Thomann Chalumeau Maple

First I have to point out that this is, in today's world, more or less just a funny little instrument or something for beginners such as myself for I can see the disadvantages of all Chalumeaus just after 2 weeks.

The body is solid wood, high quality, no issues at all. The mouthpiece rather easy to scratch (the bite marks are deeper than I had expected), yet in terms of comfort or sound I cannot say, as an amateur, anything against it.

The main problem of this particular product (not instrument) is the reed. I really was not able to make a sound with it and even after I have trained with different reeds (1,2,4), this default 2.5 reed seems to be really bad. I highly recommend getting another reed (prefferably Rico 2, if you are a beginner) becuase otherwise you might simply lose interest in playing this.

Also, as Chalumeau uses clarinet mouthpiece and reeds, you can use it as a training ground before buying an actual clarinet. The basics of how to work with reeds are appliable, to some extent, even to other instruments.

Now about the negatives instrument itself. It has lower range than I expected, but that is not an issue of the product but of the whole design of the instrument itself. It has lower range then a recorder.

If you are only about to start with some instrument or have previously played just something like a penny-whistle, then this might be an interesting step up the ladder.

For what it costs you don't expect a lot but this little instrumant plays really nicely once you add at least a good reed to it. The reed supplied was the real letdown but I knew it wasn't going to be brilliant from other reviews. However this is a really nice little instrument once you put a decent reed on it and it gets a whole lot better if you use a decent mouthpiece, but here's the thing, a really good clarinet mouthpiece will cost five times the price of this instrument so the fact that it is quite playable with the supplied mouthpiece is quite a bonus. This means that a beginner doesn't need to rush out and buy something new apart from the reed to get this playing.
The Chalumeau has a lovely tone and is much easier to play than a lot of people would have you believe but you do need a decent embrochure and that is down to practice. Practice is where this little thing comes in best because it is ready to pick up and play once you get your good reed into the right position which again is a matter of practice. There are no levers to worry about bending as you put parts together or to worry about whilst playing. So this is something that can sit on your desk or by your arm chair and you can pick it up and just play and because of that it is just a fun thing to do. Just messing about with it for ten minutes a day will soon have you playing nicely and will improve your embrochure control massively - it is just what is needed. It would be great for children too because it is so small and light.
Would I recomend it? Absolutely - it is a great instrument for the price but do remember that you will need a decent reed and if you are a beginner you might need to try some different reeds but a 2 or 2,5 weight reed would be a good starting point and to save a lot of hit and miss a good synthetic reed matches up really well. Although I do use Legere reeds I also have the much cheaper Bravo reeds that I use for testing things out and I find them to be a really good match for this instrument.
Last word - it is a great instrument but it will only stay that way if you look after it - swab it out after each session of playing and it should last forever. play it in by playing for ten minutes a day for the first week then maybe 20 for the second week and build it up so that the wood accepts the changr in moisture from your breath gradually and don't sit it on or near a readiator. Get one and have fun with it.

This little and cheap instrument is strongly recommended. The sound is very warm and the intonation good and stable. Fingering is teh same as the baroque flute in C so it's easy to switch. Also a great introduction to clarinet and sax. A great gift for somebody that plays tehse instruments and wants something portable. Thumbs up!!! You can play from folk to jazz on it, it sounds like an Armenian duduk or a baroque clarinet.