Yamaha SEVR Bb Clarinet

Yamaha is a latecomer to Earspasm for a bunch of reasons (for the whole story, click here to read why on the CSVR page). Suffice it to say, I recognized the error of my ways, and now we're carrying Yamaha soprano clarinets. But you'll still never see a Yamaha bass clarinet on this site until they redesign it. Another story for another time. CSVR or SEVR? The SEVR is a little darker, a little rounder than the CSVR. The tone holes are wider and more deeply undercut than the CSVR's, which makes it even more free-blowing than the CSVR. Holy crap is this free-blowing! You can get a huge sound with a nice clear "ping", or you can get a dark, moody, breathy sound if you prefer. This is the 128-crayon box with every subtle color you never knew you needed. But with that palette comes the responsibility to manage pitch more actively. Speaking of which: you'll notice in the dashboard that this instrument appears to run flat, and I want to explain why. I use the same mouthpiece across all of my dashboard clarinets (Vandoren BD6 HD) so that I don't skew the data by switching setups between instruments. But the BD6 is clearly too open for the SEVR, which causes the scale to push down, and the louder dynamics to run really low. A more resistant setup (closer tip opening, shorter facing) will bring the pitch up considerably and make the instrument much easier to control. If managing pitch is a typical concern for you, factor your mouthpiece choice in accordingly. Resistance: 2/10, Very Light The lightest resistance instrument I carry, so if you're coming from anything more resistant than a Selmer Signature, give yourself some adjustment time — and think carefully about your mouthpiece setup. In general, added resistance in a clarinet design usually keeps the louder dynamic ranges from spreading; the clarinet "holds its core" and focus, but will provide a smaller dynamic range (on both ends, loud and soft) and smaller color palette. A less resistant clarinet typically provides a much wider tonal palette to choose from, but will require more control from the player to control pitch and sound consistency. When listening for how a clarinet responds to added air pressure and embouchure control, listen to the Weber example (wide dynamic range and color range), then the Berlioz excerpt (wide dynamic range, but narrow color range), and finally the Gershwin excerpt (narrow dynamic range and narrow color range). You will hear how these clarinets respond — for better or worse! — to my input as a clarinet player. Important note about this clarinet's warranty. As with all of our Yamaha clarinets, these are new clarinets sourced directly from an authorized Yamaha center overseas, which is why our price is lower than most US dealers. The tradeoff is that they don't come with a Yamaha USA warranty, because Earspasm is not an authorized Yamaha dealer. But never fear: Earspasm provides one directly — a five-year term covering manufacturing and material defects, with the same exclusions as the factory warranty. If you have a covered claim, you contact me instead of Yamaha. Honestly, that's probably faster. Full warranty terms are in the FAQ below.