be worth it! So much more gear to try and many more people to meet!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Till next time, fellow clari-nerds and nerdettes! </span></div>
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-87391510681885245262014-05-02T17:30:00.002-04:002014-07-01T19:11:16.098-04:00The new Ridenour Lyrique "Libertas": Life, Libertas, And The Pursuit of Perfect Intervals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, in my line of work (playing in the pits of Broadway national and international tours) there are a LOT of things a fellow has to think about when deciding what gear to take on the road. Usually, these decisions end up in some sort of compromise that generally means I have to work a little bit harder, because I don't generally bring top-of-the-line stuff with me, because, well it's just stupid. (I learned this lesson the hard way on my first tour several years ago, when I brought my 14K gold flute out on the road with me and ended up having nearly two thousand dollars worth of dent removal and adjustment work done after the tour was over. Oops.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is particularly true of wooden instruments...my current gig requires me to have three clarinets, an Eb, a Bb, and a bass. In a previous entry, I've discussed the choice I made regarding my bass clarinet, which was the Ridenour Lyrique. Not much of a compromise there, actually, as it is every bit as in tune and beautiful-sounding as a wooden bass three times the price. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, I've had a slightly different journey regarding my Bb clarinet. My original road horn was a Vito V40, which for a plastic clarinet, is a pretty darn good little horn with great intonation. I'd added a Backun barrel and bell, and honestly, it was a pretty serviceable setup for a professional playing situation, at least in the environmental circumstances I found myself in. (I certainly would not play it in an orchestra, or probably even in a pit on Broadway in New York, but adding in the variable of constant travel changes everything.) Over time, though, I realized that it just wasn't cutting it anymore. The mechanism was giving me all kinds of grief, and the sound, even with the Backun stuff, was a little too bright to be comfortable; the intonation seemed to be getting squirrely, which it never seemed to be before. The only thing I could deduce was that the constant travel and temp/humidity instability was wreaking havoc with the cocobolo parts of my setup, causing dramatic fluctuations in intonation and response, and the damn thing was made in like, 1979, so it was probably time to put it out to pasture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I became determined not to have a wood clarinet in the pit. Partially out of a genuine worry about cracking and unstable intonation from day to day, climate to climate; but also partially out of a stubborn resolve to see if I could find a non-wood instrument that did both the score of the show and my own playing standards justice. It became sort of a quest, really. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The obvious choice to me for the next horn was the Backun Alpha. I'd tried a couple, thought they played fantastically well for the price point (which is excellent), and it's synthetic, so woo, no fluctuations in bore geometry! I bought one from a music store in Memphis, and started using it in the show. Instantly, I felt more secure in certain passages that had been giving me uncertainty-based heart attacks with the Vito, because I knew the mechanism wasn't going to fail me; and instantly the intonation seemed to settle with the rest of the orchestra and everyone gave a big stamp of approval on the new clarinet. (It also is a pretty darn cool looking little thing, which never hurts.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Honestly, I would probably have been happy to use it until the end of the tour, but one day, I was exchanging emails with Ted Ridenour, and he mentioned that they had just come out with a new flagship model of hard rubber Bb clarinet. I, of course, immediately said I'd love to try one, because I love my bass so much and have such respect for Tom Ridenour's design skills. So he said he'd send me one, no obligation, he knew I'd just purchased a new clarinet, he just wanted me to try it out for a few days and give them some feedback on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Boy, am I ever glad he did! I'm still playing it every day, two months later... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This thing is simply unbelievable. If you have ever played a Leblanc Opus or Concerto (as I have, for many years), then you have an idea of how incredibly well-tuned this clarinet is, and how easy large intervals are, and how round and lovely the sound is. However, the Libertas is NOT an Opus or Concerto...I daresay it's a bit better. First off, it is made of the same natural hard rubber as the other Ridenour clarinets, so it WILL. NOT. CRACK. EVER. I cannot stress how important this is in the peace-of-mind department, especially for a person who makes most of their living in a dark, dusty, occasionally damp, hole in the floor that is generally situated directly under a direct blast of industrial air conditioning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Secondly, the sound. Jesus, the sound. It is SO round and lovely and clarinetty and fluid, as you'd expect from an instrument designed by the guy who gave the world the Leblanc Opus. For those who have expressed concern about the projection of hard rubber...fear not, I routinely fill 5,000 seat auditoriums with this instrument's sound. Intervallic response on this instrument is also really spectacular. This particular show is full of legato sevenths, tenths, and twelfths (both ascending and descending), and I nail every one of them, every time, and I don't have to do anything with my face to coax them out. There is no tiny hesitation between notes while the next one is trying to speak, it just...comes out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thirdly, the intonation. I just don't know how much better it can get on a clarinet. No, it isn't <i>totally </i>perfect, BECAUSE IT'S A F*CKING CLARINET. No clarinet is ever going to be perfectly in tune on every note without any adjustment, because it is a tube with fewer than 30 holes drilled into it from which we are expected to produce, what, about 45 different pitches (depending on how high you can play)? So, OBVIOUSLY some mathematical compromises are going to be made in the placement of these holes...what makes one clarinet different from another is how close to the center those compromises are. My Libertas was some rando case that was grabbed off a shelf of clarinets (which had all just been setup by Tom personally, that is), put in a box, and shipped to me. I did not try 5 of them. I did not try 10 of them. I did not go to a dealer or the factory or the US importer and try 25 to 100 of them to find this one. It's just whatever one was grabbed off a shelf and sent to me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There has yet to be a variation of more than, at MOST, 10 cents in either direction on any note. I play a D below the staff...just about perfectly centered. I hit the register key, and immediately out pops an A above the staff...just about perfectly centered. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tom has put up at least 2 videos that I know of on Youtube demonstrating the remarkably even and consistent tuning characteristics of this clarinet, and I think that speaks for itself. This thing, for a clarinet, is REALLY in tune. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next, the keywork. It is just as solid and sturdy as any other clarinet I've ever played. I don't LOVE the Delrin (nylon? I dunno. They're white) pins in the left hand long E/B and F#/C# keys, but hey, I don't like them on the R13, either, and those puppies are three and a half thousand bucks. The Libertas isn't. It isn't even $1500. Know what else you get on a $3,500 Buffet? Nothing else I've written about so far. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In summation, Tom Ridenour has created a top-of-the-line clarinet that plays really well in tune, smoothly and evenly throughout every register of the instrument with a totally uniform sonority from bottom to top, great keywork, and will never, ever, ever, crack. Ever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For $1500. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can think of precisely zero reasons not to at least give one a shot...I did, and I'm extremely glad. Maybe you will be, too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OH, and for those who are like "Ew, nickel keys suck, I hate them.", I've heard that they're going to be offering them in gold plating soon, so YAY! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OH OH, I also forgot to mention there's a Libertas in A on the way. DOUBLE YAY! Orchestral players who play lots of pops/outdoor concerts, HOLLA! :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OH OH OH, I must also tell you...they are not paying me to say ANY of this stuff. (Just as the other 2,402,780 makers of instruments I've mentioned on my blog haven't paid me anything to say all THAT nice stuff about them, either.) I just like it, so I'm telling you about it. Capisce? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peace out from the West Side Story 2013-2014 tour pit, kids! Till next time... :-) </span><br />
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-72257103039691673292014-01-28T22:48:00.000-05:002014-07-01T19:03:35.228-04:00The Ridenour Lyrique 925 Hard Rubber Low-C Bass Clarinet: Yes, It's A Real Instrument. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've wanted to write this review for quite some time, but have been procrastinating like crazy because, well, that's what I do. However, as I sit here at a lovely coffeeshop in Anchorage, Alaska watching the sun go down over the mountains three hours before our final Anchorage performance of the 2013/14 North American Broadway revival tour of "West Side Story" (off to Canada for a month on Sunday!), I'm suddenly full of inspiration, so...here's some rambling! :)<br />
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This particular tour is the main reason I decided to buy the Ridenour Lyrique bass. Tonight we finish a two-week run of the show in Alaska, and this weekend, we begin four and a half weeks of performances all over Canada, from Vancouver to Edmonton. While this past couple of weeks have been amazingly mild in Anchorage, temperatures in Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Calgary are predicted to stay parked in the VERY minus-double-digits degrees Fahrenheit, and those are conditions I did NOT relish the thought of bringing a $10,000 wood Selmer or Buffet bass through. The hard rubber construction of the Lyrique assures a certain peace of mind in unstable climates that one just does not have with a wooden instrument. Travel between cities can be rather rough on musical equipment, particularly since I often travel my horns with the rest of the pit equipment on the trucks instead of carrying everything with me on the tour bus (which was what I did a couple years ago when I played the flute/picc/clarinet book on the national tour of My Fair Lady, but is highly impractical with a bass clarinet, a tenor sax, and four other smaller instruments). Having played Tom's hard rubber soprano clarinets before, I knew that the bass was going to sound good and having played the Leblanc clarinets he designed for the past nearly 20 years, I knew it was going to be well-designed acoustically and play in tune. What I didn't know was whether or not a sub-$3000 low-C bass clarinet would physically be able to stand up to the rigors of professional touring life (or, honestly, whether or not the mechanism would be up to the demands of a Leonard Bernstein bass clarinet part!).<br />
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Well, it is CERTAINLY up to the task. From the second I opened the box and put it together for the first time, this instrument felt like it's been mine for years. I made a short video recording of my very first encounter with the instrument, which you can view here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2aqdpD49YI" target="_blank">A Quick First Look At The Ridenour Lyrique Bass Clarinet</a>. Right out of the box, it was a joy to play. The sound of this instrument is absolutely fabulous, with a rich creamy center that doesn't spread as you go higher, even into the altissimo; and the intonation is ROCK solid on this thing, with one noticeable exception: The lowest C# (concert B), is exceedingly flat, 20+ cents on average. However, I have needed to use this note precisely zero times, so it isn't personally an issue for me right now. I will, of course, work on fixing it (perhaps a little building up of the tonehole on the inner surface will do the trick...to use this instrument in the long term, I am of course going to have to address this at some point, but it isn't a major, major sticking point. This note tends to be sort of horrendous on most low C basses...). Overall, I was really, really surprised at how little work I had to do to play this instrument well. (I should mention that I am playing on a Ridenour hand-faced bass clarinet mouthpiece, which was included with the clarinet, a mouthpiece I had zero prior experience with, so what you are seeing in this video is truly a brand new encounter with unfamiliar equipment.)<br />
<br />
As with any new instrument or mouthpiece, it does of course take a bit of time to get used to the voicing tendencies (hence that small harmonic blip in the altissimo in the video clip), but on the whole, it was remarkable how familiar and comfortable this instrument felt. It does absolutely everything I want it to, and it does it quite easily, which is a wonderful thing, because the very next day I flew to Chattanooga to begin rehearsals and tech for the West Side Story tour, so I literally had zero time to acclimate to this clarinet before using it in a professional setting.<br />
<br />
The first real test came during the first rehearsal with the orchestra. I do not play the bass clarinet until the middle of the Balcony Scene, where the bass clarinet enters in unison with the cello on a written low Bb after sitting cold for about 25 minutes, then continues in a beautiful lyrical solo phrase of the "Somewhere" theme, which finishes in unison again with the cello, this time in the lower throat tones, which are notoriously problematic on bass clarinets, both in intonation and tone quality. I needn't have worried, because not only are the F#, F and E nearly perfectly spot-on in tune, they are also much fuller and less nasal in quality than one would expect. They are very nearly...well, cello-like in color. (A quality that our musical director is no doubt highly appreciative of!)<br />
<br />
My only criticism of this instrument lies with the basset keywork (low D, C#, C). The thumb key <br />
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arrangement is awkward at best to begin with, and the travel of the key touches is quite excessive. When the thumb low D is depressed, I can slide my entire thumb forward underneath the low C# thumb key with room to spare. This makes any sort of rapid chromatic motion in the thumb virtually impossible, and there are no rollers to aid in this. The low C key is actually quite functional and easily accessible, just not from thumb low D. The low C# has a bit less travel, and with a bit of practice (and a long thumb helps), can be made to smoothly transition to low C. The left hand low D lever, however, is basically unusable. The amount of force required to depress this key is so extreme that I cannot fathom using it in any practical situation, the ONLY exception being whenever it chromatically follows a low Eb, which closes most of the pads depressed by the low D lever and alleviates most of the tension caused by requiring the pinky to close the two low F pads, the low E, and the low Eb. I have no doubt that this will be improved in future iterations of the instrument, as the key work has continued to improve since the instrument was debuted several years ago. (Perhaps a future version will include a right-hand pinky low D key!)<br />
<br />
The rest of the mechanism is surprisingly very solid, and in the three months that I have been playing this instrument every day, 8 shows a week, the total amount of adjustment required has been a quarter turn of a screw on a bridge key and a small piece of gaff tape around a register key connection. Rather impressive, I think! I do find the RH3 (low G/clarion D) key to be quite stiff, but given the length of the connecting rod to the register mechanism that it operates in addition to the low G tonehole, that's to be expected. It isn't overwhelming, and when the bridge keys are aligned just right, the tension isn't bad at all (or perhaps my finger has gotten stronger over the past couple months!) I would perhaps like to have some more supporting pillars or cradles for the basset mechanism rods, are they are quite long and very prone to flexing, particularly when assembling and disassembling the instrument, but there has been no major issue with them so far...as long as I remember to keep all the corks nice and greased up! ;-)<br />
<br />
As David Spiegelthal pointed out in his excellent and concise review of the instrument on the Clarinet Bulletin Board (<a href="http://test.woodwind.org/oboe/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=369983&t=369983" target="_blank">David Spiegelthal Reviews The Lyrique Bass Clarinet</a>), the bell does need to be turned quite a bit to the left to make the low C key connection work, but this is also not too much of an issue, and I hardly notice anymore.<br />
<br />
Close inspection revealed very nicely finished toneholes, a very smooth bore free of burrs or imperfections, and quite meticulously fitted keywork. The Selmer-style upper joint trill keys are particularly attractive to me, and I quite enjoy the left hand low E/B and F#/C# keys, which require only slightly more effort than a Bb soprano clarinet.<br />
<br />
The wood-shell case is also very snugly fitted and quite sturdy, with two very heavy-duty latches and a subway handle (end handle), which was a lovely surprise, as I expected a zippered foam horror that offered little to no protection.<br />
<br />
I have long been a very big fan of Tom Ridenour's, and I'm very happy to say that my experience with his Lyrique bass clarinet has only added to my admiration. Very few people know the clarinet better or love it more than he does, and it certainly shows in his current offerings. I am very proud (and fortunate!) to be able to say that I make the entirety of my living playing the clarinet around the world for thousands of people a week, and I do it with a Ridenour instrument.<br />
<br />
In summation, I would like to emphatically urge all woodwind doublers, or even symphonic bass clarinet players who absolutely cannot afford to buy a Buffet 1193 or a Selmer Privilege to audition a Lyrique bass. I really think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality of this instrument!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Check out me shredding some Shostakovich on this thing!
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<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/M4AOtzvi8jk?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/M4AOtzvi8jk?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-44136744348692691012013-12-23T12:15:00.000-05:002013-12-23T12:20:37.514-05:00Jeff Weissman and Chris McKenna Are Total F***ing Ninjas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSYtmbysV-m13LqBFV8YLZ208oiIQiZgsCg9dJ2g7EB_kOIQw4BMOkjoGSkJkX-Fj3wPKcJU1cuLNEp53xWWNpaJxUqh7oSHphO3RyEK-ZU6Vq8KJVrpZuLm2urltGXTzJHkyOBQ0axG-/s400/CAM01438.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top: Nickel-plated<br />
Bottom: Gold-plated</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If
you've read anything else I've ever written so far, you know that I'm
pretty nuts about woodwinds, and there aren't a whole lot of makers
out there whose instruments I have not tried...The Weissman-McKenna
flute, however, has long been one of the rarefied occupants of that
list. Their piccolos I've played quite a few of, and they certainly
deserve their reputation, because they are fabulous (and beautiful).
The flutes, however, have remained a mystery to me until this past
Thursday, when on a day of leisure in NYC during a break from my
current international touring gig, I decided to pop by the new
Chelsea location of Weissman Flutes and see what I could get my hands
on. Boy, am I glad I did! Not only did I walk in to see an old
colleague and friend, Michael Laderman, who I haven't seen in ages, sitting there, but
the awesome Luke Penella (master flute repairman and sax builder!)
was there and brought out a very beefy selection of Weissman-McKenna
flutes for me to try. </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm
still recovering from the experience. #hyperbolemaybe</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I
had absolutely NO idea that these flutes would possibly be as awesome
as they are. Now, if you know anything at all about the flute
business, you know who Jeff Weissman is. Not only is he a master
flute tech, great player, sought after teacher, piccolo guru, and
proprietor of the largest-inventoried flute shop in America, he also
builds one HELL of a flute. In partnership with Chris McKenna
(without question one of the most masterful and innovative headjoint makers of our
time), they are turning out some EXTREMELY
interesting flutes that play like you wouldn't believe. Among the
Weissman-McKenna models I tried that afternoon were a solid silver
with soldered tone holes that was entirely nickel plated (yes, I said
nickel); a silver head/heavywall nickel silver body, also heavily
nickel plated; a silver head/nickel silver body heavily gold plated
with some of the richest, pinkest rose gold I've ever seen; and a
silver head/silver body, unplated. All flutes had stunningly engraved
keys and body rings (but not lipplates), D# roller, and C# trill. (I
am extremely fond of the C# trill, and it makes me very happy that
they put it on almost all of their flutes. The D# roller is quite
nice, too.) </span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiO2ovppVBqavXMjvEBNZT-J1qjYweohL-2JbMBf5LI9-_dMrgRTqRvOzSgcUf0wjPeSlnV7-hLOlZkGr3kdB7ZeSPImEqZJzGy-Dc45fs94knqDVVyP2cqYSEDDZEElkB-k8pn38G_Evu/s320/CAM01444.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That engraving! That D# roller! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwBYFDRH2u5Uv-LTKbnKfeisBi0fbKjf0KGSDPc1S97u9Z7aJ2uA33P6z_CWFcUJu5NjRweufvZnPEpRDqY-muC5Omv-JgvM-fmOUS2CRB3Y_qKXm3U2OuT_MX_UYDJJFg3G39sqg4EQ2/s320/CAM01443.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish the C# trill was a standard feature on ALL flutes</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwBYFDRH2u5Uv-LTKbnKfeisBi0fbKjf0KGSDPc1S97u9Z7aJ2uA33P6z_CWFcUJu5NjRweufvZnPEpRDqY-muC5Omv-JgvM-fmOUS2CRB3Y_qKXm3U2OuT_MX_UYDJJFg3G39sqg4EQ2/s1600/CAM01443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now,
I suppose the first thing I should address is the whole nickel
situation. The vast majority of flute players, myself included, have
been conditioned to view nickel as purely the domain of the cheapest,
bottom-of-the-totem-pole, factory-made student flutes. I must confess
I raised an eyebrow at first when he handed me a nickel plated $6,000
flute. Obviously used to this reaction, he just smiled and said “Play
it. You'll like it”...and wow, was he right. The nickel plating
lends a brilliant darkness to the sound, and when you're holding a
high-end flute covered in nickel, it's almost easy to pretend it's
platinum plated, they look so similar. (I personally believe a large
part of the stigma surrounding nickel, in addition to its
inexpensiveness and use on basic instruments, is the fact that a
small percentage of the population is allergic to it. I myself tend
to make nickel go cloudy very quickly, which is why I prefer silver
or gold on all of my instruments, but I could probably live with it
for that sound!) Consistent from model to model is a huge,
voluminous, very present sound that possesses almost infinite color
possibilities. With the exception of my Sankyo, I don't think I have
ever played a flute that responded so well in the fourth octave. Both
my friend Michael (an extraordinarily accomplished flutist)
and I played all of these flutes, and not a single one of them missed
a high D, E, F, (or in Michael's case), F#. Ever. I even (I swear to
Cher this is a true story) played a D7 sustained with a dimuendo to p
and vibrato! It was almost...PRETTY. I can't even really do that on
MY headjoint, and I've had the damn thing for the better part of a
decade! I would need to spend some more time with a selection of the
same model in various finishes to determine whether or not the nickel
has anything to do with this, but my current impression is that the
extreme upper range of the instrument is somehow enhanced on the
nickel plated models. I had a tiny bit more difficulty up there on the
gold plated and bare silver models, though it was still EXCELLENT.
(Never. Missed. An. E7. Seriously.)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpY_Ivvseih8-Ocso-Mnh3jLVs0TatY9FkLzvLkhxvECNgOFGWY36gEkYXCo0nL09AVtRRq8eMXZs13mraRd6KZnvwIxLwBm8vWdQXw2vQ5eTLaEWJdN1Ta3RdJQLpOskhoTCasVAYMoX/s320/CAM01447.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gold-plated "Integrity" model, with engraved rings</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In
an interesting (possibly refreshing?) departure from the current
trend of most flutemakers to have an almost dizzying array of
different headjoint cuts, the McKenna headjoint paired with the
Weissman-McKenna flute is of one type (quite similar to how Muramatsu
does things), and it is the result of a great deal of experimentation
to find an ideal cut for the demands of today's orchestral and solo
player, but without losing the color and personality of the
older-style headjoints found on the prized “Golden Age” Powell
and Haynes flutes, and even the vintage French flutes. The
Weissman-McKenna flute headjoint is a beautifully rounded square cut
with nice pillowy overcutting on the sides, but not too extreme.
Riser seems to be of medium height, allowing for a wide range of
airstream angles and strike points, but without sacrificing either
dynamic range, response, or tone color variation. It's really one of
the most perfect heads I've played in a while...I'd put it up there
with the Hammig 9K or 15% gold heads, I liked it that much. (In fact,
and don't tell ANYBODY I said this...I think I might even like it a tiny bit better than my
trusty ol' Sankyo RT-3. I know. Wow.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The
last major thing I want to touch on is the scale...the intonation of
these things is just freaking FANTASTIC. I literally could not play
the dreaded E6 out of tune at any dynamic. It just wouldn't budge (at
least not outside of an acceptable range of say, 2 cents). From
bottom to top, it slotted beautifully, with no messy weird C# or D
issues in any octave, and nothing sagged or spiked in the top. (Even
high Ab!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">During
the course of the afternoon, I also played a lovely vintage Powell, a
brand new handmade Powell, two Miyazawas (a Boston Classic and a
402), a Sankyo 401 (#TeamSankyo!), a Burkart-Phelan, and an
amazeballs vintage Haynes, and I firmly believe the Weissman-McKenna
flutes stood their ground admirably next to any of these great
flutes. (In fact in several cases, the W-M was clearly superior in
many aspects).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyB41tM_zR8AaW2zef1HADu0JFtEmBGUYKlBW_mDDHmTJYq8s2UE4KALdXXabSsn0CQ6x-EZGO3q5lcQlKBOFBextRHUPfNKHZ_nD5YIBUzFJQFh8hH2VR5431j4tVLo23RLRqjA0qgC8/s640/CAM01451.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="384" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weissmans and Powells and Sankyo, oh my!</td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The
shop is incredibly accessible, as are the fellows themselves, so I
really would urge you all to get your mitts on one of these and give
it a spin! I think you'll dig them. :) (I also have it on very good
authority that one of the biggest names in the NY flute scene traded
in his prized Powell for a Weissman-McKenna, and is using it 8 times
a week to great ovation :) )</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Perhaps
best of ALL is that the W-M flute is available in a wide range of
price points to fit any budget, and the quality is just as good at
the lower end of the dollar scale as it is at the top! </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don't
just take my word for it, though, go play 'em! :-) </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.jbwflutes.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The Weissman Flutes Website</span></a></div>
Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-16574290096645198372013-11-07T15:48:00.004-05:002013-11-07T15:48:22.678-05:00A Divine International Reform-ation...or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Buffet: Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">While the last entry
was devoted entirely to the Buffet Divine, this one will cover the
remaining two instruments referenced in the title, the Peter Eaton
“International” and the Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm model 187. (It
turns out I had a lot more to say about the Divine than I thought I
did!)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> One of the most
wonderful things about what I do for a living is that because I
travel so extensively, I am frequently able to try out instruments
that I never, ever would get my hands on otherwise. My recent trip to
Japan provided me with several opportunities to try out instruments
on my gearhead bucket list, and one of those instruments was the
Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm clarinet. The Wurlitzer clarinet is absolutely
LEGENDARY in the clarinet world, and has been the de facto instrument
of choice for German clarinetists for generations. I have been
fortunate enough to try out two different sets of Wurlitzer Oehler
system clarinets over the last decade or so, and the reputation is
well deserved. The build quality is second to none, and the wood they
use is beautifully aged and dense. These days, of course, there are
many more clarinet makers than there used to be, even in the world of
the Oehler system, but Wurlitzer is still top of the heap, and their
Boehm system clarinets are no less impressive. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I
don't want this to turn into too much of a drudge-laden history
lesson in the development of the clarinet, so I'm going to operate
under the assumption that if you're reading this, you are at the very
least aware of the difference between Boehm and Oehler system
clarinets, and that you know that the clarinet that you and I and
every high school band kid in America plays is a Boehm one. The
Reform-Boehm clarinet is an effort to merge the facile key system of
the Boehm clarinet (with additions and improvements that were
originally part of the design, but removed in the early 20</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
century in a bid to simplify the mass production of the clarinet)
with the dark, focused, rich, powerful, colorful sound of the German
Oehler system clarinet. It is of course a matter of personal taste,
but I find that the inherent tonal quality of the German clarinet to
be vastly superior to that of the French clarinet. Wurlitzer's
website has a lovely article on the Reform system, complete with
musical examples of the improved functionality of the mechanism,
which you can read here:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <a href="http://wurlitzerclarinetsamerica.com/learn/definition.html" target="_blank">http://wurlitzerclarinetsamerica.com/learn/definition.html</a></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
I was in Tokyo, I went to a shop called Dolce, which is something of
a paradise for woodwind junkies. In the clarinet salon, they had a
set of Wurlitzer RB clarinets, in Bb, A and Eb, just BEGGING to be
tried. I immediately commandeered the Bb and sequestered myself in a
trial studio, whipped out my trusty Vandoren B40D German mouthpiece
(my Old Faithful!) and went to town. With the very first note I blew,
I was in love. Like, crazy scary restraining-order Tony-and-Maria
kind of love. The focus in the sound is laser-like, but it's a dark,
heavy-cored kind of sound. If it were visible, I'd expect the sound
to be a dark velvety royal purple color. (Kind of like a Crown Royal
bag, but in light saber form...) It played almost freakishly evenly
throughout the entire range of the instrument, with absolutely no
change in tonal character from the bottom to the top. It took a few
minutes of conscious work to play without the automatic embouchure
compensation one gets used to on one's own clarinet, but once I
relaxed into it and found the right combination of airflow and
embouchure control, the thing just sang. The intonation is EXCELLENT
on this instrument. So much so that it almost felt incorrect...I was
CERTAIN that the upper clarion was flat, but turning on the strobe
tuner proved that to be most untrue. I think we're just so used to
feeling and hearing that register of the clarinet sharp and having to
compensate for it that NOT having to do that just seems...wrong. The
solidity and darkness of the upper clarion and lower altissimo was
also quite a unique experience. It just doesn't get thin up there! </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
keywork on this clarinet is really what makes you realize that you're
playing something quite different. The rollers on the right hand
pinky keys, the wraparound speaker key, the left hand Eb/Ab, the
resonance keys on the lower joint, the elongated RH1 Eb/Bb
touchpiece, the double F/C toneholes...it's a mechanical masterpiece,
and it isn't even the fullest system Wurlitzer has to offer. This
particular model was lacking the LH3 ring on the upper joint, the
C#/G# trill extension and the low E/F correction mechanism found on
the model 185. Even so, I'd take it in a heartbeat :) The rollers
between C/F and Eb/Ab are priceless, and extending the Bb/Eb side key
makes its use completely reflexive and natural. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
do have to say, however, that the placement of the (fixed) thumbrest
was almost agonizing, and caused me to have to stop a few times and
shake out my hand because it was cramping so badly. It was almost
comically high up on the lower joint. If I were ever fortunate enough
to own one of these instruments, the VERY first thing I would do
would be to replace the thumbrest with an adjustable one. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
recorded a short video of my experience with the instrument, and I
think it's clear almost from the very first note that this is a very
special clarinet indeed, and anybody who is interested in thinking a
bit outside the box and exploring a different sound should very much
consider getting their hands on one of these babies and giving it a
try!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KQ1FQotR5mA" width="420"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
last clarinet in this trifecta of awesome is the Peter Eaton
International model. Many of you may not be terribly aware of Peter's
instruments, but they are widely played in England, and are in fact
direct descendants of the famed Boosey and Hawkes 1010 clarinets that
the entire English school of clarinet playing was founded on. Peter
makes 2 models of clarinet, the “Elite” and the “International”.
Those of you who are familiar with the English school of clarinetting
know that they use very large-bored instruments which have an almost
unnaturally smooth, dark, beautiful (if somewhat inflexible) sound.
Emma Johnson, Gervase de Peyer, and Reginald Kell are some of the
most well-known players in this tradition. (All of whom, by the way,
play or played either a B&H 1010 or a Peter Eaton)</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Eaton “Elite” model is the traditional large-bore English
clarinet, with the lovely creamy sound, and is totally incompatible
with the mouthpieces that we Americans are used to using on our
Buffets and Selmers. For this reason, he created the “International”
model, with the more common smaller French-style bore, but retaining
the thick walls and design features of the Elite (which are in turn
based on the Boosey and Hawkes clarinets) such as the ringless
</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">flat-edged</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
bell, the wide, flat tenon rings, and the “fingernail file”
crosshatched textured LH F/C key. </span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> This
instrument (I tried out an A clarinet on this visit, btw, not a Bb.
The only Bb they had was an Elite) is probably one of the top 5 A
clarinets I have ever picked up, and was a revelation of tone color
and legato playing. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">From
bottom to top, it was rich and smooth, as though the sound were made
of heavy whipping cream, and as near as I could tell in the confines
of the trial room, capable of an enormous amount of projection
despite the darkness of the sound. (I know, I know...THAT word
again!) I was a bit worried that this incredible sound would come at
the expense of response, but that turned out to be unfounded.
Staccato playing was nearly effortless, which is surprising for an
instrument of such weight, both tonal and physical. (This is a HEAVY
clarinet. Like, Selmer Recital-heavy.) </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The
keywork is extremely solid and was very, very, very heavily silver
plated. I cannot imagine anybody EVER managing to eat through the
plating on this baby! The textured F/C lever was a nice touch, and I
find the flat style rings to be quite beautiful. The wood was also
very dense and beautifully tight-grained. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Intonation
was very, very good throughout the range, with only a slight bit of
flatness in the altissimo which was very easily dealt with. Low E and
F were rather noticeably flat at large dynamics, but...it's a
clarinet, so there you go. Intervallic response was top-tier, and
upper register spoke very cleanly with a lovely lyric quality, rather
like a fine dramatic soprano. (More Damrau than Dessay, if you know
what I mean.)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I
actually can't really think of any negative criticisms about this
particular clarinet, save that the weight might be prohibitive to
small players, or clarinetists with hand/wrist/forearm problems. Then
again, that's what neckstraps are for, eh? :-) </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> As
always, dear readers, I've made a little video demo for you. I hope
you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed playing it, and I do
hope that you get a chance to play one yourself someday! </span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FmV3uKD12yQ" width="420"></iframe>
Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-82156536882748196302013-10-22T00:21:00.001-04:002013-10-23T15:45:44.154-04:00A Divine International Reform-ation...or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Buffet: Part I<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This will be the first
entry in a series of posts chronicling my adventures in
instrument-land during my six-week long trip to Japan, where we
wrapped up the 2012-2013 international tour of the Broadway show
“Dreamgirls”. Tokyo has some of the most intensely well-stocked
music stores on the planet, and I made as many trips to as many of
them as I could get away with without seeming completely insane.
While I tried more flutes than anything (by quite a large margin), I
also got in quite a few clarinets, oboes, English horns, and even a
bassoon or two. This particular series of posts will focus on the
clarinets, and in particular, three of the finest clarinets I've ever
had the privilege of putting my fingers on...the new Buffet <i>Divine</i>,
the Peter Eaton “<i>International</i>”, and the Wurlitzer
<i>Reform</i>-Boehm model 187. (See what I did there?) </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I will probably do a
follow-up post addressing the other clarinets I got to hang out with
while I was there. :)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To write this in the
spirit of honesty, I must first start by saying
that I have never, ever really liked Buffet clarinets very much (the one exception
being the Festival. I have always greatly liked the Festival), and
not once have I ever played one professionally or otherwise,
actually...except for the E11 that I had for a year in high school,
and I have never understood why people have always gone so crazy for
them, particularly the R13. Yes, I suppose in the right hands, they
do have a lovely sound (if often a bit bright for my tastes), but the
unevenness in resistance and sound quality between hands and between
the various registers of the instrument, the inherent difficulties in
intonation (widest. 12Ths. Ever!) and, lately, the questionable build choices (seriously? Nylon key pins that are GUARANTEED to snap on an
instrument that costs the equivalent of the average American monthly
salary?) have all just made it seem like more work than it's worth to
play a Buffet. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I personally have always preferred Leblanc clarinets,
specifically the ones designed by clari-genius Tom Ridenour in the
90s. My first “real” clarinet was a Leblanc Sonata, and it was
followed first by a pair of Infinités,
then a pair of Opuses (Opera?), then a Concerto Eb joined
the family, and then
another Opus in rosewood
(one of only 27 that were ever made before the model was called the
“Symphonie VII”, and then all the rosewood burned in a fire in
the factory in France, which was probably one of the most awful
things ever to happen to the clarinet universe). I instantly fell in
love with the evenness of that era of Leblanc, and the fantastic
intonation, and most of all, the dark, creamy sound. My
entire concept of how I want to sound on the clarinet was built from
the ground up on these instruments, and though it has evolved
slightly over the years, that is still the sound I hear in my head,
and the feeling I look for when I play a clarinet. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">More
recently (about five
years ago, I'd say?) I switched it up a bit. A clarinet wizard from
Vancouver named Morrie Backun (whose barrels and bells I'd been
playing on for YEARS...I bought my
first barrel back in 2001,
and have always used them) partnered with Leblanc to create a line of
clarinets that combined That Sound with Backun innovation, so of
course I tried them...and immediately switched to the Leblanc Legacy.
I defy anybody to claim that this is not one of the absolute finest
production model clarinets to have ever existed in the history of
clarinetistry, and I continue to play them. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> However,
that does not mean that there are not some other extraordinary
clarinets being made out there, and that's precisely what this blog
post is about! There are dozens of instruments out there that I would
gladly play
on a daily basis for the rest of my life, which is kind of awesome
and also kind of hugely irritating, because I'm a Libra, and I can't
make decisions! :) </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I've
meandered off topic a
bit, but with good intentions. Now that you know I am absolutely NOT
a Buffet fanboi or a secret card-carrying member of the “Buffet
Mafia”, let's talk about their newest offering, the “Divine”. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Aptly
named, sirs and madams, aptly named. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Divine fits into the Buffet lineup directly next to the Tosca; what
the Tosca is to the R13 bore family, the Divine is to the RC. Now, I
actually like the Tosca, don't get me wrong...the
intonation is pretty darn good, it's got a HUGE sound, it feels
great in the hands, and some of the very finest clarinetists I know play them. HOWEVER, the
Tosca, being the Granddaddy of All R13s, still has some of that
laser-beam-ish quality to my ear, and it can come across as a bit raucous at
times. The Divine, on the other hand, has all of that power and
agility and great intonation, but it feels as though the edges have been polished
off the sound a bit. It possesses a roundness that carries up through the various registers of the clarinet, and that roundness seems to stick around even at
dynamic extremes. I also seem to recall noticing that the Divine has metal (or perhaps carbon fiber?) pins on the long E/B and F#/C# keys instead of the white nylon they use on the lower models. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A story: The first time I ever encountered the
Divine was at the Buffet Showroom in New York, where I spent a lovely
afternoon with showroom
manager Laurie Orr (an
absolute PEACH of a woman! Love her!) trying out pretty much
everything on display. She mentioned that many people had said that
they thought the Divine was not capable of being played as powerfully as it might need to be in orchestral situations, and certainly not in comparison with the
Tosca. So, I picked up a Tosca, and I played a three octave F major
scale up, down, and in
arpeggios, as loudly as I
absolutely possibly could without sounding like an angry 4<sup>th</sup>
grader, then I played a
short cadenza from “Capriccio Espagnol” (the one starting on the
low A, pianissimo, and progressively sweeping through an Am7 arpeggio
up to high C and back down, with accompanying dynamic changes, which is one of my absolute FAVORITE excerpts for trying clarinets, because it tells me a lot about the instrument I'm testing). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then...I did the same thing on the Divine. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The look on her face was
priceless. You see, Laurie is the absolute BEST kind of person to
demonstrate this kind of thing in front of, because Laurie is not a
clarinetist. She IS, however, a musician, and therefore offers an
excellent and impartial
ear without any sort of
clarinet-player preset ideas
or judgments.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her
observation was that the Divine was in fact JUST as loud as the Tosca
(my shoes vibrated, for real), but the sound maintains such a
roundness and smoothness that it doesn't SEEM as loud. However, in a
real, physical, measuring-decibels way, the Divine can be pushed just as much as the Tosca. It is a tiny smidge less free-blowing, however, so
that bit of extra resistance from the player's point of view might
lead to a belief that the sound isn't as open and large as you want
it to be. This is incorrect.
The end result to the listener is a very heroic symphonic forte with no loss of
beauty in the sound, whereas the Tosca can get downright brutal if
you let it. Of course,
everyone will have different experiences with both of these
instruments, depending upon your own personal playing style,
mouthpiece/reed setup, etc etc, but I've now played at least six
Divines (in both Bb and
A), and far more Toscas,
and these impressions have held true for
me throughout the lines. </span>
</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
evenness throughout the range of the instrument is also quite
wonderful. It plays very fluidly between registers with very little manipulation of the embouchure needed, even for very
large intervals. The upper clarion register is also beautifully sweet and lyrical, with almost a human soprano quality.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">On
the less positive side of things, I really dislike Buffet's
approach to the low F correction mechanism found on both the Divine and the Tosca, which places a mini
version of the right hand pinky keys underneath the low F key (where the low D key is on their 1193 bass clarinet and the basset horn), where
it's quite awkward to reach, and you have to remember to reach for it
in the first place and then put the finger back where it belongs. I vastly prefer Selmer's automatic low-F
correction mechanism which is connected to the register key and
operates via a bridge between the upper and lower joints, a mechanism
which Backun is also currently employing on the MoBa clarinets. I
also quite like the German approach, which Yamaha has adopted with
the CSG-III, of a thumb-actuated mechanism for the correction. Your
pinky doesn't have to learn anything new, and it's relatively simply
to throw the thumb on when you're playing a loud low F. I
did also notice that while the extreme altissimo does respond very
nicely on the Divine, it can be a little thin and screamy, but then again...a
written D7 has a hard time being anything but. :) I also feel like
players who are die-hard R13 players and have that sound concept
ingrained in their playing will not find the Divine's particular
voice at all to their taste, because it IS very different, there's no
getting around that.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To
clarinetists who are curious about the Divine, I would implore you
not to pay heed to the various comments on the web that decry it as
“thin” and “bright” and “lacking in projection”, because
none of those things are inherently true, and
just go out there and try a Divine for yourself.
Give it a shot, you just might like it!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(I
should add that it is also a very visually stunning instrument, as
Buffet has done away with traditional metal tenon rings and replaced
them with carbon fiber bands, resulting in a very sleek-lined
instrument that flows visually from top to bottom. As with all Buffet clarinets, gold plated keys are an option, and I cannot even IMAGINE how gorgeous *THAT* would be!)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
summation...you've won me over, Buffet. I would play the Divine any
day, and love every second of it! :) </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Here's a short video of me playing around with the Divine for a few minutes in Japan. (It's difficult to get a recording that really does it justice, especially in a music store trial room)...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">For those who wonder these kinds of things, I'm testing the Divine using a Rico Reserve X10 mouthpiece, a Vandoren 56 Rue LePic 3.5 reed, and an 18K-gold plated Brancher ligature. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UEpsRcXg5Ns" width="420"></iframe><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
And here is a video that features everyone's favorite clarinetting Scandinavian supermodel, Martin Frost, (mostly) playing and discussing the Divine (video courtesy of the official Buffet Crampon Youtube channel): </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/90MW0xj2YQc" width="560"></iframe></span>Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-82854878891916851552013-01-29T19:45:00.000-05:002014-07-01T19:06:18.132-04:00The Colors Of The Rainb…oboe<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 26.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Colors Of The Rainb…oboe (Yeah.
Wow, that’s bad.)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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If you’re an American oboist, chances are you play a Loree, have at some point
played a Loree, or have at least been told “You know, you should really buy a
Loree.” For a very long time, this was good advice…the universe of the
oboe maker was a very small one (quantum, really), and much like getting your
coffee at Starbucks, if you bought a Loree you had a very good idea of what you
were getting, and you were probably going to like it. (After all, they’ve been
making oboes since 1881!) I won’t go into great detail about the history of
Francois Loree and his oboes, because there are five million other places you can
look online and read about it; and frankly, they probably do a better job of it
than I would. My point is simply that for most of the 20th century, if you
played the oboe, and you played the oboe with any remote degree of seriousness,
your option in fine oboes was Loree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Toward the middle of the 20th century (the early middle…it
was the 30s), one Mr. Alfred Laubin woke up one day, took a figurative look
around at the oboes available to him (for he was a fine oboist, was our Mr.
Laubin) and he said “Uh-uh. No ma’am” and set to building the oboe that HE
wanted to play. It took a few tries, but he finally got it right, and by the
end of the 50s, his son Paul had joined the business and it was all oboes, all
the time. Now, you could play a Loree OR a Laubin! (And many, many people chose
the latter). Across the pond, there were two other French makers
turning out beautiful instruments that were quite popular on the Continent,
Rigoutat and Marigaux, but they had for the most part been ignored by the American
school of oboe playing; largely in part because most American oboists were
musically descended from the great Marcel Tabuteau, who just happened to play a
Loree oboe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Nowadays, however, the situation is remarkably changed…there has
never been such an abundance of top-flight oboe makers, and while I find it
terribly exciting, it also saddens me a bit that I regularly encounter oboists
who not only have never tried any of them, haven’t even HEARD of most of them.
I shall do what I can to fix this (but I’m only one person)!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll begin with Those OTHER French Oboe Guys: Marigaux and
Rigoutat. Now, I’d wager that nearly all professional oboists in America have
not only heard of them, but have probably at some point tried them. (And, if
the oboists I personally know are any indication, a lot of you are PLAYING them
now.) The popularity of these two makers has increased exponentially in recent
years, though they are still considerably more popular globally than they are
in America. Many of the world’s finest oboists play one of these two,
including one of my favorite oboe players in the entire galaxy, Diana Doherty
(principal of the Sydney Symphony, who is giving it to the kids daily with her
fierce Marigaux M2). The legendary soloist Heinz Holliger plays Rigoutat, and
has done quite a bit to popularize the brand. My experience with both of
the brands is somewhat comprehensive, as I have played several examples of each
of their current models (with the exception of the new Rigoutat “J”, of which I
have only played one.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Marigaux ( <a href="http://www.marigaux.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.marigaux.com/</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">They are both fantastic oboes, but if I were to pick one,
it would be Marigaux. Their oboes are simply stunning…whether you pick the 901,
the 2001, or the M2, you are getting a rich, fat, creamy tone; extreme reed-friendliness,
and in the case of the 2001 and M2, some serious ergonomics. The pinky keys on
both hands have been completely redesigned on these instruments, and they are
comfortable indeed. The 901 is their basic workhorse professional model, and you
will find a 901 somewhere in nearly every major symphonic oboe section on the
planet (outside of the United States, that is). They are a marvelous choice for
2nd oboists because of their excellent response down low and the ease with
which you can match tone colors with the principal. The 901 is an
extraordinarily forgiving instrument, and one that will work for just about
anybody. The 2001 has a very soloistic sort of bravura color to the sound,
though maintaining that trademark Marigaux warmth. (Incidentally, the 2001 also
has the most stable C5 and C6 I have ever experienced in my LIFE). The 2000
series is also available in a crystal clear material called “Altuglass”, with
gold plated keys, and is one of the most visually arresting instruments ever
made. The M2 sonically is very similar
to the 2001, but has a remarkably innovative construction wherein the top joint
of the oboe is extremely short, terminating just above the C#/D trill keys, and
you are provided with top joints in wood and phenol resin for crack resistance.
The middle joint, then, is therefore much longer, and the bell remains the
same. Very interesting looking instrument and it has caught on in the oboe world
like a house afire! If someone were to hand me $10,000 right now and say
“YOU MUST BUY AN OBOE WITH THIS”, the odds are rather good that it’d be a
Marigaux. (Here's Diana creating magic on her Marigaux: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlGbRcN92Q" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlGbRcN92Q</a> )<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Rigoutat ( <a href="http://www.rigoutat.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.rigoutat.com/</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I enjoy the Rigoutat instruments for the lovely sweet (though
perhaps a tiggysquidge bright for my tastes) sound they all seem to have in
common, though I find the Expression model to have a bit more oomph than the
Evolution or the Symphony (however one of the finest and richest sounding oboes
I’ve ever played happened to be an Evolution in violetwood, so it just goes to
show you, exceptions are the rule!). The “J” model is a horse of a different
color entirely, though. Beautiful, round warm sound, great response up top, and
a buttery low register; basically, Rigoutat made a Marigaux. It’s
exceptional. I would imagine that this instrument in violetwood (also
known as kingwood, they’re both names for<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>dalbergia
caerensis*</em>) would be something approaching Biblical in its
awesomeness. (The one I played was boring ol’ grenadilla, or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>dalbergia melanoxylon*</em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span> if
you’re nasty). The French oboists love ‘em! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I would be remiss if I did not include a word about the RIEC (RIgoutat ECole) intermediate model oboe and English horn. These are exceptional instruments, and I would put the RIEC English horn perhaps actually slightly ahead of the Fossati Tiery and Howarth S40 in terms of sound quality and playability, it's that good. They may be marketed as "intermediate" instruments (The "Delphine" is the student model), but they are definitely professional quality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(Incidentally, I believe that
Rigoutat English horns are the most commonly played English horns in
Continental Europe. They’re wonderful, wonderful instruments.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>* did you know that grenadilla (m’pingo/African blackwood/that stuff
that just about all clarinets, oboes and piccolos are made of) is actually a
rosewood? Technically, ALL members of the</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span><em><b>Dalbergia</b></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span><strong>genus are rosewoods…some are just way
prettier and softer than others. So, really, we *all* play rosewood oboes!
YAY! The whole “rosewood” topic is actually sort of a hobby horse
of mine, and I could write TONS about it, but I’ll save it for another day.
Suffice it to say that I am a very big fan of “exotic” woods, and use them
whenever possible.</strong><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fossati ( <a href="http://fossati-paris.com/index.php?langue=en"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://fossati-paris.com/index.php?langue=en</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For some godforsaken insane reason, almost no other oboe
player I know in this country has even HEARD of Fossati, let alone entertained
the idea of playing one. I find this particularly maddening because…well,
because *I* play a Fossati. Fossati has, by and large, been my oboe of choice
for YEARS (except for that short period of time where I didn’t play a Fossati,
and we’ll talk about that later). These instruments are glorious, and
they get better and better every year. They have a model out now, the MB, which
is so good it will make you SLAP SOMEBODY. I currently play a Soliste
model with mother-of-pearl inlays in the keys, and a matching Soliste English
horn (minus the pearl), and they are the sweet baby Jesuses of the oboe world.
Their E30 “Tiery” model is also an extraordinary piece of oboe meat. It’s very
affordable, and has the full conservatory keywork, including the 3rd octave
key. It is totally a pro instrument in every way, and it’s amazing to me that
it’s marketed as an intermediate model, but hallelu, because it’s also priced
accordingly. The E30 is a doubler’s dream…very flexible and reed-friendly,
sounds great, and won’t break the bank. I’ve played a Tiery on several cast
albums, in countless pit orchestras, and even a few symphony gigs. (This is the Tchaik 4 solo on my Tiery: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix2ObTCrMgg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix2ObTCrMgg</a> ) I’d put it
up against anybody’s Loree (or Laubin) any day. The Soliste, however, takes all
that awesomeness and magnifies it by about a trillion. Rich, buttery, sweet,
warm, penetrating, whatever you are trying to get out of it, it’ll give you.
The scale is also fantastic. These things are REALLY in tune! They make their
instruments in several woods, including cocobolo, violetwood/kingwood, and a
beautiful wood called<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>gaiac,</em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>which we know better as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>lignum vitae.</em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>In
the past, they have made instruments from pink ivory and snakewood, as well.
You can also get your keys gold plated, rhodium-enhanced-silver-plated with
gold posts and bands, and/or inlaid with mother of pearl. They even have a
model, the Soliste V Anniversary, which features keywork plated in black
ruthenium with gold posts/bands. Truly a stunning instrument, and performance
to match the appearance. Those of you who have never tried a Fossati oboe would
be doing yourselves a grave disservice if you did not get your hands on one and
give them a go. I think you’ll be surprised at just how easy it can be to play
the oboe!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(On second thought, that $10,000 from would probably go to
Fossati, who am I kidding? But maybe not…read on!)</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Moennig ( <a href="http://www.moennig-adler.de/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.moennig-adler.de/</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This spectacular German maker has made quite a splash on
the scene recently with the “Albrecht Mayer Platinum” model oboe, distributed
in the United States by Tong Cui of Innoledy (<a href="http://www.innoledy.com/">http://www.innoledy.com</a>
). Though they’ve been around absolutely forever, Moennig has become very
visible in the marketplace lately for their amazingly well-crafted oboes and
bassoons. The AM model has been a huge hit at oboe festivals worldwide, as well
it should be. I had the opportunity to take one on trial from Innoledy (along
with a Diamant model English horn), and it was mind-blowingly good. It is the
darkest, most liquid-sounding oboe I’ve ever played, with wonderfully
innovative keywork (the right hand pinky keys, for example, all have rollers on
them). The build quality is astonishing, with as much precision as a Swiss
watch, and the grenadilla wood used was absolutely stunning. Albrecht himself
designed this oboe over several years of collaboration with Ludwig Frank, and
is the oboe he now plays exclusively, after many years on a highly-customized
Buffet Greenline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The “Diamant” and “Richard Wagner” model English horns
should quickly find their way into the hands of most of the world’s top English
horn players, as well. (They already have in New York, where Metropolitan Opera
solo English hornist Pedro Diaz plays them). The RW model comes with two bells,
one traditionally shaped and one which looks like a very large clarinet bell,
and this bell transforms the English horn into something like a cross between a
Heckelphone and an alphorn in terms of carrying power, without sacrificing the
beautiful melancholic quality that defines the sound of the English horn.
Tristan will never be the same! (One should note that the bells of the Moennig
English horns are all constructed from cocobolo, which gives a gorgeous
resonance to the sound and also reduces the overall weight of the instrument a
bit.) My thoughts on the Diamant English horn, expressed in a rambling incoherent manner with poor cell phone recording quality: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCc2cOKHv3o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCc2cOKHv3o</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Adler ( <a href="http://www.moennig-adler.de/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.moennig-adler.de/</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Made in the same workshop in Markneukirchen as the Moennig
instruments, Adler oboes (and bassoons, which happens to be the bassoon I play)
are very solidly built instruments that possess excellent scale and lovely dark
sounds. The Adler 6000 oboe is a full-Conservatory model that would fit any
advanced student/amateur/doubling oboists needs quite well, and probably would
not need to be upgraded from. It is also available in cocobolo wood, for those
who like that sort of thing. (And boy, do I like that sort of thing!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ludwig Frank ( <a href="http://www.frankundmeyer.de/">http://www.frankundmeyer.de</a> )<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ludwig Frank is one of the shining stars in the constellation of
oboe makers on Earth today. His instruments are meticulously designed and
crafted, and they are beloved by principal players and soloists around the
world, particularly in Europe. He is the driving force behind the Moennig
Albrecht Mayer “Platinum” model oboe, and the oboes bearing his own name are
delectable works of art. Another one of my favorite oboists, Yeon-Hee Kwak,
plays a Frank, and you can hear it in her soul-shattering performance of Ennio
Morricone’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” on Youtube (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU</a>). I would give anything to own an LF “Brilliant”
model oboe in violetwood with gold keys. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Howarth ( <a href="http://www.howarth.uk.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.howarth.uk.com</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">An institution in England, Howarth oboes have finally
achieved the global recognition they deserve in the past ten years or so,
especially with the advent of the XL model, which is very quickly becoming the oboe
of choice for many esteemed oboe soloists and principal players the world over.
From the S20 student model to the XL in cocobolo with gold keys, Howarth oboes
deliver excellent craftsmanship, a very solid and stable sound concept, reed
friendliness, and an exceptionally comfortable mechanism. I am a very big fan
of these instruments, and played a Howarth English horn for several years. Were
I a wealthy man, a cocobolo Howarth XL would absolutely be in my arsenal. I
have never, ever played one I did not like. Much the same can be said for the
entire line…in fact, along with the Fossati Tiery E30, the oboe I most
frequently recommend to friends, fellow doublers and advanced students is the
Howarth S40, which gives you all the bells and whistles you need (save the
split D#/E ring, and really, who’s gonna miss that? The D key is vented anyway)
at a price that isn’t completely shocking. There are many places in the
US you can find Howarth oboes, some of my favorites of which are Innoledy in
NYC (http://www.innoledy.com), RDG Woodwinds in LA
(http://www.rdgwoodwinds.com), Midwest Musical Imports
(http://www.mmimports.com) and Oboe Chicago (http://www.oboechicago.com) . If
you’re in the market for a new oboe, you absolutely must try a Howarth or 3. If
you don’t, then you are seriously missing out! (Also, seriously, their oboes
d’amore and English horns are among the best on the PLANET.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Bulgheroni ( <a href="http://www.bulgheroni.it/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.bulgheroni.it</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">From a small family-owned workshop on the shores of Lake
Como in Italy comes the Bulgheroni oboe (and oboe d’amore, English horn and
piccolo, of all things). I mentioned earlier in the Fossati section that there
was a period of time where I did not play a Fossati…during this time, I played
a Bulgheroni and a Patricola. The Bulgheroni oboe is one of the best-kept
secrets in the oboe world, and their newest offering, the “Musa” should be a
total game-changer in the high-end oboe market. The oboe that I played was the
“Artist” model, which is a full-conservatory standard professional instrument,
equivalent to a standard Loree C+3, Fox 400, Howarth S5, etc. What I enjoyed
the most about my Bulgheroni, and indeed every one I’ve played since, is the
evenness of tone from bottom to top. It is a very, very smooth instrument, and
the response in the bottom register is nearly unparalleled. The keywork is also
very, very heavily plated for durability, and they offer a variety of platings
to choose from. Bulgheroni also offers an unprecedented SIX wood options
(grenadilla, violetwood/kingwood, cocobolo, Brazilian rosewood, Honduran
rosewood, and cocuswood) , and not just on their top model, either. The
“Opera” model is one of the finest oboes you can buy, and it will cost you
considerably less than an equivalent instrument from one of the other big makers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Patricola ( <a href="http://www.patricola.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.patricola.com/</span></a> )</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Known for the stunningly red Brazilian rosewood they use,
Patricola oboes are also handcrafted by a family in Italy, and make some of the
loveliest oboes/oboes d’amore/English horns/clarinets I’ve ever seen or played.
I played a rosewood Patricola oboe with gold keys for quite some time, and not
only was it physically stunning, it had one of the most complex, magical sounds
of any oboe I’ve ever played, though I did have to work a bit harder in the
upper register to stabilize intonation, and it wasn’t quite as reed-friendly as
some other oboes I’ve played. The scale is quite good (and improving
every year…Patricola does huge amounts of work to constantly improve their
instruments, and they get noticeably better all the time. Dying to try the
newest “Rigoletto” model!), and it was a very comfortable instrument to play
for long periods of time. This is a brand you absolutely MUST try if you wish
to buy a handcrafted professional oboe but you are on a somewhat restrictive
budget. They also come up used on eBay quite often (or are sold by large
retailers via their eBay stores), and they are always quite affordable.
Definitely a great way to make a visual splash if you’re the sort of
person who likes to be different and stand out from the crowd!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fox ( <a href="http://www.foxproducts.com/index.php/instruments/oboes"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.foxproducts.com/index.php/instruments/oboes</span></a>
)</span></strong><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What would a discussion of oboes be without mentioning Fox?
Entirely built here in the good old U.S of A., these instruments are some of
the most reliable oboes out there, and the foundation on which many a student
has built their oboe-playing career (myself included). The Renard series
(330/333) are probably THE most popular student/intermediate oboes in America,
and for good reason. They sound good, they play in tune, and they’re very
heartily built. The professional Fox oboes are equally solid, though with the
exception of the model 800, it could be said that they lack a bit of depth in
the sound and tend to be a bit homogenous, but it isn’t anything that a skilled
player with good reed skills can’t overcome. The most outstanding feature of
the Fox instruments, in my opinion, is the dazzlingly consistent build quality
and uber-stable intonation. If you’re looking for an oboe that will get
you through any gig, and not require huge amounts of work to play in tune, this
is it. They blend beautifully in a section, and the all-plastic professional
model 300 is a doubler’s DREAM, as well as being an invaluable backup for any
symphonic professional who has to endure summertime outdoor pops concerts. The
800 plays very much like a fine Loree, and the Fox English horns are absolutely
beautiful instruments. You already know about them, but you should try one
anyway if you haven’t in a while. Definitely put them on your shortlist if
you’re looking for a new instrument!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Buffet ( <a href="http://www.buffet-crampon.com/">http://www.buffet-crampon.com</a> )<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And then, of course, there is Buffet, maker of the (in?)famous
Greenline 3613 oboe. The Greenline material was developed by Buffet to combat
cracking and weather-related instability, and in that regard, it works
beautifully. I must admit, though, I have never been a big fan of the Greenline
oboes. I think oboe guru Peter Hurd ( <a href="http://www.oboes.us/">http://www.oboes.us</a>
) nailed it when he described them on his site as a “reed trumpet”. I have
always found them a bit on the brash side, they are unholy amounts of heavy,
and the middle tenons have an alarming tendency to shear clean off at the
slightest hint of wrong-ward pressure.
They can, however, be coaxed into bliss, as Albrecht Mayer proved. (Of
course, it took only a cursory glance to realize that Albrecht’s Buffet was
customized to within an inch of its life…the ivory-colored adornments on the
head and bell of his oboe made that clear! I believe it was Ludwig Frank who
worked on his Buffet, and eventually they just started from scratch and created
the Moennig AM model, but don’t quote me on that.) The all-wood Buffet 3613,
however, I have found to be a perfectly lovely instrument. Some quirky scale
issues (but the expected sort, like dodgy high Cs and top-of-staff Gs that
caused heart attacks), but they could be fixed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">However, Buffet has gone back to the oboe drawing board, and given
birth to the Orfeo. I have not tried one of these yet (if you can believe it!),
so I would LOVE to hear from those of you who have tried them, or bought them,
and let me know what you think about them! I am looking forward to getting my
hands on one…I would really love to love a Buffet oboe. (Though lord knows I do
not love their clarinets, but that is a different conversation entirely!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The new Buffet English horn, though? A thing of beauty. It looks
gorgeous (they’ve done away with the bell tenon ring), and it sounds stunning!
Very smooth, rich, and the scale is great. My impression was that it was like a
Howarth XL and a Fossati Soliste spawned. Definitely worth looking at it if you
are cor-shopping! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Hiniker (no website)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’d also like to briefly talk about Hiniker oboes. The waiting list is like, a million years
long, but with good reason. They’re absolutely spectacular instruments,
handbuilt by one of the most genius oboe acousticians since Gillet and
Triebert. Tom Hiniker is like, the Morrie Backun ( <a href="http://www.backunmusical.com/">http://www.backunmusical.com</a> ) of the
oboe world! These instruments are HIGHLY sought after by top-level players, and
they are stunning. Tom builds oboes out of a wide variety of woods (including
cocobolo, pink ivory, and snakewood), and has made an oboe entirely out of
clear acrylic, much like the Marigaux Altuglas oboe. Jonathan Marzluf has some
beautiful recordings on his website (<a href="http://www.marzlufreeds.com/audio_samples.php" target="_blank">http://www.marzlufreeds.com/audio_samples.php</a> ) of him playing on his cocobolo Hiniker, and
champion reedmaker Cooper Wright also has some extensive writing about the
Hinikers on his website, as does Peter Hurd (who owns/owned a mind-blowingly gorgeous
snakewood Hiniker oboe). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Dupin ( <a href="http://www.dupin-oboe.com/">http://www.dupin-oboe.com</a> )<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Roland Dupin has created
the absolute Lamborghini of oboes, the Dupin Imperial. This oboe has one of the
most unique appearances of any oboe on the market with its
Baroque-oboe-meets-Viennese-oboe headstock and bell, and the sound is
absolutely magical. Christoph Hartmann plays one, and you can see and hear it
on Youtube in his Youtube Symphony oboe masterclass (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EIgJvYx4AE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EIgJvYx4AE</a>) . The Dupin Imperial is also on magnificent display in this performance by the oboe section of the Royal Danish Orchestra: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N00JbKpZKKw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N00JbKpZKKw</a> Tragically, I’ve not yet
had the opportunity to give one of these babies a spin. I HAVE, however, played
a Dupin English horn, and it was a wonderful experience. It felt like a good Rigoutat, and possessed
an almost unearthly sweetness in the upper register, very unusual for an
English horn. Dupin is almost unheard of in the states, but VERY popular in
Europe, particularly Scandinavia. I believe Roland Dupin also had a hand in the
design of the Buffet 3613 oboe, but again, quoteth me not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Puchner (<a href="http://www.puchner.com/" target="_blank"> http://www.puchner.com</a> )<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Known to bassoonists as That Really Good German Bassoon That Isn’t
A Heckel, Puchner has also made oboes/d’amores/EHs forever, but they’ve
recently made a splash in the US marketplace with the 733C oboe and their
English horn, which Peter Hurd has declared the English horn of all English
horns…and who am *I* to argue with Peter Hurd?! I’m going to roll with Mr. Hurd’s
opinion on this one, having not tried the EH yet, but I HAVE played the 733
oboe, and it gives me EVERYTHING I want in an oboe…which is to say, it is
REALLY German. Dark, thick, beautiful, romantic sound with an excellent scale
and very solid, comfortable keywork. I’d put the Puchner up there with the
Moennig AM model and Ludwig Frank’s oboes, and would happily play one forever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Yamaha ( <a href="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/winds/oboes/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/winds/oboes/</span></a>
)</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Last but CERTAINLY not least, can we talk about Yamaha,
please? I mean, wow. Talk about an instrument that has EVOLVED! I remember
playing a Custom 831 when I was in high school in the late 90s, and thinking
“Well this is NICE, isn’t it?” and not giving them another thought for ten
years. WELL, kids, lemme tell you, this is NOT the Yamaha of the 90s. The most
recent model Custom Yamaha oboes are every bit as delicious as any other
makers, and in the case of the 841 in kingwood/violetwood with the lined upper
joint? OBOE-BROSIA, honey. They are one of the smoothest, sleekest, most
in-tune, responsive, bottom-octave-friendly oboes on the market today. Every
professional orchestral 2nd oboist should run, not walk, to get one of these on
trial, because thou shalt be converted! They’re also, as the kids say today,
mad cheap, son. (Relatively speaking, anyway)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Also worth noting is the new Duet+ 400 series intermediate
model…the old 441 was a honky trumpety bright beast of an oboe, more of a keyed
shawm, really; but the new one is right up there with the Tiery in terms of
playability (and the lined upper bore eliminates crack paranoia).</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <b>Josef ( <a href="http://www.josef-oboe.com/" target="_blank">http://www.josef-oboe.com/</a> )</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I wanted to discuss Josef oboes, but I’ve only played 2,
and I’m not entirely sure my experiences jive with the other anecdotes I’ve
heard from people who have played them. I also don’t have a large enough sample
size to really form a strong personal opinion one way or the other. One of them
was hands down the absolute best oboe I have ever played in my life, the other
made me want a Xanax and my mommy. They are absolutely gorgeous, though
(especially the Clement model), and Elizabeth Koch won principal in Atlanta on
one, so give ‘em a look! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Until next time…happy oboe-nerding! (And check out Robin Des
Hautbois’ blog, <a href="http://robindeshautbois.blogspot.com/">http://robindeshautbois.blogspot.com</a>
. He has a plethora of beautiful photos and some very well written and
comprehensive posts about the world of the oboe. In fact, he does this way
better than I do :P)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349032916199396886.post-44903485561137165262012-12-10T23:35:00.003-05:002013-07-15T17:07:38.232-04:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last weekend (12/1/2012), I had the pleasure of attending the Richmond
Flute Fair while I was in town performing with the national tour of "How
The Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Landmark Theater (a bit of irony, since in this show, I do not play the flute at all!). I actually had no
idea that the flute fair was taking place until late the night before when I
saw a post about it on the Nagahara Facebook page. Of course, I HAD to go, and
fortunately, the vendors were in the lobby and no registration was needed to
visit the vendor tables. The fair was small in terms of number of vendors, but
there was an amazingly fantastic array of stock...I was like a kid in a candy
store. (A very, very expensive candy
store…) The tables I divided my day between were the Flutist's Faire, (the
lovely and fabulous Betsy Trimber, proprietress), which had the largest number
of flutes and headjoints, the Nagahara table, which had only 3 flutes and 6
headjoints, but what fabulous flutes they were, and last but CERTAINLY not
least, the Flute Pro Shop, owned by the spectacular Joan Sparks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The purpose of this whole diatribe is to attempt to recount
my impressions of the various flutes and headjoints I played that day, and if I
have tagged you in this note on Facebook, then it means you are either one of my lovely
flutey friends who will probably appreciate this information in some way, or
you are one of the vendors/makers I'm discussing and I really liked your
product/business/you and want everyone to know about it! :) I will be focusing
here on what I liked or what made an impression for one reason or another; I
see no reason to post negative reviews of things, especially since there wasn't
anything I truly HATED. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Below, I've grouped the instruments/headjoints I wish to
review according to vendor and individually addressed them in list form. Enjoy!
(And if you look on my FB timeline, you will see video demos of the 14K Miyazawa/Faulisi
combo, the 18K Nagahara, the Burkart Resona Piccolo, the 14K Powell, and the
silver chased Haynes with gold accents; the former 2 played by myself, the
latter 3 by my good friend and colleague Jeremy Clayton)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">FLUTE PRO SHOP (Note that all instruments described below are currently available for purchase at <a href="http://www.fluteproshop.com/" target="_blank">Flute Pro Shop</a></span></u></b><b><u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">) : <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>****Haynes Classic Fusion
w/C# trill </b>- One of the most stunning flutes I've ever played in its price
range. Sonically, it blows the Powell Aurumite Conservatory out of the water
IMHO, and at under $8,000 with a C# trill, you can't beat it with a stick. The
response was immediate, even at the bottom (the opening of the Khatchaturian
Concerto was a breeze!), and the headjoint allowed great control in the top
(diminuendo al niente on the high A at the end of the cadenza from the Rimsky-K
Capriccio Espagnol was just flawless). Mechanism felt quite solid and
comfortable under my somewhat large hands, and the flute itself is just
beautiful to look at, with a 9K rose gold exterior bonded to a silver interior.
Haynes has REALLY stepped up their game lately, and it's impressive. I have
more than an inkling that I'm going to own one of these in the next year or
so...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>****14K Miyazawa/14K
Faulisi headjoint</b>; C# trill, C#/D# rollers, Split E, soldered silver
toneholes- Wow. For me, this was the jewel of Joan's collection. Before I
played it, she jokingly warned "Don't play it on an empty stomach, or you
will pass out from the amount of air you need!" As a big ol’ dude who
moves an extremely large volume of air when I play, I felt up to the challenge.
I was not disappointed...this flute ROARS if you give it all the air you can
(which it can handle, thanks to the mastery of Salvatore Faulisi's headjoint),
but it is quite capable of a beautiful, shimmery, highly controlled sound. I'd
grant the silver toneholes with a bit of this brilliance and flexibility. I
tested this flute using Brahms 1, the Carmen Entr'acte, and a bit of Syrinx. It
handled all three beautifully, with a huge palette of colors that were very
accessible with not a lot of work. Overall, I give this instrument Second Place
for the entire day. I would HAPPILY play this flute for the rest of my life.
(And honestly, at $20,400, it is not a terrible deal at ALL, given the current
prices for new 14K Miyazawas and Faulisi headjoints) <a href="http://youtu.be/eta00uYAgYI" target="_blank">Entr'acte from Carmen on this Miyazawa</a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_u8W058n7Q" target="_blank">And here, I play it AGAIN three months later with no distractions! I WANT THIS FLUTE.</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>14K Powell w/silver mech</b>- A very straightforward gold bodied Powell
(inline G, no C# trill, split E, or add’l rollers), this was a beautiful
instrument with a solid core and a large amount of “bite” to the sound. I would
have loved to have heard it from some distance away to gauge the projection,
but it definitely had that “Powell sound”. Perhaps not *quite* as wide a color
palette as some of the other things I tried, but still, it was very full
sounding, sort of masculine, if you will. Would be a spectacular instrument for
a symphonic principal player who doesn’t
care about having a C# trill. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>****Haynes silver
body/gold accents/chased keys; C# trill, D# roller, drawn tone holes, offset G</b>
– This flute. Wow. OMG. Exclamation-of-your-choice! This
thing was so beautiful I almost didn’t want to stop looking at it long enough
to play it. The body and keys are sterling, but everything at ATTACHES to the
tube, from the embouchure plate, riser, crown, body/barrel rings, ribs, posts,
and KEY ARMS is made of 14K gold, and every key is chased with a beautiful
engraving pattern. This thing is really just one of the most stunning flutes
I’ve ever seen. The sound was just out
of this world. It had an almost ethereal sparkling quality up top, but could
really handle being pushed at the bottom, without ever losing a chocolatey,
buttery sort of veneer to the sound. Response was quick, and there was an
extremely wide color palette available. It was almost Ferrari-like in how
quickly it responded to the slightest change in air speed, mouth shape, throat
space, or palate height. Very seductive instrument…if Salome were a flute, this
would be it. Jeremy played it, fell crazy in love with it, and played it some
more. He just couldn’t put it down…It was a joy to listen to. From a listener’s
perspective, the sound just washes over you and the articulation is very clear.
A soloist’s instrument if ever there was one. Would also be a wonderful flute
for an orchestral 2<sup>nd</sup> flutist for whom matching the principal’s tone
color is paramount. This flute will do what*EVER* you ask it to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Di Zhao 700 flute – </b>A
lovely instrument for an advancing player, a doubler, or a pro who needs a
reliable backup. Di Zhao was a longtime employee of Powell, and was responsible
for their quality control for quite some time. It shows in his own flutes. They
are very reminiscent of a lovely older Powell, with a very beefy but
controllable sound. The scale was accurate, as far as I could tell without a
tuner (the intervals felt very secure and uniform), and the mechanism is
well-crafted. Available with a C# trill, D# roller, split E, and gold riser if
you wish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Haynes Amadeus 900 - </b>Haynes’ answer to the Powell Sonare, I
find this instrument to be a bit more refined than the Sonares, though I do
adore the Powell Signature headjoint. The Haynes Classic headjoint paired with
a well-crafted Asian-made body produces a lovely instrument that I would have
absolutely zero qualms about playing in a professional pit situation. Big sound
without being overbearing, no “edge”, though there is a limit to how far it can
be pushed. I wouldn’t necessarily want to play a Romantic or contemporary
concerto on it, but it would shine in Classical and Baroque work, as well as
musical theater pits or a college orchestra. Available with all the same options as the Di
Zhao. (C# trill, D# roller, split E, and
gold riser)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>***Burkart Resona
piccolo – </b>This is a whole damn lot of piccolo for two thousand dollars. The
response is off the charts, it plays with zero effort to high B and C, the
intonation is superb, the wood its made from is just beautiful, and the sound
is sprightly without being overly bright or obnoxious. Very meaty bottom octave
and extremely accurate intonation between the first two octaves. Everyone should have one of these, even if
just as a backup to your $10,000 Powell or Keefe or Burkart Custom Deluxe. Miss Lillian is NOT messing around with these piccolos; they are serious business,
y’all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Di Zhao piccolo - </b> Much like the Di Zhao flute, this thing is
SUPERBLY crafted. The sound is dark and lush, and I would have no shame playing
this in any professional situation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Piper Piccolo - </b> Made of a composite material similar to
Buffet’s Greenline, which contains actual wood fibers mixed with a proprietary
blend of resins, this piccolo has a lovely warm sound, particularly in the
second octave, which tends to suffer from a horrifying sort of unresponsive
thinness on most piccolos. BRILLIANT option for people who play outdoors or in
pits where the temp is less than stable.
Joan Sparks has a lovely video demo of this piccolo on Youtube …well
worth a watch! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpbmYrCtnA" target="_blank">Joan Sparks Demos the Piper Piccolo</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>***David Chu
headjoints</b> - (Boxwood, thinned
boxwood/ornate mahogany crown, mopane, Mountain mahogany, regular grenadilla,
thinned grenadilla/ornate crown) These are listed in the order in which I
played them, and honestly, I absolutely could not pick a favorite unless you
put a gun to my temple and cocked the hammer, in which case, and ONLY under
great duress, would I pick the mopane (which you may also find spelled as
Mopani) headjoint. They were ALL spectacular, though, and it would be a great
joy to play any of them. I was particularly surprised by the depth of color I
got from the boxwood, and any fears of not being able to play loud on a boxwood
headjoint or project were quickly squashed.
The mopane wood headjoint had a perfect balance of balls-to-the-wall
power and sweetness…I played the exposition of the Romberg B minor concerto on
it, which is a completely over-the-top dramatic Romantic era work which spans
the majority of the range of the flute in the first 10 seconds, and it handed
it beautifully (including a ROARING low C); and then I played the opening of
the Telemann Fantasy in A minor, and you’d swear I was playing a traverso. I
put all six of these heads on the Haynes Classic Fusion flute, and all six of
them were matches made in heaven. David Chu has got to be one of the most
gifted craftsmen working in the flute world today. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-btrkghvsjY" target="_blank">Joan Sparks Plays These Same Six Headjoints, In The Same Order!</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NAGAHARA ( <a href="http://www.nagaharaflutes.com/" target="_blank">Nagahara Website</a> ): <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>**********18K red
gold/platinum riser, C# trill, silver mech, gold toneholes - </u></b> Holy sweet mother of cheesecake, THIS FLUTE
WAS EVERYTHING. This was the gold medal winner for me, the Big Daddy, the
numero uno, Le Grande Fromage of the festival. I exaggerate not at all when I
say that I have never in my entire life picked up a flute that from the first
second felt like it was crafted specifically for me by Hephaestus himself until I played this flute. The power of this instrument was
astonishing…I actually felt like I could do physical damage to human flesh with
the low notes of this instrument. Pant legs flapping in the first row, indeed!
The sound was colossal and dark dark dark, but I did not feel that projection
was sacrificed, and in listening to the video that Jeremy took of me playing
it, it did not seem that projection was an issue. Would that I could have
played it in a room alone, but alas there were other Festers testing flutes in
the background. It had a knife-edge response, with I would attribute both to
the headjoint’s cut (Nagahara’s popular “DA” cut, a combination of their
Diligente and Ardore cuts, quite square with some considerable overcutting on
the shoulders) and the platinum riser. I really felt like I was blowing into
Excalibur. High notes were everything you’d want them to be, and D7 and E7 were
completely effortless. (My only wish is that they’d had this flute with an offset
G instead of an inline G. My carpal tunnel syndrome makes it difficult to play
inline G flutes for long periods of time, and this was the very last flute I
had tried all day…by the time I picked this up, my left wrist was pretty much
done for. ) Does anybody have $33,000 they’d like to spend on a super nice
flute playing fellow for Christmas? :-) <a href="http://youtu.be/qxe1HO-GbIA" target="_blank">Watch Me Be Totally In Love With This Thing</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>950 silver w/C# trill
</b>– The higher silver content of the Nagahara silver alloy (they do not use
sterling silver, which is only 92.5% actual silver) lent this flute a bit more
depth to the sound and gave it a really lovely patina in the top register. Very
comfortable to play, response was lovely, and it was perfectly pleasant in
every way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>***950PT50 w/C# trill
and D# roller – </b>Another major winner for me. I discovered earlier in the
day that I really, REALLY like the new 5% platinum alloys being used in
flutemaking these days, and this flute bore out that discovery. It was quite a
bit heavier than a silver instrument, and the sound was just delicious. I felt
that I could really dig into it and make it scream down at the bottom, but also
still project with a soft, cottony tone color if I so chose. (The Faure Pavane
was the proof of this particular pudding). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>16K gold Galway
headjoint </b> - Oy vey, this headjoint
was a BEAST! (In the best way). Beautiful palette, tremendous spin in the
mid/upper register, warm velvety sound throughout the range. It wasn’t perhaps
the most responsive thing I’d played all day, but it certainly cuts the
mustard! Feel free to buy me one if you like ;-) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>14K DA cut headjoint
- </b> Like the 18K/plat riser head
without the steroids. Big, manly, beefy, stentorian sound with considerable
control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Also worth mentioning is the Nagahara thumb key design…it is
really, REALLY freaking comfortable, man.
It looks cool, and feels even better!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">FLUTISTS FAIRE ( Note that all the belowmentioned instruments/headjoints are available at the <a href="http://www.flutistsfaire.com/" target="_blank">Flutist's Faire Website</a> ): <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Flutes: <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>***Bernhard Hammig
Mezzo M1 </u></b> - This instrument was
nothing short of a revelation. Those of you who are savvy in your knowledge of
European flute makers are probably aware that German flutemaking scion Bernhard
Hammig is making some of the FINEST flutes on the planet these days, including
a mind-blowingly fabulous 22K gold instrument. Recently, in conjunction with
Jason Blank, he has dipped his toe into the “High End Flute Makers’ Not Quite
So Hideously Expensive Lines” pool, and what a splash he’s made! The Mezzo comes in three models, the M1, M2
and M3; the M1 having a body made of a proprietary alloy that is then heavily
silver-plated, the M2 being sterling with drawn toneholes, and the M3 sterling
with soldered toneholes. All Mezzo flutes come standard with a 94.5% silver
headjoint (again, we have a higher silver content in the alloy than basic
sterling). The M1 was the model on display that day, and I’ll tell you what…no
WAY would I have pegged that as a non-precious-metal-bodied instrument. It was
smooth as French silk pie, and had a very, very well thought out scale. The
mechanism felt wonderful under the fingers, and Hammig’s keycup design is
beautiful…it’s as though the Miyazawa “Modern” key style (which, incidentally,
I REALLY wish they would bring back) from the 80s-90s and Powell’s
millennially-inspired 2100/3100 keycups had a very stylish baby. With the stock headjoint, the response and
overall sonic feel were very much that of a fine silver instrument; effortless
lows, a rich middle, and shimmering highs. Switching out the head for 2 of the
other Hammig heads Betsy had on display (15% gold and 9K gold), though, put
this flute into a completely different orbit. I’ll go into more detail about
the headjoints later on, but suffice it to say that this flute, priced at an
UNBELIEVABLE $2,995 (with available C# trill or D# roller) is a complete and utter
MUST TRY for anybody who is in the market for a mid-priced flute. Though I
didn’t try them, I would quite wager that, based on the performance and build
quality of the M1, the M2 or M3 would be enough flute to last 95% of flute
players for the rest of their careers/lives/family dynasties/until the sun
expands and engulfs the Earth. *Worth noting is that Hammig offers a discount
headjoint upgrade with this flute to a 15% gold head, 9K gold head, or various gold
riser/lip options on the silver head, and it’s an option well worth considering
if you REALLY want to move your playing
to that next level. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eejrfRlixY" target="_blank">A Short Demo Of the Mezzo M1 w/15% gold headjoint</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVYoe5Sjgc" target="_blank">Another demo (focusing on the low register)</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ROo5tbGWpA" target="_blank">A Much Longer Discussion and Demo Of The Mezzo</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Trevor James
Recital Aria w/soldered toneholes </u></b>– From Merry Olde England comes this
lovely instrument, crafted by the awesome folks at Trevor James. Many of us
have long been familiar with TJ as a reliable, solid student/intermediate level
instrument, particularly loved by pit doublers (in fact, I shall be playing a
Trevor James on my upcoming
international Broadway touring gig, as I learned the hard way 5 years ago on my first tour what happens when you take your solid 14K gold flute on the road...), but with the new Recital series, TJ has
firmly established themselves as a marque to take seriously in the upper-level
flute world. Now, while these flutes do not approach the
Boston/Japanese/Continental flutemakers in price, (a silver Brannen, for
example, starts at over $12,000, and a fully loaded TJ Aria is somewhere around
half that price), they certainly are approaching them in quality. The Aria has
full sterling construction and is made with soldered toneholes; something I
believe is a first for Trevor James. The headjoint is a Flutemakers Guild of
London head, and if you’re familiar with the work of Ewan McDougall, Harry
Seeley, Howel Roberts, Michael Allen, or Robert Bigio, then you know the
quality of these headjoints. This is a SERIOUS flute for a serious player on a
budget. I particularly enjoyed the bell-like quality of the upper half of the
flute’s range, and a very alto-flute sort of timbre down the bottom. Full
complement of options available, this flute is WELL worth a try. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>***14K Burkart,
drawn toneholes </u></b>– Where to start with this Burkart? (See what I did
there?) Firstly, it’s beautiful. Lillian Burkart is a total artistic genius. The
shape and length of her G# key, the lines of the keycups, the engraving on the
barrel; it’s all exceedingly beautiful. They look just different enough from every
other flute in the fine details to be unique, but still maintain a very traditional appearance. I
am also quite in love with the color of Burkart’s 14K gold alloy. It’s a lovely
burnished sunset-rose color, and looks good under any lighting conditions! Having gotten the
shallow stuff out of the way, let’s talk about how this flute plays. It plays
like BUTTAH, (if you’re Linda Richman). This thing sings like Jessye Norman at
her peak; I say Jessye Norman and not, say, Dame Joan Sutherland because this
particular flute has a dark, round, velvety quality that is very reminiscent of
Jessye’s 1990 Strauss “Four Last Songs” recording. This is one of the flutes
that both Jeremy and I played, and we had very similar impressions of it. As a
player, it felt very much like an equal partner…it helped me do whatever I
wanted to do with it. Giant, room-filling Brahms 1? Got it. Reserved,
straight-forward Bolero? Yep. That, too.
Floaty, seraphic Mozart D major Concerto 2<sup>nd</sup> movement? Oh
yeah, baby. It’s there. It was a flute that felt like a friend after the first
three minutes. From a listener’s point of view, much like the silver/gold
Haynes at Joan’s table, the sound was just sort of all around you at once…it
was beautiful and had just the right amount of overtones present to give the
impression of clarity and projection without brightness or shrillness. Rapid
articulations sound separate but pillowy, lacking any kind of a pecky quality.
Really just a lovely, lovely flute. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>14K Burkart,
soldered toneholes </u></b>– I expected this flute to be mostly similar to the
one above, but wow was it NOT. It had a very distinctive personality, and was
quite a bit harder to tame. It didn’t feel so much like a partner as a teenager
that needs a little convincing to clean her room, but is glad she did when
she’s done. It was a little more resistant than I’d expected, and I had to work
a bit harder in the top to control the tone color and intonation, but once I
got used to it, it was really quite a fun instrument to play. Kind of like the
flute version of driving a sports car. This was definitely not a flute you
could set the cruise control on…it had to be driven, but it was totally worth
it. This would be an ideal flute for a principal player in a big orchestra, or someone
who makes most of their living as a soloist. You could absolutely BURY an orchestra with
this thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>****Burkart 595
Ag/PT </u></b>– Whoa. Didn’t expect this instrument to give me chills when I
played it, but it did. That 5% platinum (“595” refers to 5% platinum, 95% silver
in the alloy) really turns silver into a mean, lean projection machine. Not
only is this alloy substantially heavier than sterling silver (but not
awkwardly so), it behaves completely differently. The first thing I said after
I played a minute or so on this was “Wow, this flute is a DUDE.” <i>Masculine</i> is
the only way I can think of to describe this instrument. The basic sound this
instrument wants to produce is BIG. It’s wide, it’s deep, it goes to the back
of the hall, and you can feel it in your bones. This flute made me grin
involuntarily every time I stopped playing it, and I kept going back to it all
day. With the stock headjoint, this flute was a 9.5 out of 10…when I put the 9K
gold Bernhard Hammig headjoint on it, it turned into a 15 out of 10. The color
options were endless, and it became 10 instruments in one. This flute was in my
top 3 of the day, for sure! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Burkart .998
silver </u></b> - This flute was the
final of the Burkart “Elite” flutes I played, and it was really a treat. The
.998 silver (an alloy of 99.8% pure silver alloyed with what I would imagine to
be titanium, iridium, platinum, rhodium or germanium for strength) was really
quite surprising. It provides an
experience very similar to a low-karat gold or a platinum flute; it had power
for DAYS, projection to spare, and a very interesting color palette. In visual
terms, it felt like the majority of the colors it wanted to offer were in the
blue/purple spectrum, though with some manipulation, it was amenable to warming
up a bit. I actually quite liked the frostiness of the sound, though…it was
very characteristically “flutey”, and I’d love to hear one of these soaring
above a symphony orchestra in a Tchaikovsky or Beethoven symphony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Burkart Pro 9K/Ag </u></b>–
Burkart’s “Professional” line is the current incarnation of what was “Burkart
& Phelan”, a slightly less expensive line, still totally handmade in
Burkart’s shop. The 9K/Ag is Burkart’s answer to Powell’s 9K Aurumite and
Haynes’ 9K Fusion…a tube of solid 9K gold metallurgically fused to a tube of
sterling silver (gold side out). Looks like a solid gold flute, but you won’t
have to mortgage the house or sell a kidney to buy one. This flute felt much
like the drawn tonehole 14K flute, with a bit more lightness to its persona.
“Midsummer Night’s Dream” came out beautifully, and the Perilhou Ballade SANG
on this thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>*****Burkart
Resona 300 9K lip </u></b>– Alright, y’all, now THIS is some business right
here. I mean, WHAT?! This flute is crazy good, and I cannot believe they are as
inexpensive as they are. For WELL under $5,000, you are getting pure Burkart
awesomeness. This flute blew me the heck AWAY! It freaking SINGS, and much like
the 14K drawn Burkart, the Magic Haynes, and the Nagahara, it will do anything.
You. Tell. It. To. With a solid 9K gold lip (silver riser, though) and a C#
trill on the heavy-wall (.018”) sterling body, this flute is a serious
contender in the mid-price pro flute market. (They say pre-professional, but
honestly, if you need more flute than this, then you already have a top notch
job where you can afford it) This and the Hammig Mezzo are absolute
game-changers in the flute world, as far as I am concerned. These two flutes
would take ANY flutist through conservatory and into a career without a doubt.
This flute is the dream of woodwind doublers everywhere who long for a
spectacular flute but can’t afford a $10,000-$40,000 flute because of all the
other instruments we have to own. Please, please try one of these if you are in
the market for a new flute. I don’t think you’ll be sorry at all. (You can also
get it with a silver lip but a 14K gold riser.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Guo New Voice
flute </u></b> - This is the lightest
flute I have ever played in my life. Made of a space-age composite material,
this instrument weighs about the same as a recorder, I swear to God. The keys
are plastic, and the pads are silicon…however, this thing PLAYS. I mean, it
REALLY plays. Great, sprightly sound, very very easy response, especially down
at the bottom, and you certainly don’t have to worry about anything happening
to it! Play this thing outdoors until your fingers fall off, even in the rain.
Certainly won’t hurt it! Would be fantastic for chamber music or maybe a
recital of Baroque music. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Guo New Voice
piccolo</u></b> – Now this was a real surprise…as nice as the New Voice flute
is, I don’t know that I’d really seriously play it in a professional situation
on a long-term basis, if only because the key mechanism (particularly the thumb
keys) feels entirely too spongy to really dig into the good stuff. HOWEVER, the
NV piccolo? In a heartbeat, baby. Put a blindfold on, and I’d dare you to tell
the difference between this and a decent wooden or high-end composite
instrument. It’s SEVEN HUNDRED FREAKING BUCKS! For that price, buy two and give
one to a friend! They’re that good. Big bottom, full colorful second octave,
and that top octave just screams right out. As Betsy said, “If I was going to
play Stars & Stripes, THIS is the picc I’d do it on!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Headjoints:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>9K Hammig </u></b> - Glorious. Just…glorious. This headjoint has
to have been made with some kind of ancient Elvish magic, because good LORD,
does this thing sing. I put it on several different flutes, but the 2 that
really stood out as ideal partners were the Hammig Mezzo and the Burkart 595.
This headjoint has a downright woody quality, and despite being made of gold,
does not have any of the heaviness or darkness typically associated with gold.
I kept coming back to it over the course of the day, and people kept saying “My
god, it sounds like wood!” I was able (quite easily) to get a big orchestral
soloistic sound out of it, but where this head really wants to live is in that
timbral space between sweet and bel canto. It’s like putting a beautiful
mezzo-soprano’s larynx on your flute. I want one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>15% gold Hammig </u></b> - As effusive as I was about the 9K Hammig, I
double the praise for the 15% gold Hammig. (BTW, if you’re curious, this works
out to approximately 3.5K gold) WHAT A SOUND! I put this first on the Mezzo M1
flute, and I nearly fell down. If I were to order an M1 right now, I would pay
the additional $1,300 and get the 15% gold headjoint…it makes THAT much of a
difference. The complexity of the sound is literally indescribable…I just can’t
tell you what it sounded like without sounding like a lunatic. Just wow. I
really, really would love one of these. NOW. #VerucaSalt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Platinum Powell </u></b> - Precisely what you would expect from a
platinum Powell headjoint: Sonority, power, seductiveness, and projection ALL
DAY LONG. As with most other platinum heads I’ve played, this one had a solid
gold lip and crown. Beautiful to look at, didn’t fit in a lot of the bodies I
tried it on, sadly, but the ones I DID get it into all benefited greatly from
the boost that this platinum headjoint gave them. A major symphony/soloists
headjoint for SURE. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Sheridan silver
w/gold lip/plat riser </u></b> - A fine
example of Dana Sheridan’s work, this silver tubed/gold lip/platinum riser
combo gave a wealth of tonal options, but none of them overwhelmingly
unbalanced or overly large in sound. This head would be a great upgrade to a
sterling flute for someone wishing to expand their color palette and perhaps
stretch their dynamic range without having to purchase a whole new flute. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Trevor James wood
lip </u></b> - Whoa, nelly. This thing is
HOT, and come hell or high water, I’m gonna buy one. Sterling tube, lip AND riser both made out of
grenadilla wood. This headjoint gives the burnished, warm sound of wood on TOP
of the sparkle and projection of silver. It’s like a chocolate covered
icicle…it’s splendid in every way, and it looks absolutely STUNNING on a silver
flute! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Gerhard Sachs 14K </u></b>–
Exactly what I’d hoped for from a German gold headjoint; darkness, mystery, and
a nice almost smoky quality to the sound. Best matched the Burkart 595 flute,
and did wondrous things for every silver body I put it on. (Now what I wouldn’t
give to try one of Sachs’ wooden flutes!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Burkart .998/gold
riser M2 </u></b>– A picnic for the ears, this headjoint is like a Jackson
Pollock painting in your cochlea. SO MUCH COLOR! I wanted to put it on every
single flute at the fair and record it, but of course I didn’t have time (or
the battery life) for that. Lillian Burkart is like, the Meryl Streep of the
flute world. The woman can just do no wrong! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Burkart .998 M2 </u></b> - Similar to the above headjoint, but slightly
less complex with a bit more purity and perhaps clarity to the sound. Still a
most intriguing headjoint, and one that every flutist should consider adding to
their arsenal. This thing was BORN to play Syrinx on! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">++I’d like to add that
the Burkart M2 headjoint cut is by FAR my preferred one of the 2 she has
available; the M2 is very square and provides a player who can really move some
air an unlimited box of crayons to draw with; I really find the C4 (Acton) cut
to give a beautiful, round, French, Rampal-y sound, but I also found that I
rather easily overpowered it and got some chokeback if I didn’t watch myself. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Burkart 14K C4 </u></b>–
When I played this headjoint, the first image that popped into my mind,
bizarrely, was a scene from the film “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, where we see a
beautiful little French high street of shops, full of women in mod A-line coats
out doing their shopping. Very
old-school sounding, delicate, light, French-y, if you will, but with guts and
a healthy amount of resistance. It makes me feel like if I played it enough and
wished on the right full moon, Jean-Pierre Rampal would appear and play a Bach
sonata for me or something. If this is your style of playing, this headjoint
will be your dream headjoint! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In summation, I would like to thank the organizers of the
Richmond Flute Festival for affording Richmond flutists the chance to
experience these marvels of craftsmanship, and of course a huge debt of
gratitude to the makers of these flutes and headjoints, and to Joan Sparks and
Betsy Trimber for recognizing that the flute world needs them to bring these
amazing products to the people (and also for being so damn fashionable and
fun!!) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(***Asterisks denote flutes/headjoints I felt to be particularly noteworthy; number of stars correlates to approximate level of total crap-your-pants awesomeness)</span></b></i></div>
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Josh Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438645364446166701noreply@blogger.com0