This is for leah. I play clarinet in marching band. It is a lot of work but it is worth it in the end. It may be a lot of work over the summer but when you get to the compitions and the championships it is a ton of fun. I am a sophmore and I really enjoy playing. It was easy to memorize the music for band camp. But it was a little difficult to do the sets with the music. I made some mistakes in learning them and had to do some push ups. After the sets were learned it was a lot of fun. I think that you will have a lot of fun. If you jion just keep thinking about the football games and the competitons/ championships. That is where the real fun is.

Moniques are great instruments if:
1)There is an appropriate reed/moutpiece combination
2)The horn is TAIWAN made, not CHINESE made,

Any instruments made in the Asian world with exception to Yamaha....are not reliable. They cost more to fix than they are worth. Trust me..I used to fix tons of those.

Ok, The DC Pro isn`t the greatest horn in the world, but then again your going to play it outside in marching band. I`ve been playing clarinet for 20 years and when it came to marching band, I played on a bundy. Why? because you could drop it and it would still play. Sure, when I was indoors I played on a R-13 Buffet, but outside in a marching band, any solid horn will do. Nobody hears clarinets as individuals in a marching band, You only heard woodwinds as a section. The brass carry most of the sound. So you did not make a bad choice for marching.

As far as future purchases, consider starting with the big 4. Buffet, Yamaha, Leblanc, and Selmer. However, you might find a lesser known brand you like better. Its a matter of personal preference. Also, I would suggest you invest in a good mouthpiece, ligature & barrel. You can greatly affect the way any horn sounds with just those 3 components.

If money is no object, look at Eaton & Rossi clarinets. However, your talking big bucks now. These horns cost almost 4,000 bucks. I believe these horns are expensive because they are not mass-produced. I question whether they sound better than a buffet at half the cost. Just my opinion.

http://www.music123.com/?affil=chrisb


they have some good deals on new and used clarinets, stick with a major brand, selmer, artley, etc