Beginning Clarinet Information
If you are able to buy a new instrument for your beginning clarinet player, the best models to own outright are the Backun Alpha and the Yamaha YCL-255. Even if it is a "store demo" that has been maintained by the shop selling it, these two clarinets are by far the best choices for a purchase. If your child is going to play them for a long time, these two will serve well in high school marching band, pep band, or any other situation where a professional wood clarinet would not be in ideal environmental conditions. If your child quits playing, their resale value is excellent and you can recoup most of what you spent on it. I am not a fan of the other popular student clarinets in the market because of their poor quality control and poor resale value. Avoid all cheap "clarinet shaped objects" from auction sites or non-music retailers online as they will not function properly!
The Backun Alpha can be found new online around ~$900, although demo models do go on sale every year and they can be found used for as low as $500. Insomuch as there can be any sort of objective assessment regarding this topic, in my humble opinion it is the absolute best synthetic clarinet available on the market today, with the same kind of attention to detail that their professional model clarinets have. The keywork in particular is extraordinary for a "student" level instrument, and a number of professional players use the Alpha as their backup and outdoor instrument. The synthetic body of the Alpha is highly resistant to temperature/humidity changes, making the pitch very stable. It is best to get them from North Country Winds, where Miles DeCastro is the master technician who handles all Backun (Canada) warranty service for those instruments in the United States.
Another excellent choice is the Yamaha YCL-255 or YCL-200AD, which can be found online listed for $1000 new, but can be found for sale for around $700 or so. Yamaha's fit and finish is superb, and the intonation of their instruments is excellent. The consistency from one instrument to the next is a hallmark of their superior manufacturing process, and there's really no need to try out dozens of them to find a "good" one. Yamaha also tends to retain its value really well, and used ones command much better prices on the market than no-name off-brands. There are Yamaha licensed music stores all over the place, so it should be very easy to find them. From Howarth in the United Kingdom, it's around $600 at current exchange rates, so even with shipping costs it's still quite a bargain. The Yamaha also has the benefit of having a slightly more compact key layout which works better for younger students with smaller hands.
Both of these instruments, as well as previous versions (Yamaha YCL-250 or YCL-22 for example) can be found used on Ebay, Craigslist, and other sources. However, you need to make sure that they are in good playing condition. From pad leaks to bent springs to alignment issues, used clarinets often have maintenance issues that need to be addressed before they can be playable, and many times student clarinets have been neglected and have never had the routine maintenance that they need to stay in playing condition. While I have not liked their student models in the past, the most recent version of the Buffet Prodige is quite nice. It replaced the older B12 model which I was not a huge fan of.
What if I want to spoil my child and buy them a professional model right away? Please don't. You wouldn't have them learn to drive on a Ferrari, so give them a chance to learn how to properly care for an instrument first before you hand them something that requires lots of maintenance!
What if I want to spoil my child and buy them a professional model right away? Please don't. You wouldn't have them learn to drive on a Ferrari, so give them a chance to learn how to properly care for an instrument first before you hand them something that requires lots of maintenance!
Mouthpieces
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There is nothing more critical than a good mouthpiece. The ones that are included with new clarinets are for the most part only appropriate to use as door-stoppers. Luckily, top mouthpiece makers all sell acrylic versions of their professional-line mouthpieces that are both well-playing and durable!
The Fobes Debut can be found for around $29+ from numerous online shops. It's an excellent "middle of the road" mouthpiece that is great for beginners and intermediates. It is modeled after one of Clark Fobes' most popular professional mouthpieces, but in acrylic material for durability. Despite the low cost, it can last many a beginning student through high school. Many of my private students got their start on this mouthpiece! It's available on Amazon from most major music retailers. The model to get has the "CF+" facing. Another option is the Behn Overture which Bradford Behn sells directly from his site for $40. Not only is it also a great acrylic beginner mouthpiece that is carefully hand-finished for consistency, Behn offers a value trade-in on the current price of the Overture when students upgrade to one of his Professional or Custom mouthpieces. You can see his site at www.clarinetmouthpiece.com. More advanced players should check out the Prescott mouthpieces from Behn's Epic CNC. Available in close, medium, and open facings at a very reasonable price ($159 list, available for much less for teachers and their studios), they are vastly superior to the competition's offerings in this price range. Vandoren mouthpieces tend to dominate the market, and while models like the M13, M13 Lyre, M15, BD5, and so forth can work very well, the product available in retail stores has consistency issues due to poor quality control. The absence of reasonable mouthpiece trial policies due to the pandemic makes them a "crap shoot" in my opinion, so in the $80-$120 price range I would stick with the recommendations above. |
Ligatures
The ligature holds the reed to the mouthpiece. I usually recommend the Rovner 1R Dark model ligature for beginners. Bring fabric, they can't sit on it and destroy it, and it is easy to place and position on the mouthpiece. It can be found for about $20 anywhere, but it's easy to get on Amazon. I prefer metal ligatures myself but they're too easy for beginners to damage (or damage the reeds with).
Some folks just sound better with metal ligatures, so at the inexpensive end, I adjust the Bonade Inverted ligature in nickel-plate, also available for around $20 as well. They must be adjusted these days because the quality control is awful and their shape is never proper to fit the mouthpiece and reed without hitting the reed shoulders.
There are terribly expensive ligatures out there ($200+), and students should generally avoid them as there is very little return on investment. Silverstein Works has released a much less expensive version of the cord ligatures, the "Quattro" at $85. If you're interested in checking out this particular kind of ligature, this model has a much more reasonable price entry point than their professional models.
Some folks just sound better with metal ligatures, so at the inexpensive end, I adjust the Bonade Inverted ligature in nickel-plate, also available for around $20 as well. They must be adjusted these days because the quality control is awful and their shape is never proper to fit the mouthpiece and reed without hitting the reed shoulders.
There are terribly expensive ligatures out there ($200+), and students should generally avoid them as there is very little return on investment. Silverstein Works has released a much less expensive version of the cord ligatures, the "Quattro" at $85. If you're interested in checking out this particular kind of ligature, this model has a much more reasonable price entry point than their professional models.
Reeds
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There are many brands and types of reeds available. I recommend the following:
For beginners, I like Mitchell Lurie strength 2.0 or 2.5 (older students with more developed facial muscles can start with 2.5 instead of 2,0), in a box of ten. It's less than $20 on Amazon. They are extremely consistent and also play very well "out of the box" without any sort of break-in routine. As beginners develop their embouchures, they can move up in strength to 2.5 and 3.0. I would avoid the least-expensive "Orange Box" RICO reeds, as they just don't last long enough even at their low price. For intermediates who have already reached Mitchell Lurie 3.0, it's a good time to go to Vandoren Regular blue box 2.0, which is equivalent in strength (notice that strengths are not consistent across different brands). Though they require some breaking-in, they last a lot longer than the Mitchell Lurie's do. The Debut and Overture mouthpieces can accommodate people playing these up to strength 2.5 as well. More advanced students should check out the Behn Aria reed, which is wholly superior to the mass-produced brands. They're a bit more expensive ($38 per box of 10) but I have found that most of the reeds in the box end up being usable, versus the low yield with the popular brands. They can be ordered from Brad Behn's website directly. He also has a new Behn Brio reed for $28 a box that is absolutely wonderful, and for students who like Vandoren it is an amazing alternative with nearly no duds in each pack! For those who would like to avoid the variability and fuss of cane reeds altogether, I recommend Legere Signature European Cut synthetic reeds, which I currently play on most of the time. This is an option for those willing to make the initial investment in them, as each Legere costs as much as an entire box of 10 cane reeds; however they can last for a year with proper care and rotation (I rotate 3-4 at a time). However, please note that finding a mouthpiece that works well with the synthetic reed is of paramount importance--there are mouthpieces that mitigate the issues of plastic and provide a very "cane-like" experience with synthetics. |