R.K.: I'm here in Frankfurt, Germany, at the 21st Annual
I.D.R.S. Conference. I'm with Bernd Moosmann, who is founder of
the Moosmann Bassoon Company and his brother Andreas. We are going
to talk about the Moosmann bassoon and the company. Why don't
we get started Bernd, by you telling me a little bit about your
background, where you went to school, and
how you got started in making bassoons.
B.M.: Yes, I went to school in Waiblingen, where I five
now. Waiblingen is located near Stuttgart, in the southwest part
of Germany. After my schooling I started to work toward being
an instrument maker with my father, Albert. He learned this profession
at the Kohlert Company in Winnenden. He was the first apprentice
of the Kohlert Company after they immigrated from Czechoslovakia
to Germany after the Second World War.
R.K.: Did your father come with them?
B.M.: No. He also lived in Waiblingen. He was German, and
was the first person to work in this company who was not Czechoslovakian
or a Sudeten person. In 1966 my father decided to work on his
own and build mostly German system clarinets, but also some oboes,
flutes and bassoons. In 1972 1 started at my father's shop to
learn as an apprentice and to take my
examination.
R.K.: How long does this normally take?
B.M.: It takes three years. The apprentices first attend
a course and work in the factory. Then the apprentices take an
examination. They have to make a piece into a woodwind instrument.
And then, as you know, in Germany everyone has to go serve in
the Army for 15 months. I did that after my apprentice examinations
and then went back to my father's shop.
R.K.: Were you in a military band?
B.M.: Yes, I was in an Army Band, but I didn't play the
bassoon. I still play the French horn which I learned to play
at age nine; I studied woodwind at age fifteen, but also love
the French horn. I had a very nice time in the Army band. We had
rehearsals 5 to 6 hours a day. It's better to do that than to
have to shoot and so on.
After the Army I worked again in my father's company in 1981.
Then I took my Masters examinations. In this case you have to
go to the school for one year full time to learn about acoustics,
physics, and so on. After this year you have to make a complete
woodwind instrument. I decided to make a German system clarinet
and my brother now plays on this clarinet!
R.K.: Very good!
B.M.: At the end of the year 1982 the owner of the Kohlert
Company, Mr. Pfannenschwarz, came and asked my father to buy the
company. He bought the company in 1966 when the Kohlert company
went bankrupt, but he was not an instrument maker only a businessman
specializing in electronic things for IBM, Porsche, Daimler Benz.
He made convection cables. But he liked music and he had the money,
so he bought the bankrupt company. From 1966 the name Kohlert
was down, and by 1982 it was going down even more. They made all
the woodwind instruments: flutes, oboes, clarinets, saxophones
-from soprano to bass - and, of course, the bassoons. When he
came and asked my father to buy the company, we decided to only
make bassoons in the future because that was the best product.
R.K.: That was probably a smart decision.
B.M.: Yes, but at that time I was only 24 years old, and
only knew how to make the instruments. I thought I would have
a problem selling this product. I didn't have any connections
to people who could help me in other countries. So we said yes,
but we needed help from someone who knew marketing. Mr. Pfannenschwarz
brought us together with the Kreul family. They were
located in Tubingen, and Winnenden was about 60 kilometers from
Tubingen. We didn't have any possibility to look for all the workmen
(there) but we can sell the instruments (there). So we relocated
near Winnenden and opened our workshop in Waiblingen. The old
workmen from the Kohlert company came to Waiblingen to build the
instruments. We then founded the
Kreul + Moosmann Company on February 1, 1983.
I changed the instruments a lot at this point. My basis was the
Kohlert instrument.
It's nearly ten years now and I've done a lot of changing to the
instruments. I changed tone holes and the key work. I worked to
make these changes with the help of professional bassoon players,
especially with Georg ter Voert. He is a member of -the Radio
Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart and helped me to find a good intonation
in the instrument and also an even scale.
R.K.: Is Mr. ter Voert playing on a Moosmann bassoon?
B.M.: Lately yes. But he also plays on a Püchner bassoon.
He is very close to my factory and he's a professional and nearly
the same age as me. So we have good felicity. My partner in business,
Mr. Kreul, helped me a lot when we opened the company in 1983
with connections. But in life sometimes you have problems. Consequently
we decided to split up. Mr. Kreul gave me the possibility to buy
out his share. In 1987 1 became 100 percent owner of the Moosmann
Company.
R.K.: Does the Kreul Company make oboes at the present
time?
B.M.: He is still making oboes and clarinets, but even
back in 1983 the bassoons were always made by me.
In 1984, before the Conference in Graz, Werner Schulze came and
asked me for a contrabassoon that descended to low A-flat. I made
it and he showed this instrument at the Conference in Graz. He
has written special music for this instrument.
R.K.: Yes, I remember that. Do you still make that instrument?
B.M.: No, just once. He also played a concert here in Frankfurt
using this instrument.
R.K.: And he is still playing on that instrument?
B.M.: Yes.
R.K.: I imagine that your instrument is constantly in a
state of development. But when did you feel that you had arrived
with your basic instrument as you have it now?
B.M.: Well, an instrument maker is always trying new things.
Though he is happy with the product, he always wants to have a
better instrument, just like the musicians!
R.K.: Yes, that is very true.
B.M.: In 1988 1 decided to make the instruments with this
special French polish which gives the instrument very rich overtones
and a bigger sound. I think that is what professional musicians
and I like best.
R.K.: Nowadays in the modern symphony orchestras the evolution
continued always toward a bigger sound, more quality, richer overtones.
Heckel has developed such an instrument and Fox is now making
a thick-walled instrument. How many different models of bassoons
and contrabassoons do you make?
B.M.: I make four different models. One of them is the
"Fagottino" which I developed in 1992 and showed at
the Frankfurt Music Fair. A lot of people really liked the instrument.
The idea is to make an instrument that children can play. But
also other mature musicians can play this instrument, perhaps
in a bassoon ensemble.
R.K.: Yes.
B.M.: But my first idea was to make an instrument for children.
So they can start at age eight to play the "fagottino".
Then I have student model, a professional model with the model
number 200, and then the contrabassoon, model number 300. For
each instrument the bassoonist can decide what extra keys he wants
to have added to the basic model.
R.K.: What is your overall price range?
B.M.: You can purchase the fagottino for 4000 U.S.$, the
student for 5750 U.S.$, the professional costs around 10,500 U.S.$
and the contrabassoon about 20,000 U.S.$. Each instrument is delivered
with case, cover and two bocals. The fagottino has only one bocal.
R.K.: Do you give the player choices for plating on keys?
B.M.: Oh, yes, of course. I know every bassoonist likes
to have his own instrument. We are a small company of 15 employees
including me. And we like to listen to the wishes of the player.
If a person wants a special color or special keys, we will do
that. Also people come to my workshop where they can try several
instruments and decide which one to buy. On this
occasion we exchange ideas.
R.K.: How many bassoons do you make a year?
B.M.: We make about 200 bassoons a year and export about
80 percent of these from Germany to Japan, Korea, a few to China.
The European market is also going very well, especially Switzerland.
I have very good sales in Spain. There are a lot of professional
and amateur players who are playing my instruments in orchestras.
I also sell instruments to the United States.
R.K.: Who is your distributor in the U.S.?
B.M.: We work together with the Leblanc Corporation in
Kenosha, Wisconsin. They have made a very fine advertisement of
my instruments in the United States. I hope to exhibit my bassoons
at the next I.D.R.S. Conference in Minneapolis with the Leblanc
Corporation.
R.K.: How do your serial numbers go? Does each model have
its own serial numbers? I know each Heckel has its own number
and Fox Company assigns the next number to whatever model happens
to come up next.
B.M.: I have a system where the first two numbers tell
in which year it was manufactured. So if I have an instrument
86001, I know it was very early in 1986.
R.K.: Do you then number them consecutively within the
year as you go from model to model: if 86001 was a bassoon, might
86002 be a contrabassoon?
B.M.: Yes, and all numbers are written in a book showing
also to which customer and country the instrument was sold.
R.K.: It's interesting to keep track of that history. Tell
us something about your bocals. You've done some development of
your bocals.
B.M.: Yes, I developed new bocals together with the principal
bassoon player from the Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, Switzerland,
whose name is Manfred Sax We tried to find the right mixture,
the right cone or bore, and the right thickness of material. I'm
very happy to tell you that we are now making excellent bocals
which are quite easy to play. Mr. Sax tells me that the notes
in the middle register are much better and easier to control.
They are more flexible but still stable.
R.K.: What materials and alloys do you use?
B.M.: We have three different mixtures. A T means gold
brass, a G means brass and a W means nickel-silver. And for the
softer mixture which is brass and gold brass you can also have
the bocals in a thinner material. Normally it's 0, 45 mm, but
if you prefer thinner ones, then you see a D in the bocal and
the thickness is 0, 35 mm.
R.K.: How do the thinner walls affect the bocals? Does
it affect the quality and projection of the sound?
B.M.: That answer depends on your bassoon and your reed.
These three things, bassoon, bocal and reed have to work together.
A thinner material can have better resonance.
R.K.: Which would be better with an instrument with more
resistance?
B.M.: Yes.
R.K.: That's the same as the D mark on Heckel bocals -
thinner walls for greater resonance. Does the length of your bocals
correspond to the length of Heckel bocals? I know the Fox bocal
is a little shorter than a Heckel bocal.
B.M.: I manufacture 4 lengths, 0, 1, 2, 3, and I think
my bocals are a little bit longer than the Heckel ones.
R.K.: That's interesting to know, if a person has a pitch
problem with an instrument, when they might be a little bit sharp
between a Heckel I or a 2, they might be able to use your bocals.
Can you buy bocals separately.
B.M.: Yes, this is possible.
R.K.: What ideas do you have for the future, for continued
growth of Moosmann bassoon?
B.M.: Well, I hope to meet American bassoon players and
discuss bassoon playing in the United States - what sound they
like, which quality - and give them a chance to try my instrument.
I want to establish my products all over the world in all orchestras,
especially in the United States, too.
R.K.: I encourage the readers who will be in Minneapolis
to try the Moosmann bassoons on exhibit. You'll have a chance
to meet Bernd and talk over the continued evolution of his instruments.
I thank you very much for the interview.
B.M.: Thank you, Ron.