THE GRENADILLA MYTH
by Tom Ridenour
If large numbers of clarinetists were aske d why Grenadilla wood was chosen for clarinet making ninty-nine out of a hundred (perhaps more) would say, "Because of the sound."
They would, in point of fact, be wrong. You see, most end users believe uncritically that manufacturing decisions are made according to their needs.This is not always true.The fact is there are many other woods that have a better tone and better response than Grenadilla wood. Honduran Rosewood immediately comes to mind. It produces a darker, more coloristically stable tone than Grenadilla and the response is quite superior.
So why was it not used?
Very simple: it is not used because it is highly problematic from the manufacturing standpoint. It does not machine nearly as well as Grenadilla; there is much more waste involved in processing it; the tone holes are so pitted that inserts must be glued into them so pads will create a seal; it cracks much more readily and easily than Grenadilla, the bore dimensions are very unstable and the upper joint must be lined at least partially with a hard rubber sleeve to stabilize the dimensions and reduce the danger of cracking in the upper joint.
These and many other problems made Honduran Rosewood impractical to use in the large scale production of clarinets.
So Grenadilla was chosen above other woods because it was relatively stable, easy to machine, and did not crack as often. Grenadilla wood opened up the possibility of making clarinets on a large scale, numberwise.
There is no doubt these features inherent in Grenadilla wood are all critical and important issues for clarinetists. No one wants a clarinet that cracks or is dimensionally unstable. But these features are related to matters of practicality, not musical artistry.
In my own clarinet design experience I have had the rare opportunity to design clarinets in Grenadilla wood, Rosewood and in Hard Rubber. It has been an eye opening, almost shocking experience to say the least. Specifically, I have found that when the same type of acoustic is put into a hard rubber clarinet and then compared to a clarinet made in Grenadilla wood, the tonal and response properties of high quality, pure, natural hard rubber are much closer to the tonal and response properties of Honduran Rosewood than to any other material presently used for clarinet making.
In other words, when comparing the same acoustic in Grenadilla clarinets and well-made, well-designed, high quality hard rubber clarinets, the hard rubber clarinets are consistently more stable, much more uniform from clarinet to clarinet, crack-free, have a quicker, more even in blowing resistance, are more responsive, tonally darker and coloristically and tuning-wise much more stable throughout the full pitch and dynamic range of the clarinet. In short, the hard rubber clarinet produces not only a superior clarinet from the practical standpoint of being materially and dimensionally stable and crack-proof; it also possesses superior aesthetic qualities: a darker warmer tone, better tuning, more tonal stability in dynamic changes and a more even, secure, fluid response. Simply put, you work much hard to sound as good on a Grenadilla clarinet of the same acoustic.
Many players will be resistive, perhaps even outraged and scandalized at these conclusions plainly stated and reject them out of hand. Why? Perhaps they have had bad experiences playing hard rubber clarinets of antiquated acoustical design; perhaps they have had a bad experience of playing many of the hard rubber clarinets coming from the orient that are to clarinet acoustics what the Titanic was to sailing. Or perhaps they would rather operate on unexamined bias rather than test out these claims in a fair-minded way.
Those who are open-minded enough to investigate acoustically well-designed clarinets in hard rubber may well find themselves as amazed (shocked really) as I was at how well they both sound and play.
Over the past several years I have played nothing but hard rubber clarinets of my own design. Because I am so used to the friendly, "gemutliches" response and sweet tone of hard rubber, when I test Grenadilla clarinets they sound and feel, by comparison, uneven in resistance, "hard" sounding and bright, reticent in response, and much brighter coloristically and more unstable than my hard rubber clarinets. Many listeners in blind fold tests I have serendipidously conducted have repeatedly verified my own conclusions.
One fact is clear: It is not according to reality to equate high grade-hard rubber clarinets in with synthetic, plastic clarinets. For one thing, hard rubber is not synthetic but just as natural as any piece of wood in any forest. Hard rubber, in fact, comes from the very essence of a tree. But besides being natural, it is superior to plastics in every possible respect, whether pragmatic or parnassian, mundane or musical.
I try to avoid anecdotes but sometimes it is the quickest and clearest way to make an important point. Of the many I could relate on this subject I will take just this one.
I play in a clarinet quartet here in Dallas with several very fine players, one of whom teaches at a top notch musical school here in one of the Dallas/Denton area universities. He is a very fine, artistic clarinetist and we share the first parts in the quartet.
Our quartet plays to very appreciative audiences in hospitals and nursing homes mostly in Fort Worth. One Monday we had two performances and I invited my wife, Gay, a former band director, to come and hear the group. She had never heard us before and I was curious what she would think, because she has a very critical ear for woodwind tone. I had also done several arrangements for the group (some of which are available on the web site) and I wanted to know what she thought of them.
We played the morning performance went to lunch, did the second performance and headed home. On the way home I asked my wife lots of questions about the group and the music. She had never heard the clarinetist I mentioned above so I asked her what she thought of his playing. I'll never forget her response.
She said, "He's a very fine player. Very artistic. But this morning his sound was too bright for my taste. This afternoon I thought his tone was much nicer and his phrasing was also much smoother with a better legato."
"Really?", I asked.
"Yes," She responded, "was he doing anything different?"
I answered, "This morning he was playing his R-13 and this afternoon he was playing one of my clarinets. He asked me to bring it along. He wanted to try one because he liked a lot of the qualities I was getting out of my own clarinet."
True story...one among many I could relate regarding the comparison of Grenadilla wood and well made hard rubber clarinets.
The bottom line is simply this: there is no magic in Grenadilla, especially artistically speaking. It was a material that was chosen at a time when technology did not afford us the whole range of options we presently have. Of the ones we had then, Grenadilla was the most pracitcal for large scale, comparitively trouble-free and economical clarinet manufacturing.
Many of the players who have bought my hard-rubber, Ivorolon barrels to use on their wood clarinets tell me they experience an increased darkness and stability of tone and an improvement of response with the barrels. Often I am tempted to say to them, "If you think a hard rubber barrel is better than your wood barrel, you should try a whole clarinet made from it."
Some do and are amazed. Some buy them and others subsequently sell their wood clarinets.
Many nowadays are worried about both the availability and quality of Grenadilla wood for the future. They wonder, "What will we do when there is no more Grenadilla wood fit for clarinet building?"
I not only know the answer to that question, I am doing the answer to the coming wood crisis right now!
There are many things I am worried about regarding the future, but first class, natural materials for clarinet building is not one of them.
It is a plain fact for those who honestly inquire: a well-made, acoustically well-designed and finished hard rubber clarinet is, quality for quality, a peerless instrument, providing the player with a fully satisfying, effortless artistic experience, second to none.
As far as I'm concerned, the future is now.
