Choosing a clarinet for orchestra means prioritising blend and intonation over everything else. A soloist can get away with a distinctive voice, but an orchestral clarinettist has to sit inside a woodwind section, match the oboe and flute in pitch and colour, and hold together at the quietest dynamics the conductor asks for. That narrows … Read more
Finding a good clarinet under 500 dollars is easier than it used to be, because the resin student instruments from the established brands have improved while prices have stayed flat. This is the budget most families land on for a first clarinet, and the difference between a good choice and a bad one at this … Read more
Shopping for a clarinet under 1000 dollars puts you in the most interesting part of the market. Below this level you are buying resin student instruments. Above it you are into professional territory. In between sits a group of step-up clarinets that includes the first genuinely good wooden instruments, and choosing well here sets a … Read more
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