The best budget bass clarinet for students is a compromise between playable low notes and a price that schools or parents can actually fund. Full professional bass clarinets cost many thousands; student low-E models (to low E flat, not always to low C) bring the instrument into reach for band programmes. Buy carefully: shipping damage, … Read more
The plastic vs wood clarinet debate decides most upgrade purchases, and it is more nuanced than the usual assumption that wood is simply better. Plastic, properly called ABS resin, dominates the student market because it survives conditions that would crack grenadilla within a season. Wood dominates professional playing because it produces a warmer, more complex … Read more
Choosing between trumpet vs clarinet is one of the most common decisions in a first year band programme, and the two instruments could hardly be more different once you get past the fact that both are played with air. One uses a mouthpiece and lip vibration, the other a reed and eighteen keys. They demand … Read more