RMS Newsletter: R13 Special Edition!
Several years ago, Alcides and I took a road trip from Atlanta to the Buffet headquarters in Jacksonville, FL and returned with 15 hand-selected R13 clarinets. This was the official start of Rodriguez Musical Services, and a very exciting time for both of us!
Quick history lesson: The Buffet R13 was designed in 1955 by Robert Carée for the American market. However, the clarinet’s warmth, evenness, focus and beauty of tone have made it one of the most popular professional clarinet models worldwide.
Since that day, we have expanded and now carry a large inventory of R13 clarinets, as well as premium model and auxiliary Buffet clarinets. However, the RMS Premium R13 is still the heart and soul of our company and epitomizes what we do.
Rodriguez Musical takes things a step further: We hand-select and completely upgrade all of our R13 clarinets. We also search for clarinets with these characteristics:
* A rich, resonant tone and a sweet core (a clarinet that ‘sings’)
* Evenness of scale and resistance
* A sound that exhibits a large spectrum of overtones and colors
RMS then upgrades each R13 with detailed keywork and a combination of premium Valentino pads and white leather pads. (We find that this combination maximizes overall resonance, evenness and achieves a more vocal quality in the connection between notes.) We proudly call the final result the RMS Premium R13.
The RMS team for R13 hand selection includes: Alcides Rodriguez (Atlanta Symphony), Peter Wright (Jacksonville Symphony) and Patrick Graham (Jacksonville Symphony).
If you are in the market for a clarinet, contact us at info@rodriguezmusical.com or 470-545-9803. You can also visit our website for more information.
I’ll leave you with the sounds of Carl Maria von Weber, beautifully performed by Jonathan Cohler on his latest album. Jonathan recently visited RMS for some repairwork on his basset clarinet in preparation for upcoming recording sessions for his Mozart album… I can still remember listening to his Clarinet Alone album (Martino Set for Clarinet on repeat!) in preparation for my own college recital performance. Thanks, Jonathan!
