Dietz Klarinettenbau GmbH & Co. KG is a German clarinet manufacture based in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria.

History

In 1989, the master woodwind instrument maker Wolfgang Dietz became self-employed by setting up a small workshop in his home in Neustadt an der Aisch and founded a manufactory for the production of handmade clarinets under the name Klarinetten Wolfgang Dietz. In 1999 Dietz built a new workshop next to the residential house. On 19 November 2010, the company was transformed into its current legal form with the partners Wolfgang Dietz and Ludwig Gerd Dietz, son of the founder and also a master clarinet maker. Despite the change in the company name, the clarinets produced continue to be sold under the label Klarinetten Wolfgang Dietz, and the corresponding logo has also been retained. Neustadt an der Aisch, with its

Herbert Wurlitzer The company Herbert Wurlitzer Manufaktur für Holzblasinstrumente GmbH is a German clarinet manufacturer based in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria with a second production site in Markneukirchen, Saxony. It was founded in 1959 by Herbert Wurlitzer. ...

Leitner & Kraus Leitner & Kraus is a German clarinet manufacturer based in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , B ...

and Dietz manufactories, can be considered the Mecca of German clarinet manufacturing.

Products

Clarinets of different tunings with the German and the French fingering system ( Oehler system and

Böhm system The Boehm system is a system of keywork for the flute, created by inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm between 1831 and 1847. History Immediately prior to the development of the Boehm system, flutes were most commonly made of wood, with an ...

) are made to order. as well as those with the

Reform Boehm system The Reform Boehm system is a fingering system for the clarinet based on the Boehm system. It was developed to produce clarinets with the Boehm keywork but with a sound similar to a German clarinet. Development The Reform Boehm system was i ...

and also Hybrid clarinets. Various models are available in

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mopane ''Colophospermum mopane'', commonly called mopane, mopani, balsam tree, butterfly tree, or turpentine tree, is a tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), that grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, in elevation, in the far northern parts of southern A ...

cocobolo Cocobolo is a tropical hardwood of Central American trees belonging to the genus ''Dalbergia''. Only the heartwood of cocobolo is used; it is usually orange or reddish-brown, often with darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. The heartw ...

and

boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...

. By default, the instruments are tuned to 442 to 443 Hz for concert pitch A, but several other tunings are available on request. Versions for left-handers can also be made. Unique in the world is an alto clarinet that reaches (notated) low C, like a basset horn. The instruments are handcrafted with a moderate use of machinery with great care and accuracy and then approved. Each instrument is a one-off.

Award

Dietz Klarinettenbau was awarded the German Musical Instrument Award 2020 in the category ''A clarinet (German system)'' for the instrument "A clarinet student model".

Sales

About 70% of Dietz instruments are sold in Germany and Austria, about 20% are exported to other EU countries, and the rest all over the world. The customers are mainly students at conservatories and professional clarinettists.Art Marshall interviews a remarkable clarinet builder Wolfgang Dietz
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References

External links