Buffet Crampon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Buffet-Crampon is a manufacturer of high-quality woodwind instruments including oboes, flutes, saxophones, and bassoons. The company is perhaps most famous for their clarinets, as Buffet is the brand of choice for many professionals.
[edit] History
Denis Buffet-Auger, of the Buffet family of French musical instrument makers, began making quality clarinets in Paris, France in 1825. The company expanded under Jean-Louis Buffet and his wife Zoé Crampon and became known as Buffet-Crampon. (Another family member, Auguste Buffet jeune, who worked with famous clarinetist Hyacinthe Klosé to develop the Boehm system for clarinet, had his own business separate from Buffet-Crampon.)
In 1850, Buffet-Crampon established its headquarters at Mantes-la-Ville. The company continued to expand its range and quality in instrument production, beginning saxophone production in 1866, and winning numerous awards. The company began to take root in the American woodwind industry during the early 1900s.
In 1950, the company developed its famous R13 clarinet, an extremely popular professional-level clarinet. In 1981, Buffet joined Boosey & Hawkes, which sold the French company to The Music Group in 2003. Two years later Buffet was bought by a French group. In 2006 Buffet Crampon acquired two brass instrument manufacturers, Antoine Courtois Paris and Besson.
Recently, Buffet has made efforts to protect the African blackwood trees, which provide grenadilla wood for clarinets, from being eliminated. In its effort to protect the over harvesting of African blackwood / grenadilla, Buffet has started making several models of "Greenline" clarinets. These are made of a composite of 95% Grenadilla (reserved from other manufacturing processes) and 5% carbon fiber with a binder. As these do not have the grain structure of a true wood product, they do not have the issue of cracking due to environmental changes that are typically seen in clarinets and other wood instruments. As of 2006, Buffet offered Greenline versions of the R13, RC, RC Prestige, and Festival clarinets.
[edit] Clarinet models
Current and recent Buffet clarinet models include (in approximate order from least to most expensive):
- B10 - a lightweight beginner model, entirely plastic apart from the keys
- B12 - a good quality beginner instrument, as demonstrated by its enduring popularity.
- E10 - as E11, but with a special lightweight bell to make the instrument more manageable for young players
- E11 - intermediate, entry-level wooden instrument
- E12 - as E11, but with special wood treatment to improve sound quality
- E13 - One of the most popular models for improving players, in the intermediate-professional range
- C12 "Conservatoire" model
- R13 - Buffet's most popular professional model, something of an institution in its own right.
- RC - an R13 equivalent model but with distinctive barrel and bell shape intended to improve tone, developed in 1974 with the assistance of the luthier Robert Carrée. Noted for sweetness of sound.
- R13 Vintage
- R13 Festival
- R13 Prestige
- RC Prestige
- Tosca
- Elite - now out of production, having been replaced by the Tosca
The Buffet range has been developed and extended over the years with various new models being developed, occasionally replacing older variants. Within the range there is a central core of 3 or 4 models favoured by teachers and pupils alike: the entry level B12 (although the B10 is an increasingly popular alternative), the E13 as an intermediate wooden model and the R13 or RC as a professional-standard instrument. Most of the more expensive models- the Festival and Prestige- are essentially members of the R13/RC family.
