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Thursday 15 November 2012

A Treasure of Rare and Interesting Bassoons at the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Weekend 2012

Double Reed Ltd. exhibited at the Royal Northern College of Music Double Reed Weekend on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2012 just gone, in Manchester, UK. It was lovely to meet so many bassoonists and to hear some beautiful bassoon playing. 

We are a specialist bassoon company and as such we had some unusual and rare bassoons to show off on our stand, which caused much intrigue and delight. To start with we had three Heckel bassoons on our stand which, perhaps not surprisingly, were tried by most of the professionals and students at the event. Many students had never before had the opportunity to play on a pre-1945 Heckel, and so this was a rare opportunity to see for themselves how beautiful these bassoons really sound. Needless to say, all three Heckels are now reserved for customers to try on approval.

We also had a Soulsby bassoon, made by the British maker Jeremy Soulsby in 1988. Soulsby made about 80 bassoons, which gained a world wide reputation for their sound and quality, and then he retired and never made another bassoon. We have Soulsby bassoon number 41 in stock - a very rare instrument, in perfect condition, that produces a delightful sound.

Another special bassoon we had was an Ernst Riedl, made in about 1940 (a dark coloured bassoon pictured on a stand at the far end). Some of the professional players at the day (BBC Philharmonic and others) had heard of Riedl bassoons but had never actually seen or played one. The sound of this instrument is astonishingly rich and even throughout. I am an Ernst Riedl player myself, having an identical instrument with a close serial number, and I am a huge fan. Famously, Will Jansen was a Riedl player, writer of the well known five book anthology 'The Bassoon'. He is photographed with a Riedl bassoon just like this in his book.

You can see all these bassoons, plus many others, on our website here:

www.DoubleReed.co.uk

A special hello to everyone who was there on the day!


Oliver Ludlow - Director and Bassoon Specialist at Double Reed Ltd.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Amati Bassoons and Contrabassoons from Double Reed Ltd.


 

Amati bassoons are made in one of the main instrument-making centres in Europe, in Kraslice (Graslitz in German) on the Czech side of the Czech-German border, where instrument making has been going on for several hundred years. This area has a strong German influence, and is part of the famous European 'Music Cluster'. 

Amati was established after the second world war as a co-operative of musical instrument makers including bassoon makers Puchner and Kohlert, and was nationalised in 1948, becoming one of the main makers of bassoons in Eastern Europe.

After 1989 the company was privatised and is now a major European manufacturer of bassoons. Throughout its history the company has been renowned for making solid, durable instruments; and many have been of high quality with good intonation, good tone and easy playability. We at Double Reed, for example, have sold dozens of higher specification secondhand Amatis to satisfied customers in the last couple of years.

However, more recently, the company's bassoons have improved further and new ones are now a match for many, more expensive European bassoons and make the perfect bassoon for students all the way from beginners to Grade 8 and beyond. And with their reputation for durability and reliability they hold their value much better than non-European bassoons comparable in price.

The Amati contrabassoon is also gaining a reputation for being an outstanding instrument, capable of holding its own against much more expensive competition.

amati contrabassoon, contrabassoons
Double Reed Ltd. is one of the select few UK retailers appointed by Amati to sell their range of bassoons and contrabassoons, and we will be pleased to help you select the right bassoon for you, from short-reach instruments for children through to high specification instruments for advanced students and contrabassoons for those looking for something a bit special.

Have a look at our selection of Amati bassoons and contrabassoons here: 

For a bit more about the history of Amati and the instrument making in the region, please see the Amati web site here: http://www.amati.cz/o-firme/historie-spolecnosti-amati-denak