Which 'intermediate' level clarinet?

[troutsprout]

Hi ...
Could someone ( parent/clarinet teacher/ clarinet player)be so kind to give me recommendations for a good intermediate level clarinet?

Dd (11) has just done her grade 5 on her trusty student Hanson clarinet and is now ready to upgrade (so I'm told). Although the reasons seem a bit vague?!... I'm not musical at all though so perhaps someone could explain why we need to "upgrade" as they move on? Is it purely to get a better sound on a better quality instrument?
So ,has anyone got any recommendations?
I have been happy with the hanson one BUT wanted to explore other options
as well . Thanks so much.

I can't help with recommendations as have no clue about winds other than recorders and flute, but basically a better instrument will help her to get a nicer, more mature tone. It may be something that a non-musical parent wouldn't notice - my mum couldn't tell the difference between my rubbish flute and my okay-ish one, or between my cheap violin with nasty strings and the expensive one with gorgeous strings - but examiners, adjudicators, her teacher and probably your daughter will certainly notice it.

A step-up clarinet will have a wider bore. That means it will produce a fuller sound, probably 'darker' in timbre, but will also require more puff. If your dd has been playing on a plastic one, you'll also notice that the sound is a bit different simply because she'd be moving to a wooden instrument.

As I said, no idea about woodwinds but from looking at things if you're happy with the Hanson one they seem to offer 100% 'part' exchange - so if you buy your intermediate/advanced instrument from the same company you will get back the whole value of the first instrument. Which may be too good to be true but it's how I interpret it. Ask the teacher?

(My flute is a Pearl Quantz, lower end of the range with only a silver lip-plate and the rest is all silver plate. Even that tiny bit of silver makes a difference to the tone).

Thanks julie that was really helpful
Lol... No I'm not musical at all... I think you are spot on about perhaps not being able to hear the difference

You could probably hear the difference if you got her teacher to play the same thing on both and you listened really carefully. Hopefully.

My DD (12) has just done her grade 5 too. Her teacher said that she needed an intermediate instrument last year and we bought her a Buffet E11. They are about £1200 new, but lots go on ebay for around 500-700. We got hers on Gumtree for £500, and it needed a full service (at £80) as it had not be used for 15 years and the corks needed replacing.

DD's teacher was great at helping us choose. I sent her every ad i saw and she said whether or not we should bid for it.

I am completely unmusical, but was amazed by the difference in sound from the new instrument (DD had a Buffet student clarinet before). She did find it harder to blow at first, but quickly got used to it. The reason we got it a year before her grade 5 though is that it did take a little time to get used to and so we got immediately after her grade 4 exam so she could practice on it before starting the next set of exam pieces.

Thanks swarskicat.. that's really helpful -Good point about getting used to the new clarinet too.She has to pass her grade 5 theory before any more practical exams so hopefully will have plenty of time to get used to a new instrument.
I looked at the buffet as it was recommended online.
It's a bit of a stab in the dark isn't it! ..we aren't exactly loaded so I'm keen to make a good choice.
I'm glad your daughters instrument is good :-)
We are going over to the Hanson worskshop next weekend.
The owner has said we can try various instruments / mouthpieces and ligatures... So I am hopeful we'll find something.

DD2 has been loaned a buffet clarinet from wind band. I can check the model for you later. She's got to grade 7 standard on a £100 yamaha I got on ebay for DD1 about 10yrs ago LOL ( never been serviced since we had it either!)

Servicing a clarinet is very spendy so if buying 2nd hand budget that in.

So glad the music service loan instruments here!

Dads is a buffet e11

Dds!

Thanks Theas18