Today I spent most of the day at Backun Musical Services, where I had sent my clarinet for an overhaul. From the moment I walked in the door, I felt more than welcome: everyone there was overflowing with enthusiasm about what Backun is doing to advance woodwind technology, and wanted to make sure that I got the most from my visit–and I certainly did!

First off, I was treated to a tour of the facilities, a wonderful combination of extreme high-tech machinery (e.g., CNC machines accurate to 1/10,000 of an inch) and old-fashioned hand craftsmanship. One marvel (I regret that most of my pictures didn’t turn out) was the 3-D printers Backun uses for prototyping new products–they can actually produce an entire clarinet from a CAD design!

Diane, the resident woodwind technician, had done a marvelous job on my horn: the mechanism was velvety smooth and it blew better than new. Then I went downstairs, and with the help of Erika, a clarinetist herself, went through a selection of barrels and bells for as long as my lip held up. I chose a MOBA 66 mm barrel and a MOBA #5 bell, both in grenadilla wood. The #5 bell is a shorter version of the standard bell, and, although I didn’t know it at the time, is what works best with the Buffet R13. (Fortunately, they had “Studio” models of both available: acoustically perfect with slight visual flaws, which I can’t see, so I got them for half price.)

Both of the pieces had a dramatic effect on the sound: a more integrated tone from top to bottom, better throat tones, smooth transitions between registers, better articulation…well, as Morrie said a little later, now I don’t have any excuses anymore. There’s nothing between me and the music now except my own willingness to practice.

I also briefly tried a couple of Backun mouthpieces, but by that time my embouchure was gone, and I couldn’t really do them justice–too many variables. So I’ll stick with my Richard Hawkins Student model, which I really like, while I work on the fundamentals. There’s plenty of time to get crazy about mouthpieces later.

I’d already been briefly introduced to Morrie himself, who was busy with a couple of members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, but after I’d finished picking out my barrel and bell, he spent about 20 minutes with me fine-tuning the instrument. Basically, he had me play a chromatic scale from low C to altissimo C, and tweaked the horn where necessary. Most of the adjustments were to key height and such, but he did slightly ream out the third-finger right-hand tone hole to improve the clarion Eb. He has an amazing ear! There’s a lot more he could do, but I’m not at the level where it would make sense to spend the additional time and money.

The only downside of the visit was that I’ll have to wait over a week before I get to play my horn again, since I’m having them ship it back rather than carrying it back in the car and exposing it to changes in heat and humidity. When I get back, I’ll post a picture of my better-than-new clarinet, but for now, here’s a candid shot Diane snapped of Morrie and me outside the building near the famous Backun fountain.

Morrie Backun explains how to baptize a clarinet