Doublereed Archive - Posting 000028.txt from 2003/03

From: Nat Echols <nat@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Playing contrabassoon
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 23:17:40 -0500

> The rough thing about playing contrabassoon is the fact that you have to
> endure at least some periods of time and a lot of repertoire where you
> do little or nothing, but be prepared (sometimes at the drop of a hat)
> to play repertoire (on bassoon or contra) that is demanding.

Yes, I read most of "Shogun" while "rehearsing" Mendelssohn 5. And I've
seen many people (myself included) show up to rehearsal with contra in
hand and end up sitting through the entire session without playing a note.
(This can be okay if you get paid - I do not. This has led to some
unpleasantness with conductors.)

A side question/remark: I find it extremely difficult to make sudden
switches from contra to bassoon (but not the reverse). When playing
contra+bassoon on Mahler, my bassoon sound is considerably worse than
normal. It's almost entirely because of the change in reeds and
embouchure. Do other people notice this as well? Aside from the lack of
quality instruments available to me, this has always been one of the only
drawbacks to playing contra.

-Nat