Does anyone know anything about this instrument? I have been looking for an instrument that has a good range and plays in C (recorders are too limited and oboe is too hard for me). This looks ideal, but is it any good? I want something easy and light that I can play whilst sitting in an armchair!! I often play to accompany my daughter on her oboe, but I get a bit lost when she plays higher notes as I can only play the recorder. I looked at a clarinet, but they are b flat, so a clarinet in c sounds great.

I would be grateful for any information.

QUOTE (undercoat @ Jan 13 2005, 08:53 PM)

Does anyone know anything about this instrument?

I don't know much about these instruments because I'm not a clarinetist myself (nor teach it) but I have come across them sometimes in primary school music-making and junior bands. They are lightweight, I presume some kind of plastic, and quite small compared to the normal clarinet. Young children find them much more manageable than a traditional clarinet but I wonder how they'd be for an adult?

The mouthpiece is similar to a normal clarinet (think they take a standard reed but not totally sure about that either) but they don't have the tone quality of a full-sized instrument. As you want to play in C that won't cause you problems but if you are accompanying these instruments you have to make sure you buy the properly prepared accompaniments, not the ones for Bflat instruments.

Other than that, why not see if you can get hold of one to try? I would have thought your local music services would have one you could look at perhaps, or a good woodwind supplier. Most shops will do "sale or return" so you might be able to trial one that way.

Hope this works out OK for you.

Personally I don't like the Lyons clarinet's and for young children who are too small for the standard Bb would choose a Kinder Eb clarinet. The lyons clarinet takes a clarinet Eb reed I think and although has the same fingering as a standard Bb, it has limited keywork and restricts the player i.e. no L hand C key or R hand B key.

It is good though as you don't have to tranpose music! You can only use Lyons (and Kinder) clarinets up to Grade 3.

Hope this helps!

And it's indestructible! Well you can fix it yourself if it breaks. Yeah it does use the same fingerings as a Bb.

I was looking up about it for part of my A2 music and the Useful Music websites had lots of info on it.

What are the "useful music" links? I have been trying to find some reviews about this clarinet, but I can only find information from the people who make them - and I don't expect that they will be unbiased reports.

I am only considering this clarinet because it is in C and not B flat. I want to be able to play along with my daughter's oboe (but she is so good at her oboe that she leaves me behind on my treble recorder!). I have also considered the fllute as this is in C too, but I don't know how I would get on with the mouthpiece - a bit like blowing over the top of a bottle - I am not very good at that. I have only played the recorder before (and the piano), and I want something easy. I have heard that the clarinet is fairly easy to play when one has prior musical experience - am I right in thinking this?

Thanks for everyone's input so far - it is a real help to me.

You could play along even with a Bb clarinet.
Just means your part would have to be transposed up a tone.
Have you and/or your daughter the necessary theotetical knowledge to be able to write out a transposed version?
We used to do that all the time a school to fit whatever instruments we were playing at any given time.

Getting used to playing a clarinet is not an easy thing to do.But if you can play recorders and also read music well then obviously you will have a head start with learning any new instrument.
Maybe you could work on your recorder playing in order to keep up with your daughter?
Descant/tenor recorders can play from middle C to D above the stave - are you finding that your daughter is playing outside of this range?
Good luck with your decision.

If you go on www.firstclarinet.com it's all about Lyons C clarinets. It's got reviews and stuff. I thought it was useful music, but that's Graham Lyons' publishers, not his webiste sorry!