Classifying the Bore Designs of Pro Clarinets: The good, the bad and the broken.

Ok, I got a seemingly offhand question from someone today: 

Is the Buffet BCXXI a different design from the Buffet Legende?

Since I've played the Buffet BCXXI and had some (less than charitable) thoughts about it, I was curious enough to do some research. Here's my reply, which I thought I'd share with you.

Hi [PERSON'S NAME],

Yes, the designs are about as different that you can get (within Buffet-land).

The Legende is actually a “throwback” model, based on vintage designs from the 1950-60s. Most of what’s “vintage” is the bore design, which provides a pretty decent amount of resistance. I’d say it’s one of the more resistant clarinets we carry. And as a result it’s one of the instruments that is less adaptable to contemporary music (be that classical, jazz, or whatever), but very well suited to classical ensemble playing. Of course, no one will come arrest you if you play it in a funk band.

The BCXXI is their newest design which launched in 2021 or 2022. It has a brand new bore design (and bell design) that’s unlike anything that has been tried to date with any manufacturer. It was a gamble for Buffet to launch this, since the design is kind of radical (and a bit of a grand compromise between the designer and four famous European clarinetists that provided consultation). Their goal was to create the most flexible clarinet ever made, that could be played in any environment from Stamitz to Radiohead. Hence the “BCXXI” = "Buffet Crampon 21st century." (Well, about 22 years into the 21st century at least.) Anyway, the clarinet has been a total dud. No one likes it. I’ve played it and it’s probably the weirdest playing, most resistant feeling, bright and tinny sounding clarinet I’ve ever tried. And the four guys (Paul Meyer, Michel Arrignon, Nicolas Baldeyrou and Martin Fröst)? Well, none of them play the instrument, either.

I gotta hand it to Buffet — they aimed for the fences with the BCXXI. And sometimes you shoot ...and you miss.

If you are looking for a clarinet that has a modern bore…but isn’t the BCXXI you have few other options. Actually, only one. The Backun Lumière is also a new design, but it’s another attempt that I don’t think is wholly successful. For the record, I’m a Backun artist. And for the record, I have said this to Morrie personally: I think they tried to do too much with the Lumiere, and they should have been more iterative. That said, the one thing Morrie did get nearly perfect is the scale. It’s the most in-tune clarinet that’s ever been made. Unfortunately, how they managed to get such an in tune scale resulted in an instrument that feels…kinda weird. Add to that the fact that Morrie redesigned all of the key shapes for the Lumière, and the instrument feels like a foreigner in my hands.

Selmer? They’ve stuck pretty much to what they do best: traditional French bore design. Their instruments feel like French clarinets — every one — and while each model is slightly different bore-wise, if you were blindfolded, you’d know they were all French.

Moving on. Uebel doesn’t describe their bores in terms of modern or traditional or what-have-you. But they name them, and each bore is slightly different (though the Superior and Superior II are likely related). Several felt so similar to me that I couldn’t justify carrying them all in the shop (the Superior and the Romanza I couldn’t tell apart from the Rêve). Of course I could be totally wrong and full of crap; I acknowledge that. Everyone feels things differently with clarinets.

Yamaha, Patricola and Rossi also make fairly traditional bores on their current clarinet lines.

Last thing to think about: the wood type. Woods make a big difference in how a clarinet feels to play — in some ways more than the difference in bore. Uebel makes instruments from Mopane wood (in addition to Grenadilla). They also experiment with Cocobolo, but the king of cocobolo is Backun…who is also now experimenting with Maple. But Mopane is about 10-20% less dense than Grenadilla. This produces are “warmer” sound because, like sponges absorb high frequencies more than low frequencies, Mopane absorbs those high frequencies, too. Cocobolo is only sliiiightly less dense than Mopane. Mopane tends to be more stable of a wood and less susceptible to cracking (it has a lower oil content). Both of those sound and feel different than Grenadilla, so you might want to try them to see if it’s an interesting sound for you. Maple is 50% less dense than Mopane/Cocobolo and about 55-60% less dense than Grenadilla. It’s 30% lighter than BOXWOOD! If Boxwood is a 1700’s “authentic” clarinet, Maple is decidedly middle-ages. I've tried a Maple bass clarinet of Backun's, and I can tell you, it is the weirdest wood I've played yet. Not bad at all — but it has a really unusual sound.

Anyway, I bet you are surprised your one-sentence email resulted in this. That’s because I’m turning it into an article for the blog.

Thanks for the question!

Mike