Thanks for sending me the barrels to test!

The result is the following: all the barrels are very good! I had some difficulty picking a favorite!  The sound is warm and rich., the timbre remains uniform from the lowest octave through to the highest one (a quality all clarinetists are looking for) and they are very easy to play. The airflow is superb, it allows me to play a softer reed which really helps to get through long rehearsal or performances. My new Cuore Rosso 2 barrel is the best I have ever played, I will be sharing this with all my fellow Clarinet players!

Daniele Trincanato, Principal clarinet, Wind Orchestra of Padua & "I Cinque Elementi" (The Five Elements...air, water, fire, land and iron):

 

I have tried and owned a lot of barrels for my Buffet R13 Vintage B-flat clarinet.  Recently I received a number of barrels on trial from Custom Clarinet Barrels.

The heavy-walled Cuore Rosso 2 (a cocobolo barrel with a steeply dual-tapered bore) combines warmth with brilliance to an unusual degree.  It projects powerfully without any semblance of shrillness.

The new Gran Cuore, a fatter cocobolo model with the same double taper, trades off a bit of brilliance for even more warmth, resonance and richness of tone.  It still projects with ease, and is currently my all-time favorite barrel.

Roddy MacLellan, the constructor of these barrels, is a pleasure to work with and is willing to experiment on request.  I highly recommend his products.

Ron Dann

 I just made my decision, and I'm going with the d'Oro 2, it has agood balance between warm and bright and had good tuning throughout. The thinner barrel felt very crisp and bright in the upper register, very open in the throat tones. The thicker barrel, the "Gran Cuore" is powerful not as punchy, but warm and smooth. I really liked how focused it was. The differences are very subtle, I did 6 blind tone tests and then averaged them, and came up with the same one I had picked intuitively.

Scott Kehoe

 

I have a pair of vintage clarinets I though had been played out. When I tried the Cuore Nero barrels on them, it basically gave these clarinets a new lease on life, greatly improving the sound, response and intonation. The old barrel felt tonally stiff and flat in comparison to the new Cuore Nero 2 barrel. It gave the clarinets a flexibility of response and tonal; depth that just wasn't there on the old original barrel. It's a simple addition to a clarinet, but well worth the experimentation, a huge difference, thanks Roddy!

Owen Watkins