alto clarinet

I've tried several. My old teacher had a Buffet (I'm guessing several decades old) that had a great sound but I don't remember much about it (keys, intonation, etc).

I've tried a new and an old Selmer and both sounded great, especially the new one, but I just never liked Selmer keys. If you like their bass model 35 you probably will like the alto too for keys (the Privilege is an improvement and a little different). That new Selmer alto was about three years ago so it is probably the current model.

I have an old Leblanc which I don't use, and although it plays it really needs a repair so I can't make a fair comparison now. It has a pretty nice sound, but has reponse issues that might or might not have something to do with leaks. It also has a big intonation problem around the throat notes.

I might repair my Leblanc some day, but now I play a Pedler alto. I don't know if it is even considered a professional model but it is very good. It has some uncomfortable things, like the trill keys are moving sideways instead of down, and the main left hand stack keys are a little apart from each other, but it sounds very good and I would never guess it is so much cheaper than a new pro model (excluding shipping & tax it was $180). If I ever buy a new alto clarinet then it is almost entirely for the more comfortable keys (probably Buffet).

The finger spacing issue can be a problem with older altos. The alto is the largest clarinet where the tone holes covered by the fingers can actually (with a bit of stretching) still fit under the fingers. (Hence the occasional open (or, non-plateau) alto clarinet.

On some of the older altos, the finger touch pieces were not "adjusted" so as to keep this spread down. In other words, instead of relocating the touch pieces a la the Sax bass clarinet design (yes, Virginia, the modern bass clarinet is another of Sax's works of design genius), they just closed over the holes and left the touches in place. Some can deal with this without a problem; others cannot.

The old guide that I used to use was "If you have any troubles at all with finger spacing on an A clarinet, then don't buy an open-hole alto". It still seems to hold true, the last time that I had occasion to test it.

I come here for guidance!


Well, someone I know who has an antique shop around here, swapped his Buescher (plastic) alto clarinet for a decoration Chinese saxophone that I had acquired because of some mouthpieces it was sold with (a Century with more problems that I care to describe) .

First of all I am not a clarinetist at all and I only had a go at a Bb clarinet with an Albert system (that I liked considerably more than the more confusing , to me, Bhöm system) many years ago (I liked it but not enough to keep and make a study of it), but this alto, probably because of the vague resemblance to a saxophone , is growing on me but Oh Boy ! Is it difficult to produce any sound other than squeaking?

As far as I can tell this thing is in a decent state and seals (more or less) well but it is hard to play or should I say it is hard to produce any sound other than noise.

Are they all like that? Is it me? I am wondering whether to try to play it (and learn to cope with the incredible difficulties of clarinets!) or to just sell it to someone who knows and appreciates these things better (although I know that they are not worth much....by the way, how much? )

I would definitely avoid an open hole alto. The stretches wouldn't work for my stubby little hands!

milandro:

I just bought a v cheap Vito on ebay and absolutely love it. I also got a closed tip Vandoren m/p (i use close tipped m'ps on Bb clarinet) and although it needs a repad i am getting some ok sound with a couple of the lower pads sealed with cling film!

I would say keep it. Concentrate on getting a nice sound in the lower register and don't even worry about crossing the break for now (hey, it worked for Jimmy Giuffre!). I seem to remember that you do play/jam with bands. The alto clarinet gives you a really nice option in terms of your "tonal palette" (pretentious much, Rooty? ). You probably need to find a good m/p reed combination so it's a nearer match to your sax setup. I would guess that at the moment you're applying much too much force when you form your embouchure and breathe out to set the reed moving. You can take it very easy on the lower notes and still get a lovely sound.

I think myself that these are seriously underutilised instruments in jazz. If Eric Dolphy had happened to pick up one of these rather than the bass he would have obtained very similar effects and all the sax players would be longing for altos and not basses. And (whisper) they're so cheap to buy used.