Jonathan Cohen Review: Buffet BCXXI Clarinet

Jonathan Cohen is the principal Clarinettist for the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

A third-generation clarinettist, Jonathan was born in New Orleans and completed his Master of Music degree at The Julliard School in New York City which is widely regarded as one of the world's leading drama, music, and dance schools.

Today Jonathan gives us his thoughts on the Buffet BCXXI.

[Rbilicious]

I think that the low Eb won’t help people in most cases. If you want to play a piece written for A clarinet in the original key, then you will have to learn all new fingerings (usually less idiomatic than on A clarinet). If the piece isn’t already transposed for Bb, then you will have to do it yourself.

Then there’s the fact that the low Eb adds another key that needs to stay in adjustment with the E/B key. As bass players know, the more connections you have, the harder it is for the clarinet to stay in adjustment.

Long story short, the cost of getting an A clarinet far outweighs the problems you will face with a Bb that you try to play as an A.

[JBergmansson]

"Young students", is probably not the target for a clarinet that costs 8000 €.

Some more interesting things about the BCXXI that Buffon claim is that there is now a second fingering for the Bb in the middle of the register, and that the low E and F intonate better. It would have been interesting to hear your thougths on that.

[kennyadvocat]

This is cool. I'd rather have a low Eb than the tosca that has the corrected F key.