Lark / Bailing

Bailing means Lark in Chinese. I have seen Lark instruments from way back. And I suspect that all of the Chinese clarinets are coming from the same factory.

Lark clarinets are currently on sale in Indonesia and probably other Asian countries.

They prefer to use names that don't sound so Chinese for instruments sold in America.

This information and the review below is from Kai Yu in China. Thanks so much, Kai Yu!

AND an mp3 of Kai Yu playing this instrument is attached below!

Bailing is an old musical instrument company in Shanghai. I still have one, bought in 1997, when I restarted playing clarinet in September this year, it worked fine. It only had a register key leak. And the key work is not bad, not soft, although not good for polishing. Good for beginner. This has tone hole inserts like the Lyrique.

Barrel: 64mm

Bore LH joint top: 14.85 mm

Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.9 mm

Here is my review of my old Lark clarinet. The room temp is low, about 10C (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

The barrel was pulled out 2.1mm.

Intonation summary: Well this was in a cold room, and probably pulled out too far. But even so, this looks horrendous. As can be heard in Kai Yu's recording, the throat tones are extremely sharp.

The tone hole inserts can be observed in these pictures:

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