Buffet crampon
Buffet Crampon is a French manufacturer of high quality woodwind instruments based in Mantes-la-Ville , Yvelines department . The company has always been best known for its clarinets , but the product range also includes oboes , English horns , saxophones and bassoons .
history
In 1825 the French instrument maker Denis Buffet-Auger was given the right to open a workshop in downtown Paris . He quickly became known in the music world with the development of the 13-key clarinet. At that time, clarinets were made entirely by hand.
In 1830 his son Jean-Louis Buffet took over the business. He married Zoé Crampon in 1836, which is how today's brand name came about. The company logo used to this day was first used in 1844.
His uncle Louis-Auguste Buffet, brother of Denis Buffet-Auger, made the acquaintance of the clarinet virtuoso Hyacinthe Klosé , who held a chair at the Paris Conservatory . In 1839 they both presented a clarinet with a new fingering system that they had developed based on the model of the flute designed by Theobald Boehm . In 1844 Louis-Auguste Buffet received a patent for it.
The new system, on which today's Böhm clarinets are based almost unchanged, proved to be very successful, so that Buffet Crampon set up a factory in Mantes-La-Ville in 1850, which employed around 175 people in the 20th century.
In 1866 Buffet Crampon presented his first saxophone.
In 1885 the company was taken over by Paul Evette and Ernest Schaeffer.
Since then, the company has received numerous prizes and awards for its instruments, particularly during the Paris World Exhibition in 1889 .
Buffet Crampon entered the American market in 1918 and soon became the world's largest clarinet manufacturer.
In 1921 the acoustician Robert Carrée joined the company. In 1948 he created the later famous model R13, an instrument that was particularly popular in the Anglo-Saxon-speaking area, from which he developed the RC model together with Jacques Lancelot in 1974, which became very popular in Europe in particular.
In 1981, Buffet Crampon was taken over by Boosey & Hawkes .
In 1994, Buffet Crampon introduced a composite material as a substitute for wood. This material is characterized by a significantly lower sensitivity to temperature fluctuations. With this development, Buffet also made a contribution to the protection of the African legume plant Grenadilla # Dalbergia melanoxylon #, from which the otherwise used tonewood is obtained.
2,003 affiliated Boosey & Hawkes all instrument construction companies in the consortium The Music Group from. 2005 separated The Music Group in turn by Buffet Crampon .
On January 4, 2006, Buffet Crampon took over the largest French manufacturer of brass instruments, Antoine Courtois . With Besson , Buffet Crampon took over another manufacturer of brass instruments. In October 2008, Buffet Crampon took over the Leblanc company from La Couture-Boussey . Leblanc had been known as a clarinet specialist since 1750, was most recently owned by the American Steinway group and employed 35 people.
Buffet Crampon currently produces more than 100 clarinets per week.
Clarinet models
Buffet Crampon has continuously expanded its product range over the years and further developed existing models. More expensive instruments such as the Festival and Prestige models are usually offshoots of the R13 or RC bore family. Clarinets of the RC family have a stronger taper in the lower piece than those of the R13 family . More recently, models with a larger cylindrical bore have been added, which go back to the earlier BC20 model. Some models are alternatively also available as "Greenline" made of composite material. Recently, Buffet Crampon, like many other woodwind instrument manufacturers, has been experimenting with alternative woods such as mopane and boxwood . (Alto, bass clarinets etc. are not listed)
Entry-level and student models:
- Prodige - (2016-) entry-level model, plastic body
- E11 - entry-level instrument made of real wood. Available as A, Bb, C and Eb clarinet
- E12F - Ambitious entry-level model
Semi-professional models:
- E13 - bore design goes back to the earlier BC20. Leather upholstery. New cup like the RC model (2015)
- Conservatoire
Professional models:
- R13 - (1955-) Developed by Robert Carrée. Has a so-called poly-cylindrical bore. One of the most popular clarinets in the Anglo-Saxon language
- RC - (1975-) named after the developer (together with Jacques Lancelot) R obert C arrée. Revised 2014.
- Vintage - (1996-) variant of the R13. Developed by René Lessieux
- Tradition - (2016 - 2019) New cylindrical bore design, which goes back to the earlier BC20 model. New design and improved equipment from April 2019.
Top models:
- All of the following models are made of natural (unstained) grenadilla wood of selected quality, have metal rings for reinforcement on the tenons and an additional Eb lifter on the left. The equivalent models RC Prestige, R13 Prestige and Festival only differ in the design of the bore (and the tone hole network).
- RC Prestige - (1976-) premium model of the RC. R obert C arrée, further developed by Jacques Lancelot and Guy Deplus. Egg-shaped bulge in the cup. Revised in 2020. Available as A-, B-, and also as C-, D- and Eb clarinet, as well as a basset clarinet in A
- R13 Prestige - (1985-) premium model of the R13
- Festival - (1987-) variant of the R13 Prestige. Developed in collaboration with Jacques Lancelot, Guy Deplus and Michel Arrignon
- Tosca - (2003-) The latest top model of the R13 family, with deep F correction, without metal cup ring. Developed by Michel Arrignon. Available as A, Bb and Eb clarinet
- Divine - (2012-) The latest top model of the RC family with low-F correction, without metal cup ring. Carbon wire instead of metal connecting rings. Synthetic cork on the tenons. Developed in collaboration with Paul Meyer
- Légende - (2017-) cylindrical bore, with deep-F correction, without metal cup ring. Silver-plated mechanics with connecting rings and some other parts rose gold-plated
- Tradition - (2019-) Complete revision of the Tradition model from 2016. Cylindrical bore. New compared to its predecessor: Low-F correction, tenon metal rings, unstained wood, metal emblem
Former top models:
- Elite - (1989–2003) Replaced by the Tosca model
- DG - (1993-2000) developed by D aniel G Autier
Related articles
swell
- ↑ Hoeprich, page 146.
- ↑ Hoeprich, page 146. He received this patent for l'application des anneaux mobiles aux clarinettes et hautbois, which has since been known worldwide as the Böhm system .
- ↑ a b Hoeprich, page 215.
- ↑ a b c Hoeprich, page 208.
literature
- Eric Hoeprich: The Clarinet. Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2008. ISBN 978-0-300-10282-6 .
