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Metal (aka silver) Clarinets

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
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Metal soprano clarinets were popular in the early twentieth century, until plastic instruments supplanted them; metal construction is still used for the bodies of some contra-alto and contrabass clarinets, and for the necks and bells of nearly all alto and larger clarinets.

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The Selmer Paris Silver clarinet with the built-in tunable barrel is arguably one the best examples of a metal clarinet.

Orsi still makes metal clarinets and you can see some of their professional silver clarinets on their site.
 
I have to do a writeup on the Haynes Thermocouple, at some point. It's the most famous of the silver clarinets -- also rarest and most expensive (the one I have pictured listed for $7K on eBay).

(See THIS for a little more info.) The eBay Ad excerpts:

The William S. Haynes Company began the manufacture of a double-wall, sterling-silver clarinet, based on the principal of a thermos flask, in 1926. The fabrication of this instrument continued until 1942, resulting in a total production of only 334 examples. It was the only time in the history of the Haynes Company that an instrument other than the flute was produced.

The patent for the thermoclarinet was filed on March 19, 1926, and awarded patent number 1,715,162 on May 28, 1929. The instrument consists of two, hard-drawn, sterling-silver, seamless tubes, one within the other. The bore of the inner tube matches that of a regular wood clarinet. Similarly, the outer tube matches the exterior size of a wood clarinet. Between the two tubes is a one-eighth-inch air space. A small slide, or louver, is placed at the end of the body, just above the bell. This louver can be opened, revealing the inner tube and exposing the air space. When closed, the space between the tubes is air tight. Near the top of the body is a second vent. This consists of an extended tube covered with a metal cap that renders it air tight. When the cap is removed, the outer bore is opened and the inner bore is exposed to the air. The procedure to warm the clarinet is simple. The bottom louver is opened and the top vent cap is removed. The player blows warm air into the top vent, expelling the cold air through the bottom. After several breaths the clarinet is warm and the vents are closed to seal in the warmth. The barrel of the clarinet also features a double bore. It fits tightly over the top of the body forming a tuning slide.

Nowhere on the thermoclarinet patent, nor in any advertising material or newspaper articles, is there any mention of Verne Q. Powell, co-director of Haynes at the time this instrument was designed. Yet, according to Powell, it was he who invented the warming device. So upset was Powell with this situation that he left the William S. Haynes Company, having worked there since 1913, to set up his own shop prior to July of 1926.

Excerpted from Deborah Check Reeves, "Historically Speaking," The Clarinet 31, No. 3 (June 2004), pp. 28-29.
See also THIS and the full patent.

There's a pic of a much worse-shape horn at the RCM in London. At least it has some nice data.

Of course, I should also mention the rather oddly-shaped Linton contra.

Remember, as well, that lacquered brass was also used for a number of clarinets, just like on a sax. I rather think brass clarinets are ugly, but there's no accounting for taste.

I owned a metal Bb soprano Pan American. I rather thought it had a very sweet tone.

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Other resources:
* Archive.org Linky
* Sneezy.org Article (with lots of commentary by our own Terry).
 
I've got a Selmer Paris "part full Boehm" metal clarinet that I picked up two years ago, and while I haven't had it restored yet (this retirement cut-back stuff accounts for that), I think it compares favorably with my Series 9 and Series 10 horns, with none of the "shrill" sound that many claim the metal horns have is evident with this instrument. (However, to be fair, I have never noticed this to be the case with the other metal clarinets that I have played over the years, either.)

Like the "Bb bright, A mellow" tone issue, this is something that needs to be tested in a double blind fashion, with well set up instruments playing the same music, performed by the same player, from behind a screen. I was a part of such a trial with numerous A, Bb, and (not so numerous) C clarinets back in the 1960's, with all of the horns being regulated first by a cooperative repair person, all playing written out, simple music (so there were no extreme key or "on the fly" transposition issues) with the playing done by competent players. What that trial proved to me (at least) was that the shrill C clarinet and the mellow A clarinet were concepts held in the mind of the player but totally absent from the point of view of the listener.

Acousticians claim that the material from which the body of a clarinet is made is largely irrelevant, and that (given adequate thickness to ensure rigidity, and assuming proper dimensional control of the finished product) a clarinet made from pasta, glass, ice or frozen KY jelly should sound the same. It's the air column vibrating within the instrument that matters, not the body material.

Well, I would like to believe the men of science telling us this. I have played well set up hard rubber horns (old ones) and ABS horns that sounded every bit as good as my vintage grenadilla instruments. But, I then took my pathetic flute playing skills and blew on a solid sterling silver headjoint at the Brook-Mays fire sale a few years ago. The embouchure that produces what can only charitably described as an average flute tone on my Gemeinhart flute headjoint comes through as wonderfully vibrant and expressive. Now, it may be that my headjoint cork is all wrong (but it isn't) or that my flute's headjoint is somehow horrible and wrong (but it doesn't appear to be), but that different material seems to make all of the difference in the world with my specifications and abilities. (Not enough, however, to get me to spring for the cost of the sliver piece - I can be extremely tight when it comes to non-clarinets.)

So, I can see why there's room to differ on this topic. And, given the horrible mechanical condition of most metal clarinets in the world, I can also account for the opinion that many have developed about the relics that remain. But, like everything else in the world, there's more to the question than first meets the eye.
 
I am a pretty glad owner of a misterious Bb soprano metal clarinett: on the bell’s front you can read "Elkhart Superior". on the bells back "USA" (thank you... :? ) and in the upper front "Bb" (thank you again... :? )
 
Gandalfe said:
I read somewhere that in the 18th Century (or before?) that some clarinets where made of Ivory but they tended to crack rather easily. :emoji_astonished:
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Ivory, in addition to boxwood and other woods were very common. This was just the first one on Google. In other words, the trim's ivory, not the body.

I need to check further if there are ...
* Fiberglass clarinets
* Glass clarinets

PVC has been done, particularly for contra. Hey, the Clarinet Symposium magazine had plans for one. I wish I still had that issue!
 
I have a Silver King (H.N. White Co.) Boehm-System Bb soprano clarinet in silver-plate with a sterling-silver bell (gold wash inside the bell) and two barrels, one 440 and the other 443. It is gorgeous, and plays pretty good but I prefer my Buffet wooden clarinet. Tonally, the Silver King sounds about the same to my ears (from behind the horn) but some discerning ears in the audience claimed it had a different sound than my Buffet. DAVE
 
Boxwood is a less-than-stable wood, and few of the horns from the old days are in playing condition.

When I did my "bass sax survey" in the high school annuals belonging to my parents, I think that about half of the players in the three different groups were playing one form or another of metal clarinets. There were a large number of Selmer metal horns (recognizable by the "fluted metal barrels") among them. As this was during the 1930's (not all that long after the heyday of the metal horns), and during the Depression to boot, this wasn't all that surprising.
 
I just noticed the "frozen KY jelly" clarinet. I don't think I'd wanna play one of those. No, I don't wanna hear a story about one if you have one, either.

Regarding material affecting sound, the consensus is still pretty much that it doesn't -- on any woodwind. It's possible that a) overall weight and b) amount of toneholes cause an appreciable affect, but I still think it boils down to, "Mmm. This Selmer 9 sounds and plays so much nicer than my Artley 5."

Anyhow, I wonder a little why there aren't more metal clarinets, particularly for students. One would assume that a metal Pan American would last your typical 10-year-old a bit longer than a plastic Bundy. I dunno if the manufacturing would be cheaper.

The Orsi 21 Metal is just about $1800.
The next Orsi I could find a price on was an Orsi & Weir for almost double that.
 
zagor said:
I am a pretty glad owner of a misterious Bb soprano metal clarinett: on the bell’s front you can read "Elkhart Superior". on the bells back "USA" (thank you... :? ) and in the upper front "Bb" (thank you again... :? )
I have one of those too sitting on the shelf.
I've also run across Superior wood clarinets, made in France, which if i recall were SML stencils
 
Metal clarinets are not as forgiving when exposed to shocks, tending to bend rather than flex and return as will the plastic ones. A crinkle in the sheet metal tube is very difficult to remove.

Metal clarinets are also harder to keep clean. Even a well-maintained silver plated horn will get "grotty" (as Sir Paul might say) over time. Students are not known for their fastidious behavior, and a stinking metal horn can act as a deterrent to the player (and to those around them).

Since we have metal clarinets and metal flutes (both formerly made exclusively of wood "back in the day"), I guess that it's time to ask if there are also metal oboes, English horns and bassoons? Not just those replacement instruments for military groups ("Russian bassoons" and the like), but an actual attempt to replicate a bassoon in metal.

Would (pun intended) a metal oboe sound "more shrill" than a regular one? Would you even be able to tell? And, would the player of a metal bassoon have to worry about boot rot (remember, saliva has an acid component to it)? Would the horns over-populate eBay like the silver clarinets do? The world wonders...
 
I've seen several metal oboes. Moenning made one in the form of the Saxoboe. I'm sure there are others.
 
So if we took a stuffed dead duck, carved out the interior to a saxophone specification. Would it sound like a saxophone or just quack notes out ?

and how would that affect the old adage ... if it looks like a duck ... it must be a duck ??
 
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WOW, I'm glad I'm broke.
 
...But not (apparently) the upper end of the line. I've got a "half full Boehm" Selmer from the same period (with the "fluted barrel") that would drop people's jaws if only I had the time and inclination to get it fixed up.
 
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