The “classic” clarinet wood is grenadilla wood from Mozambique and Tanzania. The wood has one of the highest densities. Its natural color, which alternates between black-purple and black-dark red, is left without additional color treatment. To protect the wood from moisture, we treat it with linseed oil.
Acoustically, the wood is extremely appealing: the fundamental tone and trebles sound less strong, but the mids are well conveyed. The result is a centered, compact sound.
Our alternative to grenadilla is mopane wood (from Zambia/Zimbabwe). We have gained experience with this material at Schwenk & Seggelke clarinets since 2007.
In density and weight it is very similar to grenadilla, but has a different grain and color. The reddish base color of Mopane is interspersed with fine black stripes. It is interesting to note that the wood darkens with time. This very vividly colored wood has special sound characteristics: it sounds stronger in the room than grenadilla, i.e. more forward, which influences the playing feel. It also sounds a bit warmer and offers greater dynamic range.
