Question Home

Position:Home>Performing Arts> Amati brand instruments?


Question: Amati brand instruments!?
Any good!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Not really!.!.!.!. Not one that band directors approve of!. Do not have a following of consumers/musicians or a long standing reputation of quality or craftsmanship!. Do not have a good resale value!. Are not competitive quality!. Your best bet is to go directly to the horse's mouth and confer with your band director!. He is better to set you in the right direction for what he wants for his students than are opinions here!.

PSS!. Amati is a brand name of instruments!.!.!. I know they make saxophones, clarinets and perhaps a few other brass instruments!. They have been making instruments for about 25 years but the brand has just never created a following for itself and is not considered a serious brand!.
As for Selmer clarinets!. Ask your Band Director!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Amati are not high quality clarinets!. They have a couple of halfway decent student models, but on the whole are a waste of money!.

However, they are about the ONLY company I know of to make the "G" clarinet (as opposed to the Bb Clarinet)!.!.!. their G Clarinets are awesome!.!.!. but really only used in MiddleEastern or Hasidic music!.!.!. outside of that, you don't see G Clarinets or quality Amati brand anywhere!.

Selmers, however, can be wonderful instruments!. Buffet is definitely preferred, as they have a reputation for using the highest quality materials and craftmanship, even on student model horns!. However, Buffet is known mostly for its pro models (the R13, Fesitval, Prestige)!. Selmer has a model that is quite competetive with Buffet on the pro level, which is the Selmer Signature!.!.!. however, Selmer is not as consistant with its quality!. I have played some Selmers that sing like a lark, and others that quack like a dying duck!.

I'm also a sax player, and for saxaphones, the quality of Selmer is almost unbeatable!.!.!. but again, consistancy isn't there!. When Selmers are good they are great!.!.!. when they're bad, who knows what you'll get! As a whole though, Selmer makes great student model and intermediate horns!.

The downside to dealing through a school is that they usually won't splurge for the upgrade to intermediate or pro model horns!. It costs the school too much money to insure, and badly diminishes the resale value for the music store!. For intermediate or pro models, it's usually pay in full, cash up front; there are no rental programs for better instruments!. However, you may be able to get a discount if you mention to them that your daughter is part of the school music program!.!.!. or at least discounts on maintanence!

Hope this helped a little!.!.!. have fun!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Amati is the name of a family of Italian violin makers, who flourished at Cremona from about 1549 to 1740!.

Andrea Amati (ca!. 1505 – ca!. 1578) was the earliest maker of violins whose instruments still survive today!. Indeed he seems more or less responsible for giving the instruments of the modern violin family their definitive profile!. A small number of his instruments survive, dated between the years of 1564 and 1574 and most bearing the coat of arms of Charles IX of France!.

Andrea Amati was succeeded by his sons Antonio Amati (born ca!. 1550) and Girolamo Amati (1551-1635)!. "The Brothers Amati", as they were known, implemented far-reaching innovations in design, including the perfection of the shape of the f-holes!. They are also thought to have pioneered the modern alto format of viola, in contrast to older tenor violas!.

Nicolò Amati (December 3, 1596 – April 12, 1684) was the son of Girolamo Amati!. He was the most eminent of the family!. He improved the model adopted by the rest of the Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater power of tone!. His pattern was unusually small, but he also made a wider model now known as the "Grand Amati", which have become his most sought-after violins!. Of his pupils, the most famous were Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, the first of the Guarneri family of violin makers!. (There is much controversy regarding the apprenticeship of Antonio Stradivari!. While Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned!.)

The last maker of the family was Nicolo's son, Girolamo Amati, known as Hieronymus II (February 26, 1649 – February 21, 1740)!. Although he improved on the arching of his father's instruments, by and large they are inferior and no match for the greatest maker of his day, Antonio Stradivari!.

Authentic original violin family instruments made by members of the Amati family would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in today's market!.

OTOH, a great many lesser violin makers throughout the centuries have built copies of Amatis, or built instruments patterned after Amati violins!. The value of those instruments will vary widely depending on the skill of the maker -- from top of the line handcrafted instruments that look virtually identical to the violin they were copied from, to cheap factory made fiddles only loosely based on the Amati model and made of inexpensive materials!.

IOW, the "Amati" name on a label means nothing -- it only means that the instrument is patterned after the Amati design!. What matters is who actually built the instrument, and when, and what kind of condition its in!.Www@QuestionHome@Com