Henri Selmer Paris Muse vs Privilege Clarinet - Which is Better?
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- I've recently gotten a lot of messages/emails about comparing the Selmer Muse and Privilege clarinets, so I decided to make a comparison video! Which one is better?
For me, it's a classic "apples and oranges" situation. The Muse is better for clarinetists who are looking to minimize resistance and maximize flexibility, while the Privilege is better for clarinetists who prioritize control and projection. The mechanisms are so similar, and both provide excellent intonation.
I neglected to mention in this video that the Privilege model I used is also an Evolution clarinet, so it has the same synthetic lining that the Muse has. It does not increase the price of any of the instruments but makes them more durable.
Shop Muse here: www.cleverclar...
Shop Privilege here: www.cleverclar...
Shop all Selmer Clarinets here: www.cleverclar...
Shop my set-up here: www.cleverclar...
Great review, Larkin. That's what I keep hearing from folks who have had a chance to try the Muse - unlike most of us US players LOL. In fact, my friend who works at Selmer in Elkhart has shared his opinion that Muse is the opposite of Privilege. At the end, it is the matter of habit and our liking. I never liked working too hard to get good tone AND maintain full control, but I had to, and now I am wondering whether Muse's acoustic properties will allow me for having the cake and eating it, too, so to speak. Here is to opportunities to have all the instruments more easily available for us to try them.
The Muse sounds really nice. Thank you for the video. God bless you Dr Larkin
Several years ago I bought a pair of buffet RC Clarinet when they came out they were highly recommended by one of the leading players in the UK. I’ve played on them for awhile but went back to playing they R 13 Clarinets As they suited my styles of playing much better and I found them easier to play No Doubt because I’ve had them for several years - it’s a good thing to get the instruments on approval if you come for a few weeks including in the orchestra or ever you play. I think all the instruments do you play by Selmer Paris oh great and it’s all personal to you - beauty is in the ear of the beholder - the signature Clarinet is said to be resistant she could make a fantastic sound on it with practice - it takes time to really get to know Clarinet none of them are 100% in tune. You have to get to no it. Any manufacturers catalogue is also going to be slightly biased. It’s a tough decision I hope all your listeners choose their instrument well and then forget about the latest instruments. During the lockdown I got a pair of Boosey & Hawkes 1010 British Clarinet which had been brilliantly restored and or at least 70 years old they are fantastic Instruments! Once again Doctor Larkin thank you for your fabulous videos - God bless you - Bill - UK🎶🎶🎶
Great review. Especially about resistance. I, at this time , feel that relying on the airstream with a less resistant set up gives more rewards than relying on "muscle" for intonation and control. But one has to
PRACTICE this technique and believe in it. Resistance is a quick fix but will cost your body.
Music is more than playing harmony parts of the symphonic works or classical concertos, where the idea of the individuality of sound does not exist (for the sake of orchestral harmony). Once you want to play other, more expressive genres, develop incredibly rich vocabulary for soloing in several genres, and have a superior control of the instrument (instead that instrument is controlling your tone regardless of what you do), then you must choose a resistant instrument. There is no other way. Serious saxophonists know this very well, and strive for it. But clarinettists begin to realise this aspect of music-making only if they begin playing the repertoire OTHER than school / Classical.
@@zvonimirtosic6171 Well said. I understand and have used high resistance set ups playing classical clarinet and I agree with you there and with classical sax, which I have never done. But I am a jazz sax player. Mostly tenor. But on soprano I use more resistance. But when playing both horns I try to find a balance so that there is not too much difference when i change from one to the other. I also play flute and that can really be affected by a very resistant set up on for example clarinet. It´s hard work to be a good doubler LOL!
There is another, almost philosophical problem with low or no resistance; we don’t need humans to play such an instruments. Just connect an air compressor to the mouthpiece, while some apparatus is pressing all the keys, and the sound of the instrument comes out.
It is the analogy of the music box, wind it up and it “plays the music”. What’s tragical today is that decent musicians are paying incredible sums for nothing more than a “music box clarinet”.
In my experience, musicians who really want something unique in their expression, do it better and faster with less expensive instruments that are more resistant. The other day I watched a superb New Orleans jazz clarinettist who plays a 100 years old Selmer Brevete in Albert system. When you listen, you just know that expression is not possible if playing a new Buffet that costs like a decent second-hand car. Because the new Buffet is just a very expensive music-box.
@@zvonimirtosic6171 I have 2 Alberts and they are not more resistant. More open like a sax, and produce a bigger warmer sound.
@@bobblues1158 I mentioned Albert system because we don't have such instruments produced today anymore. Instruments with a bigger, more flexible sound, fewer rings, etc. are gone. Cross that out. Today, in new instruments, we only have instrument's resistance to do something different with it. If they get rid of that too in all models (and they may find whatever "excuse"), from many options we have come to just one, all thanks to lazy-arse players. Then the clarinet, as an expressive tool, is dead.
Sounds good, Larkin! May I ask which mouthpiece you play? Sounds great, very even and bouyant!
Thanks, Tony! I’m using a D’Addario Evolution mouthpiece with Reserve Classic 3.5 reeds. It’s my favorite combination!
I can hear you so much better since you've blocked that room off. Sounds good.
Thanks for the comparison review.
I have a couple of questions. What makes a clarinet more resistant?
Also, what do you mean about a clarinet 'aging?' I heard you mention that in another video.
Thanks!
Hi! A resistant clarinet will cause the player to feel more pressure in the mouth and/or sinuses while playing. This is caused by the shape and size of the bore. A clarinet with a more conical taper (but still with a mostly cylindrical bore) and/or a smaller bore will feel less resistant. A reverse conical taper and/or larger bore will feel more resistant. Clarinets age like any other wooden machine that's exposed to frequent temperature changes and moisture. Over time, this causes the bore to develop irregularities which can alter intonation and resistance.
@@cleverclarinetist Thanks! That makes perfect sense.
@@cleverclarinetist Hi again! Quick update. I just bought a Muse, mainly based off of your comparison review. I'm more of a jazz player, and I love how open the Muse sound is.
So, thanks!
Cool! Wish you would’ve bought it from me! ;) enjoy!
Muse sounds lovely and all that. But the key to developing personal sound, as opposed to the generic sound of the instrument, is the resistance offered by the instrument. Players who play instruments with low resistance do not even realise how bad their playing is, their technique lacking, they have no individuality worth mentioning, and how much the instrument "covers up for them". Unless they switch to the more resistant instrument, they die in ignorance. For the serious soloist, a serious musician, that must develop a tremendous vocabulary, and superior control, or literally "sing with an instrument", try more than one genre … there is but one choice: an instrument with more resistance.
This same rule applies to the saxophone world as well, where soloists and top players in various genres seek to chisel out the sound "to be theirs alone". If they do it well, just by playing a few bars of music we can immediately recognise the player. Clarinettists begin to realise this aspect of music-making only if they begin playing the repertoire OTHER than school / classical.
I have to say to you my brother that you might live and let live, that music is a free choice of expression. Statements like " Die in Ignorance" show no tolerance for the wide variety of personal choice in music. Keep your ears open and do not judge others choices. Who have you played with, how many recordings have you made, how many of them have sold and made the buyer happy? Who are you to judge music?
@@bobblues1158 Die in ignorance is a fair assessment. My maestro would be harsher, and would throw even worse insults and treat with a serious warning all musicians who, like me, were trying to earn hard money for living. Because he teaches you all your faults, which you don't even realise are there, especially if you think "you know something" and if you are flattered by those who are worse than yourself! Most musicians nowadays are infantile snowflakes; they can't accept criticism, think the cushioned seat is just waiting for their royals behinds, and that instruments should play by themselves. Sadly, that's the result of cultural conformism, nanny-state, which is taking over common sense and real mastery of arts.
@@zvonimirtosic6171 I have to admit that your
last sentence is making me think. But I need to know a little bit of your definition of cultural conformism and nanny-state. Then we can get to common sense and real mastery of the arts LOL
Non sembra essere nulla di nuovo, anzi non li trovo affatto omogenei,la Selmer ha scoperto l'uovo di colombo?