An Expressive, Intermediate-level Clarinet
The Backun Protégé Bb clarinet is ideal for advancing players searching for a top-quality instrument. The Protégé is carefully crafted from naturally aged grenadilla, which gives it a dark, full-bodied sound. It also sports undercut tone holes, yielding impeccable intonation. Additionally, the hallmarks of a Backun clarinet — the New Traditional barrel and the Backun bell — are included, further bolstering its tone and improving its flexibility and response. Our clarinetists at Sweetwater appreciate the rich sound this clarinet produces and know you will too. The Backun Protégé is a robust intermediate clarinet that is an ideal step-up instrument and will serve you well in the years ahead.
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Grenadilla wood body and silver-plated keys with black leather pads
Protégé clarinets use the same naturally aged grenadilla wood as Backun’s flagship clarinets, allowing you to play with the warm, alluring tone you’d expect from the company's high-end models. This clarinet's grenadilla body features a dark professional finish, giving it a striking look that highlights the Protégé’s glistening keywork. With its silver-plated keys, the Protégé simply feels good to hold, giving you the freedom to sweep across all registers of the instrument in perfect comfort. The keys are also tailored with water-resistant black leather pads, ensuring the clarinet’s longevity while adding subtle touches to its overall look.
New Traditional barrel and Backun bell
Beyond the grenadilla body and silver-plated keys, the Protégé includes the New Traditional barrel and Backun bell, which enhance your performance by improving the clarinet’s overall tone and response. The New Traditional barrel is one of Backun’s earliest innovations, featuring an exotic wood body with integrated wooden rings. This novel barrel design yields heightened response and even articulation while giving the clarinet a rich tone. The Backun bell also provides the clarinet with a bigger sound and improves its response, especially on the low end. What's more, the bell and barrel eliminate the metal rings seen on most other clarinets, which can rattle, buzz, and fall off your clarinet if left unchecked, thereby avoiding repair costs and enhancing your tone. Joined with the premium grenadilla body, the Protégé will impress you with its exquisite sound and exceptional response.
Backun Musical Services: reinventing the clarinet one piece at a time
Founder Morrie Backun started with a small woodwind repair shop outside of Vancouver, Canada. At one point, he was asked to overhaul a clarinet with a missing barrel, so he set out to make a brand-new one using exotic cocobolo wood, thus creating the first Backun clarinet barrel. After that point, Backun gained international recognition for designing and creating a unique line of barrels, bells, and clarinets. Today, Backun Musical Services is recognized as a leader in the clarinet world, inspiring players of all ages and skill levels.
Backun Protégé Features:
- Bb clarinet with Boehm key system, featuring 17 keys
- Made from naturally aged grenadilla wood
- Silver-plated keys and black leather pads deliver responsive and reliable performance
- New Traditional barrel and Backun bell for improved tone, stability, response, and projection
- Unique, ringless design reduces repair costs
- Adjustable thumb rest with neckstrap ring
- Comes in a backpack-style case
