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From: Kadamasuta@aol.com
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 12:13:30 EST
Subject: Wood or Metal and Plain Availability; and
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
In a message dated 1/16/00 5:33:08 PM, Opusnandy writes:>Well, that was the problem. The octocontraalto (and octocontrabass) clarinets
>were available to anyone who could afford them in Leblanc's catalogs for
>awhile. Only two or three octocontraaltos and zero octocontrabasses sold,
>so they were discontinued.Couple questions: How much were they at list price? Then deduct about 40%
real cost. I have a Vito Contrabass on order. It's going to cost me 2,300.
from a mail order retailer. As a dealer (at least I still was last time I
checked) my confidential price is a tad over 2100. But I'll have to wait a
year and a half. The dealer I already ordered from has me tenth in line for
15 Vito contrabass clarinets they have on back order and expect them from any
day until Sept. of this year. But that's just words.
I was told that the 340 or 342 are special order so I can imagine how long
the wait is for those.On the other hand If I was going to be able to afford myself an instrument
with a low C or a professional instrument nonetheless (after I sell all my
stuff) I would order a Selmer CB CL from an overseas dealer willing to make a
trans-shipment quietly.
[ For the same reason I prefer an olde Selmer Bb 55 soprano with the big
bore from around the mid 20th century to a Leblanc, LL or concerto or R-13
Buffet if only the fat tone and flexibility of the old Selmer (but try and
find one) yet still having somewhat of a centre. ]
I'm not sure the same holds true with a contrabass or contraalto but with the
Leblanc Bass Cls, I seem to be able to get into the 6th octave with a real
clarinet sound and respectively very good intonation with minimal adjustment.
So I suppose a smaller bore is more responsive to venting differences. This
might be a matter of special fingerings that work on one instrument but not
the other. With a Selmer Bass Cl I can get nice subtones that are smoothly
transitional into fundamental notes, a little less blatty sound as might
occasionally be had on my leblanc in the lower register. And that's what it
comes down to. If one day I'm going to get a good contra and spend good money
I want the best LOW notes and the best possible control over them. I won't
pretend that I'm not impressed by the look of a straight clarinet made of
wood, but would not want to sacrifice a low C.The contrabass website describes the Selmer as having the larger bore and the
advantages of it. I also understand that the rosewood instrument may go out
of adjustment easily. Is this because of the wood changing (swelling and
shrinking?) or the mechanism being delicate as is described in the Leblanc
Paperclip?I wish I could get a photo of the one Grenadilla wood Leblanc Bb Contra to
low C. (It may have been a wood octocontraalto). It sounded so low that I
could not hear anything beyond low E (and I've got big ears) I could only
feel the reed beating and the floor shaking. And with this instrument I was
able to sound a subtone in the lower notes (esp C - to CC) and gradually
pull them back into fundamentals without a change of pitch. That's how
responsive it was! Even with the notes that were too low to hear so long as
you could keep a feel for the rate at which the reed was beating. Perhaps if
the reed was worked a bit there wouldn't have been the minor (almost
unnoticeable) transitional "reed-whip" when going from the EE to CC subtones
to respective fundamentals. This instrument was over 6' tall with the peg
only a couple inches from the floor> It had two bends. The first metal turn
at the top extended down using a silverplated metal joint where was situated
the keyed upper extensions of the rh trill keys one of the three automatic
register vents, and A, Ab, etc.; it was about 22 inches long and then turned,
to an elbow with a waterkey; then came back up a few inches to where the neck
joint was.
It was made as a novelty for the NAMM tradeshow in Anaheim, CA and was a
really great show special at around 6,000 if I remember correctly. That was
in 1986 or 87. It may have been up to 8000 because I remember contemplation
of selling my new car and buying an old wreck to get it.
Could this have been an octocontraalto or octocontrabass clarinet? Untill
that time I had never so much as seen a contraalto.k
---------------------------------------------------------
From: "Bret Newton" <jbnbsn99@hotmail.com>
Subject: new website
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 12:23:52 CST
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.comI just found a web site that migh interest some of you. First off what is
the instrument that is on the opening page
http://perso.club.internet.fr/cjsax/collect.html If one is to go into the
woodwind organology page they can find pictures of every member of the
sarrusophone, rothophone, bassoon, oboe, etc. families. Its kind of
interesting to see the progression of diferent instruments through the ages.
Thanks,
Bret Newton
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 11:03:27 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Wood or Metal and Plain Availability; and "what was that
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com>I want the best LOW notes and the best possible control over them. I won't
>pretend that I'm not impressed by the look of a straight clarinet made of
>wood, but would not want to sacrifice a low C.My understanding is that the straight wooden Selmer contrabass *does*
go to low C.>to respective fundamentals. This instrument was over 6' tall with the peg
>only a couple inches from the floor> It had two bends. The first metal turn
>at the top extended down using a silverplated metal joint where was situated
>the keyed upper extensions of the rh trill keys one of the three automatic
>register vents, and A, Ab, etc.; it was about 22 inches long and then turned,
>to an elbow with a waterkey; then came back up a few inches to where the neck
>joint was.
>
>Could this have been an octocontraalto or octocontrabass clarinet? Untill
>that time I had never so much as seen a contraalto.From the description, it must be a contrabass. The bore length of a
Bb contrabass to low C is approximately 9': an octocontrabass would
require about 18' of bore. Instruments with conical bores require
about twice as much length for the same note (18' of contrabassoon
gets you to the contrabass clarinet's lowest note).Grant
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green gdgreen@contrabass.com
http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------From: CoolStu67@aol.com
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 14:19:11 EST
Subject: Re: Wood or Metal and Plain Availability; and
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.comHe said it was 6' tall, being wrapped like a contrabass. So take a curved
contrabass and stretch it out to be 6' long on both sides, would be about 14
feet. Sounds like it could be an octocontralto. No where did he say it was
conical.Stuart
<<
From the description, it must be a contrabass. The bore length of a
Bb contrabass to low C is approximately 9': an octocontrabass would
require about 18' of bore. Instruments with conical bores require
about twice as much length for the same note (18' of contrabassoon
gets you to the contrabass clarinet's lowest note).
>>
---------------------------------------------------------Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 11:50:55 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Wood or Metal and Plain Availability; and "what was that
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com>He said it was 6' tall, being wrapped like a contrabass. So take a curved
>contrabass and stretch it out to be 6' long on both sides, would be about 14
>feet. Sounds like it could be an octocontralto. No where did he say it was
>conical.If you check back on his message, you'll see that he says it was a
*straight* contra, not looped. The main bore was about 6', the
descending bore about 22", plus doubling back up a few inches, plus
neck, adds up to around 9'.Grant
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green gdgreen@contrabass.com
http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------From: Opusnandy@aol.com
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 16:00:19 EST
Subject: Re: new website
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.comIn a message dated 1/17/00 12:24:56 PM, jbnbsn99@hotmail.com writes:
<< http://perso.club.internet.fr/cjsax/collect.html >>
This address isn't working in any of my browsers (I get an "Unknown host"
error. Are you sure this is exactly the address? Could you double check?
This sounds like my kind of web site and I want to see it!Jon Carreira
---------------------------------------------------------Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 12:42:00 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: SJWS+NWSO CDs
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.comI have two CDs from our last San Jose Wind Symphony + Nuclear Whales
Saxophone Orchestra concert: for anyone interested, they're US$12 +
$1 for shipping/packing. If you'd like one, please email me your
mailing address (to gdgreen@contrabass.com - not to the whole list),
and I'll let you know where to send the check. If more than two
people want them, I can probably pick up some more at the next
rehearsal.Grant
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green gdgreen@contrabass.com
http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 13:13:09 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: new website
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com>In a message dated 1/17/00 12:24:56 PM, jbnbsn99@hotmail.com writes:
><< http://perso.club.internet.fr/cjsax/collect.html >>
>This address isn't working in any of my browsers (I get an "Unknown host"
>error. Are you sure this is exactly the address? Could you double check?
>This sounds like my kind of web site and I want to see it!Try http://perso.clubinternet.fr/cjsax/index.html (the period between
"club" and "internet" doesn't belong).Grant
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green gdgreen@contrabass.com
http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------From: "Bret Newton" <jbnbsn99@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: new website
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 16:22:50 CST
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.comSorry about that error. The instrument I was asking about is in the
collections page.
Bret Newton
>Try http://perso.clubinternet.fr/cjsax/index.html (the period between
>"club" and "internet" doesn't belong).***End of Contrabass Digest***
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