In the late 1800s, brothers Alexandre and Henri Selmer graduated from the Paris Conservatory as clarinetists. At the time, musical instruments and accessories were primarily hand made, and professional musicians found it necessary to acquire skills allowing them to make their own accessories and repair and modify their own instruments. By 1900 Henri had gained a reputation for his reeds and mouthpieces and he opened a store and repair shop in Paris. He soon expanded into the construction of clarinets.
Meanwhile, Alexandre had moved to the United States, where he performed as principal clarinetist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1895 to 1910. Soon after Henri began making clarinets, Alexandre opened a store in New York City to sell his brother's instruments and accessories in the U.S. The Selmer line of products gained a great boost in reputation and sales by winning a gold medal for their clarinets at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1918 Alexandre returned to Paris to assist in the family business, leaving their U.S. interests in the hands of his employee George Bundy. Bundy expanded the retail and distribution component of the business, carrying instruments from other companies such as the Vincent Bach Corporation, Martin and Ludwig-Musser.
Bundy quickly decided to expand into flute manufacturing, and hired George W. Haynes (from a family of well-known flute makers) to design the Selmer flute. Selmer flute manufacturing briefly moved to Boston, Massachusetts, home to several reputable flute makers, to draw on the existing skilled labor pool there. Bundy also hired Kurt Gemeinhardt, a young craftsman from Germany with a growing reputation, to assist in the design of Selmer flutes.
By the early 1920s, Bundy was finding New York City too cramped for the growing company, and he moved the manufacturing facilities to Elkhart, Indiana. Elkhart was already home to several other instrument makers, and had a skilled labor pool from which to draw workers. The New York facility remained in operation as a retail store and distributor until 1951.
In 1927 or 1928 (sources differ) Bundy purchased the American business from the Selmer brothers. The American business was named Selmer USA. Though technically independent, the Henri Selmer Co. of Paris and Selmer USA remained the exclusive distributors of each other's products. The French company concentrated on high quality, expensive instruments for the professional musician, while the American company concentrated on mass-produced, less-expensive models for students and amateur musicians. Many of the American instruments were produced under the Bundy brand name, started in 1941.
Growing industrial expertise in plastics throughout the 1940s eventually spread to the still-small world of musical instruments. In 1948 Selmer USA produced a commercially successful molded-plastic clarinet, called the "Bundy Resonite 1400." World War II brought a halt to the manufacture and import of the Paris instruments, and for a brief time (1944-early 1946) Selmer USA plants were used almost exclusively for export packing as part of the war effort.
The baby boom and an increase in school music programs led to a substantial increase in the band and orchestral instrument business throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Taking advantage of this growth spurt, Selmer began acquiring other instrument manufacturers, including The Vincent Bach Corporation (brass instruments) in 1961, Glasel String Instrument Service (violins), the Ludwig-Musser Drum Company, and the Lesher Woodwind Company (oboes and bassoons) in 1967.
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... are all of the poor "young cats" that are gonna' have to spend $50,000-$70,000 to get all of the horns that they would need to even be considered a serious professional musician. I salute you all.
SELMER's Details
Status:
Swinger
Hometown:
Paris
Zodiac Sign:
Capricorn
Income:
$250,000 and Higher
SELMER SELMER loves being in the Top Friends of all of you wonderful sax players!!! Please visit all of our top friends as well... Posted at 3:34 AM Nov 15 view more
About me: I am THEE horn!!! I speak to your soul and speak to the souls of your listeners...
The Selmer Company was a manufacturer of musical instruments started in Paris, France in the early 1900s. Selmer was known for its high-quality woodwind instruments, especially saxophones and clarinets. The Selmer brand was preferred by many well-known jazz artists such as John Coltrane, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, and Harry James.
Selmer Industries, the parent company of The Selmer Company, acquired the Steinway Musical Properties company, the parent company of piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, in 1995 and changed its name to Steinway Musical Instruments. In 2003 Steinway merged The Selmer Company with another subsidiary, the C.G. Conn Company (makers of brass instruments), to form Conn-Selmer.
Design concepts for Selmer (Paris) saxophones anticipate the future and embrace the past. State-of-the-art Series III models advance saxophone research while tradition-rich Reference Series models draw upon Selmer’s heritage for inspiration. Computer-controlled manufacturing technology blends with Old World craftsmanship in fabricating each and every Selmer saxophone.
The differences between each Series are subtle yet profound. The unique size and shape of each Selmer saxophone model’s bore colors its sound, lending a distinctive voice. Placement of keys ergonomically accommodates the musician’s hands to facilitate technique. While this catalog will assist you in deciding which Selmer best suits your musical needs, we invite you to audition them at your Selmer dealer.
Selmer offers a complete line of saxophone accessories to customize your instrument and enhance your musical experience. Optional gold brass necks possess a higher copper content to soften the metal and darken the sound while silver necks enhance the entire tonal spectrum. Mouthpieces include the S-80 (featuring the popular C facing), S-90, Larry Teal, Super Session, metal Classic, and metal Jazz Series. A full line of gig bags, Light and Flight cases make transporting your Selmer saxophone safer and more convenient.
HI SELMER! Muchas gracias por aceptar mi invitación de amigo MYSPACE !Desde LAS ISLAS CANARIAS ESPAÑA les envio un saludo esperando poder seguir en contacto y conocernos más ...aunque yo de SELMER ya conozco bastante...JA AJJAJJA! SOY LOS MEJORES! Un abrazo grande FRAN SUÁREZ SAX!
SELMER IS THE BEST!!! SUPER ACTION II. GRATED. AS OLDER AS BETTER LIKE A GOOD WINE :-) GREETINGS TO THE TEAM A SPECIALY FOR MR. PRESIDENT PATRICK SELMER!!! IVAN M
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TODAY, Ill be co hosting on the Dave Charles radio show 102.3 hfm. Im nervous so to have you listening would be great, from 7pm (GMT) on line or radio x
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