A Pair of (Ridenour)Clarinets

Of the many many clarinets designed by Tom Ridenour, I bought and tried most because they were amazingly consistent, and I must add, they were easy to acquire. At the time of most of my purchases, I had only recently heard of the avaiability of a hard rubber clarinet, and, WWBW were almost giving them away for under 6 hundred dollars, as I remember. I simply could not get over how very well in tune they were ,compared to any other clarinet I had ever tried. The idea of using a clarinet to which the barrel wouldn’t fuse to the first joint after a couple of hours, and the basic stability of the instrument was startling. They all came with a couple of barrels in a strong case, and they were called Allora, but unquestionably, they were Ridenour clarinets, and there were few criticisms.They were the Ridenour clarinet. I used to take them to reherasals of chamber music as they blended and tuned as well or better than anything I had played. The altissimo F# was flat or “all over the place”, but everything else was fine. The low e was not flat, the throat in tune and the Bb in the throat just wasn’t a problem, and that was with each clarinet. Finally I purchased a Lyrique, which was perfect, but the clarinet that I still have and played the best is the Allora A clarinet, purchased for even lkess. He had told me that he prefers his C, and then his A, but this A is very fine, and it is again an Allora. In any event, the clarinet (s) are still available and are an excellent instrument. My only criticism is of the material itself, as it does not carry as well as does wood. Please, take that to the bank. It is beautiful and sounds great , but in a large ensemble, as the only clarinet, I would choose wood. Which is why I was so terribly pleased with the new Lyrigue G1, I think it is called. It plays closest to one of the finest clarinets ever designed, the Opus, which Ridenour designed for the Leblanc Company. The Lyrique G1 is an Opus, in my opinion, and my A clarinet is even better. Iwould hope that he ddevelops and A Lyrique G1, or 2, or whatever, but A clarinet in wood designed by Ridenour has to be on everyones list. Most of the readers are probably not going to play in the New York or Berlin Philharmonic, so needm’t worry about projection. If you are a director of a band, get your whole clarinet section on Lyrique, either rubber or the wooden one, which is a better instrument, as was my Opus, of wich I owned a pair. They will be discussed in the last of these articles, a pair of (Leblanc) clarinets. Ridenour deserves an award for his designing gifts and for the consistency of his hard rubber instruments.My only criticism outside of the altissimo F#, are the thumbrest on the hard rubber instruments, which is placed badly, so that your fingers will brush past the fork F# key. It is also too narrow, and finally, happens to be heavy, though too narrow for my thumb. It also doesn’t really adjust as far as it should. One should be able to have the rest adjust at the medium position for your normal playing position, and it must be truily adjustable up or down. The Ridenour doesn’t adjust that much. Also that Stars Wars register key is simply an imnvitation to a very weird dance for your fingers, at least mine. Still, a great horn.
Keep practicing . Stay well, sherman

Part 2, of brands ,trends and clarinets

We know that Buffet and Selmer are in the limelight of clarinet suggestions or choices by students and/or teachers, who have always been quite important in the selection of a clarinet. There have arisen in the last thirty or 40 years, the graduate school for performers, people by many students and by many professional clarinetists who simply could not find a position in a symphony orchestra. Two things have affected that venue: one is the diminishing symphony orchestra. They are failing for lack of money or audience throughout the US,

This past economic crisis caused by the virtual failure of the bank regulation system or lack of it, and then the avalanche of failures throughout the US, and the world had its impact on the world of music, classical music, and of course, the Symphony Orchestra. So, back to the graduate performer program, which was a natural outgrowth of the lack of jobs for clarinetists, the failure of many orchestras and still the abundance of players, either advanced or professional, in need of a place to go, to tread water, and from this came the graduate performance program in universities throughout the US. For me , this is one of the sadder events in my memory. The time that it takes for a clarinetists to emerge, “ready” is a long stretch for most, and a horror story for those looking for professional work. The recording industry has helped(not) enormously, by sampling, simulation, enabling artists to simulate an entire orchestra by four or five musicians playing various keyboards. The competition the recording industry has added by the absolutely perfect recording dwarfing almost any actual performance in depth of sound, actually competes with live music. And of course, where to find a place to park usually ends the debate. Price for admission because of all of the above has helped and we, the professional clarinetists, either here, or on the march, helps make more of a mess, hence my sadness, and that of many of us.

So, one bandaid is the Masters in performance, the ARTIST diploma, or what have you in terms of “further study”. They seem endless , but offer little or no help in the quest for a place to play, a paycheck, some sort of benefits. All they seem to do in most cases is offer a place to “continue”, but not to stop and play the clarinet for your living.I find them basically repugnant(though I might edit that out)

And with “further study” have come the other clarinets. Because I was employed by a University in Montreal, Concordia, a large organization with 25,000 students, I was accorded special privileges by the local music stores, which consisted of trying any clarinet that came in and was not sold, which included every other decent well-made instrument.

The first of these in my experience was the Yamaha clarinet. Yamaha of course, makes everrything from motocycles to excellent grand pianos, and I first discovered Yamaha with the Yamaha model 64 clarinet. I took it home for an awfully long time, and it was a superb time to really trying a clarinet. Practicing it daily, playing in in performances and recording, and just having it)to try) for a long period of time. This was wonderful, and the only way to try a clarinet , really try one. I found the Yamaha 64 to be an excellent clarinet for intonation. The altissimo was made to be intune, ore than Selmer and much more than Buffet. The throat register was also much more even and the finish was excellent. The only fault (if you will) that I could find, was that it seemed to lack resistance. It was and I am sure, remains, an excellent reliable clarinet. I wish I had kept that instrument. Hoever there were many more to come. I susbsequently tried the 72, and the 82, in sets and they were just as good, having all of the same features as that first model 64, or 62. These clarinets have continued to minutely improve. All in all, the seem a better clarinet than almost any buffet, basically because that clarinet lacks consistency and therefore, cannot be reommended without a very good and sensitive technician to tweak and tune it

Perhaps my best esxperiences with playing new clarinets have come with the Leblanc clarinet. Currently I am playing n an older Leblanc LL, which I feel is,and was their finest clarinet. Previous, I first tried a Leblanc L27 with which I had a really great experience. There were simply no tuning problI kept it for more than a year and found it a superbly well in tune instrumentems for all the time and concerts I had and played that horn. Followi g that, I was able to purchase a set of Leblanc L7s from a person who originally played German system, or Orhler, (I never earned which), but he had had rollers installed on the little finger keys. Those also had an articlated g# and the seventh ring. That set was superb, and frankly I learned that all Leblancs that I tried or played were excellent. Of course, the set of Opus clarinets which I purchased from the principal in Kansas City were the best clarinets I had ever played. There was a card in the case stating that this set had been played, tuned and selected by William Ridenour who was at the time the clarinet authority at the Leblanc Company. These were better than any other Leblanc I had played as far as tuning ws concerned.

There was a hiatus of several years with the Selmer Recital. The Selmer representative brought one in and left it for me to try. This was the “fat” clarinet. It was slightly weightier, an absolutely splendid instrument, whicn had the flattest low F I had ever experienced. I never did get that vent key laterprovided, just played very solftly on that low f, which drove me crazy. But the rest of the clarinet was really quite beautiful and the A I subsequently received wasl also quite special. After experiementing with several different mourhpieces,I discovered that the Recial had a mouthpiece which seemed to be the same bore as the instrument, the C85. Naturally, I acquired many of them. They had three tip openings, the 105, 110, and the 120, which ultimately becme the one of choice. Excellent, even and beautifully sounding instruments were the Recitals When I retired from Concordia I gave the university my Recital set.

My final phase of playing and trying clarinets that were new on the market , was with the Ridenour Series of had rubber clarinets. All of these proved to have the finest tuning of any clarinet that had been massed produced and were made from hard rubber. I may have tried 30 or 40 of those clarinets over a five year period. For several years they were sold under the Allora brand by WWBW. For a while they were being sold for 595.00, complete with a mouthplece and two barrels. The tuning was the best thing about these instrument made from hard rubber, and the material does not or will not ever crack and is as stable a material as one can ever find. The one drawback to hard rubber is hard rubber. While it is dark and blends beautifully with all other instruments and works very well in chamber music situations, it is inherently a sweeter and more dulcet quality than is wood. Beautiful, but it simply does not project as well as a clarinet made from wood. I think that the arrival of the Lyric G1 made of grenadilla solves of of the projection problems that one may have with the hard rubber Lyrique. I tried the wooded Ridenour and still must recommend it as the finest wooden clarinet at the best price of any clarinet manufactured today. The one clarinet I tried over a period of time played most like my Bb Opus, perhaps better.

Aside from bells whistles,additional keys, bell drillings, barrel manufacture from exotic good looking wood, ligatures made form everything from leather, fabric, human skin, inhuman skin, the onlything left would be an incantation or spell on the inctrument, willing it against the evil spirits and personel managers and audtions. If there were any.

Stay well, keep practicing. Enjoy the music

sherman

Lyrique G1 (W.T. Ridenour)

Riddle: Older is not better, it is older. But one can feel as young again, given the right clarinet.

It is Monday July 18, 2011 and this is our sons 43rd birthday.
I just had a strange experience, one of surprise.
I received the new Lyrique G1 clarinet a few days ago and was  pleased and surprised. I have been playing it for several days and I have found it very familiar to play, gratifying as well.
I just set it down to get up for a few minutes to answer a phone call. It was difficult for me to get up, for I have had a ruptured qadriceps for several years, which was repaired, but too late and badly on a leg that was not terribly great to begin with , because of childhood polio.

But wait, this is not a request for a donation, but a report of my elation. The reason it was difficult to arise is because that is the norm of my life now.No big deal. Lots of people have things with which to deal. I am surprised because it was a surprise to get up after playing a clarinet that made me feel young again, with all the prowess of an accomplished youngster.

I had just played some of my favorite melodies from both the orchestral and chamber music repertoire: Brahms 3rd, (slow movement), Eb Sonata (opening), Egmont, (the clarinet solo) the opening of the Hindemith Woodwind Quintet, and the clarinet solo in the second movement. These were melodies that I have not played for years, but will remain within my memory for as long as I am here.
They all have large intervals which must be played easily, or must sound easily played. Usually, there is a bump or a grind here or there, until you’ve got them under your fingers again and in the mind of your embouchure.
What was different is,that after playing them and experiencing  real fun, I had stopped to get up, and found myself again, an old man.
It was a surprise, a big surprise, because for a while I was again a youngster, awaiting my turn in an audition, one which I would win, hands down.

That is the best way I can explain this clarinet. A little more specificity: intervals, large ones, either up or down play with the surety of total control.

More specificity: the thumb rest, which is truly adjustable is easy to change and gave me the best feeling I have had for many years. Not a problem found anywhere in the right hand. It is wider than the usual and works best with my adjustment high. But no further adjustment is necessary.

Continuing, the clarion register almost plays by itself, the legato which must be present in the Ravel “Bolero”, seems built in.

All the while I had my tuner in front of me. For those of you who do this, you know that one can put any note anywhere if you feel either high or low to the tuner. You also know that one doesn’t tarry trying to tune a note, (as there is always a variance one can meet in several different ways) one gets the actual pitch. I found no variance whatever, the clarinet being  fine right out of the case. Just playing or with the tuner. It is reminiscent of my Opus Bb of my set,with a more immediate response.

It is not necessary to give one a chart with small deviances , as each of us plays differently and even hears differently. This clarinet, I would play tonight anywhere.I know the tuning is well within my capability. I play everything on the longer of the two supplied barrels.

One first notices the comfort of the key table.  The key work of the Lyrique G-1 is perfect, there seems a personal quality in the way the keys are set. The plating is a pleasure under the fingers, very substantially made.

Most importantly is the response of the clarinet, made from grenadilla wood, rather then hard rubber. The Lyrique clarinet of hard rubber has the same ease of production, however the response of this clarinet is far superior. There is a solidity of response, (or sound, one may say) that while expressing every nuance of dynamic production, does so with a security that one knows will be heard.

Staccato throughout the instrument is even , as it is in legato.

I put my mouthpiece into the nice looking brown case with the brass hardware. I have a concert of Chamber Music I am playing on the 31st of July.
I will be playing it on the Lyrique G1 clarinet, with the pleasure of a young man….one with a bad leg.

stay well,
sherman