In my last post, I discussed some of the various brands of bassoons that are currently available (although I most certainly did not review all of them). With that in mind, I think I’ll continue with that theme before I wander onto other related topics.
In searching through things on the ‘net, I’ve come across several other makers including (but not limited to): Amati (Czech), Bell (Canada), Jupiter (US), Leitzinger (Germany), Nobel, Schweizer (Brazil), and Walter (Germany).
In my review of some of these makers, several seem to stand out. Bell bassoons receive high marks, Lexinger are made by a former Heckel employee and are constructed from Sycamore (very unusual as wood bassoons are nearly always made from maple), and Walter. Amati appears to have carved out a niche in the low-end market. I know nothing about Schweizer bassoons (although I’m not impressed with their photos). Nobels are rubber (!) bassoons that are manufactured in China – apparently, they’re fairly decent low-end horns; some have a very UGLY key guard on the boot joint (over the Bb mechanism) with their brand name filigreed on it.
Then there are the huge number of “mystery” bassoons coming out of China for which many of their actual makers cannot be determined (or at least I cann’t seem to find them) including: Hadyn, Lark, K-Knight, Laurel (found on Amazon.com), Rex, Hunter, and Xinghai (found on eBay and elsewhere). As expected, there appears to be very little information on all of these with the exception of Laurel and Xinghai (which are available from a variety of sources).
Moving on to other types of bassoons (excluding contras as those are worthy of their own posts on this blog), I came across something called “mini-bassoons” – instruments made specifically for little kids. While the bassoon has historically appeared in different sizes (e.g., the tenoroon), others are now making them for kids whose hands are far too small for the real thing. Specifically, the “mini-bassoon” manufactured by Howarth’s of London. These bassoons are pitched either a fourth or a fifth higher (in F or G, respectively) and are designed for kids between 6 and 9 years of age. They are surprisingly expensive – between $3,700 and $4,000 USD (Heck, that’s almost as much as a low-end Fox)! Why would anyone spend that kind of money for an instrument to put in the hands of children so young? Furthermore, what are they going to play? As these are not pitched in C (as are real bassoons), there is simply no music (in an ensemble setting) which can accommodate these instruments. Of course, that doesn’t apply to the use of these as practice instruments in which case regular etudes and other study materials could still be used (although these will, of course, be played at a higher pitch than real bassoons). Just the same, an adult player might have some fun with these – they might make a great instrument to take on a hike! 🙂
One last thing – I just found a few sound clips featuring “mini-bassoons”on Howarth’s web site. You’ll want to click on the link to hear them – kinda fun, really!
Sir what can you comment about Schiller Bassoons?
I’m afraid I’m not familiar with them.
“Sycamore” is found on several websites as a translation of “Bergahorn.”
If you look up “Bergahorn” in a German-English dictionary, you may find “sycamore” or “sycamore maple” (which themselves are two different trees) as one translation, but you will normally also find “mountain maple.” If you break the German word down you get “Berg” (mountain) + “Ahorn” (maple). As for “Sycamore,” the better translation to German is “Platane.”
That may explain the (very probably mistaken) use of “sycamore.” I am pretty sure you’re right about the unlikelihood of using sycamore to build bassoons.
Thanks for the info!
Mini-bassoon
It seems you make fun of the mini bassoons. You have to understand them as starting instruments for children like a 1/8 violin (which also sounds horrible). My daughter started to play basson one a mini-bassoon in g when she was 6yrs old. With 9 she was tall and strong enough to change to a normal bassoon. She used one made by G.Wolf http://www.guntramwolf.de/ but also the ones made by Walter Bassetto http://www.bassetto.ch/ are considered as good. We rented the instrument. But typically it is easy to sell them after 2-3 years without loosing too much money. In the meanwhile there is some literature targeted to children between 6 and 10 e.g. by Anselma Veit from Vienna http://www.anselmamusic.com or the German http://www.zauberbuendel.de . However it was not too difficult to accompany my daughter on a “soprano”-instrument (transposing on the flight) in normal bassoon duos as kid’s music tends not to be too complicated.
Best regards, tro
PS: Just for entertainment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvHfghF3JUc
Actually, I look at them as a novelty. I’m not sure why it would be important to start young children out on a mini-bassoon instead of another wind instrument, such as the recorder. In looking at the links you posted, it’s clear that the keywork is also a bit different than a full size bassoon. This would negate some of the benefits of introducing children to the smaller instrument as it will require new skills to be taught once full-size horns are introduced. Flick keys, in particular, would need considerable instruction. As a rule, I prefer to start students from the beginning just so they don’t develop bad habits. Just the same, it would be fun to have a mini-bassoon!