Thomann Chalumeau Maple 5-stars Reviews

Fun !!

This little chalumeau is a Joy to play !

The mouthpiece is usable and the tunning is Ok for the price.

Absolutely recommended for any clarinet player looking to have some fun

Records like million bucks

Some condenser up close and some lush reverb and a hard reed and you are in duduk town. Some softer reed and on a dynamic you are bending notes up and down half a step even in second register with thumb hole half fingered up to high C

What a find!

I have known of the Chalumeau in music history, [ Telemann played one] and then they were overlooked somewhat as instruments developed. So I bought the maple wood one through curiosity [ the set] and was amazed at the timbre of the sound; not how I expected it to be, instead so full and mellow, and of great resonance, and powerful tone, and this despite its size. Like between oboe, natural trumpet or horn all mixed into one instrument in its sound.

I already play free reed instruments, and this makes an unusual addition to my other instruments collection. Takes a lot of breath to get going on, but good exercise, nevertheless. The naturally limited traditional range is no bother to me, as I can transpose music to fit when I find it, and so it is excellent value: I will definitely be playing it for a long time to come.

Amazing for the price

I like trying rather obscure wind instruments and have fancied a chalumeau for a while. Thought I’d give this one a go being so reasonably priced for my preliminary forays. Well I’m very impressed with the quality and sound. A lovely little thing, so well made and with a good feel and weight to it. And an amazing sound. I can’t believe it was so reasonably priced. Highly recommended

A great and versatile instrument

This little and cheap instrument is strongly recommended. The sound is very warm and the intonation good and stable. Fingering is teh same as the baroque flute in C so it's easy to switch. Also a great introduction to clarinet and sax. A great gift for somebody that plays tehse instruments and wants something portable. Thumbs up!!! You can play from folk to jazz on it, it sounds like an Armenian duduk or a baroque clarinet.

Great quality for its price!

Considering the price, it's decent! Simple design with a few decorative details. Nice silky finish, the holes are drilled decently and the bore is smooth enough to prevent much moisture to stick inside the bore. Makes it easier to clean with the included brush. The kit also includes a soft case and recorder cream (I think it's supposed to be used on the cork of the mouthpiece? Can't imagine using anything but oil on the wood would be wise) The only gripe I have is the included reed, it's pretty rough. It works fine, but can't imagine it will last very long. But then again, you'd want to buy more reeds after a while anyway.

change in spec?

I've bought this lovely little instrument twice over the last 3 years and the first one was clearly better made than the second one. This may have been accidental, but it seemed to me that the quality of the mouthpiece and ligature had gone down hill. Shame, but I replaced the ligature with a better one and it is still a lovely sounding instrument for very little money!

Nice amateur Chalumeau for home use, with my Xaphoon.

This Chalumeau makes a pleasing sound to go with my Xaphoon, if you play music for your own soul to make a noise to God, and have the time add this to your repertoire .

A sound with ancient roots from Jewish and peasant European folk.

Perfect!

Can't decide if you want to play the recorder or clarinet? This is the instrument for you. All the joys of a recorder with a much more pleasant sound.

My one and only issue with that the reed it came with was a little bit pathetic. If you get this, make sure you order a decent reed with it.

Very good

the quality/price ratio is very high . great flute, well weighed , good tuning , amazingly full-bodied sound. Very good for beginner, but also to find a sound between clarinet and sax.

Between recorder and clarinet

First I have to point out that this is, in today's world, more or less just a funny little instrument or something for beginners such as myself for I can see the disadvantages of all Chalumeaus just after 2 weeks.

The body is solid wood, high quality, no issues at all. The mouthpiece rather easy to scratch (the bite marks are deeper than I had expected), yet in terms of comfort or sound I cannot say, as an amateur, anything against it.

The main problem of this particular product (not instrument) is the reed. I really was not able to make a sound with it and even after I have trained with different reeds (1,2,4), this default 2.5 reed seems to be really bad. I highly recommend getting another reed (prefferably Rico 2, if you are a beginner) becuase otherwise you might simply lose interest in playing this.

Also, as Chalumeau uses clarinet mouthpiece and reeds, you can use it as a training ground before buying an actual clarinet. The basics of how to work with reeds are appliable, to some extent, even to other instruments.

Now about the negatives instrument itself. It has lower range than I expected, but that is not an issue of the product but of the whole design of the instrument itself. It has lower range then a recorder.

If you are only about to start with some instrument or have previously played just something like a penny-whistle, then this might be an interesting step up the ladder.

Amazing instrument.

This instrument can advise novice musicians and music lovers. It is very easy to learn and to please those who had mastered the recorder and want to get a bright and lively sound, without having to buy more expensive and professional wind instruments.

Wow

This really wow me for real, the sound is the bomb, I will surely recommend it to anyone who want, saxophone or clarinet sound for little money. Perfect for playing in any conditions.

Great value instrument

This is a great affordable early instrument and very easy to play, being in C. Very well made, it is an early form of clarinet; clarinet mouthpiece and recorder bottom piece.the sound is a warm, punchy, renaissance type of sound and a welcome relief from descant recorders! It has a range of two octaves and for the price is extremely good value for money, especially if you have been bitten by the early music bug! Straightforward to play this would suit any age player, and I would highly recommend it.