How to Choose a Clarinet? Guide to Buying a Clarinet Insurance to Safeguard the Instrument

Planning to buy a Clarinet? There are many things you might need to consider before arriving at the right choice, which includes the material, the type of instrument as well as the budget to buy the instrument.

There are many critical factors involved in choosing the instrument. The Clarinet is a family of instruments that differ in their tunings and registers. We shall help you with the right choice by taking you through every consideration, and how to make the decision.

Before moving on, let us take you through the anatomy of a clarinet. It has five parts majorly: the mouthpiece, the barrel, the upper joint, the lower joint, and the bell.

Now, let's see the things you need to consider

Choice of material

The instrument comes in two materials: wood and plastic. The plastic that is used to make the instrument has been specifically designed for the instrument, which includes the ruggedness. The plastic based clarinets are mostly used by beginners of this instrument.

Grenadilla is the wood commonly used to make clarinets. The wood density is high, which is why it is preferred by most of the advanced and intermediate level students. If you are planning to purchase a wood instrument, you should know that it involves a lot of care and maintenance. You should make sure the humidity is just sufficient for the survival of the instrument. If the instrument is stored in a very humid climate, it can be damaged.

There is another category of wood, rather a sub-category, which includes 5% carbon fibre along with wood.

The plating choices

The key work on the clarinet is plated with either silver or nickel. Nickel plating is durable while silver plating gets tarnished with time. However, silver plating has the appeal and charm that can attract you to it. It is more aesthetic when compared to nickel plating. So, you will need to make a choice between durability and aesthetics in here.

The type of reed

In the many choices you are to make when buying a clarinet, the reed choice is very important. According to the classists, the type of reed makes a huge difference when playing the clarinet. The reed types range from soft to hard, where level 5 is termed to be the hardest. There are the regular file reeds and the French file reeds. French file reeds offer quick response, and makes it the perfect choice for the advanced level players.

The different clarinets

Soprano clarinets are long and thin, and contain a list of clarinet sub categories within them. They have different sound profiles as well as tunings.

There is the Bb clarinet, which is the most popular type. It is used to play all sorts of music including Mozart. It is a good choice if you are a beginner or a crossover student. Bass clarinets are perfect for jazz.

Insure the clarinet

When choosing the clarinet, pay some attention to choosing the clarinet insurance. Along with safeguarding the insurance, it will take care of the maintenance and service needs of the instrument.