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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000029.txt from 2003/03
From: "Isaac Bull" <contrareed@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Playing contrabassoon
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 01:15:10 -0500
Dear Nat,
This is annoying even if you do get paid, though far worse if not - you are
truly patient... :)
The plus side is (ocassionally) when being paid that you are contracted for
rehearsals that you don't end up having to attend...though the scenario you
describe is more usual.
Interesting you mention about trouble (with tone etc.) when switching. I
don't generally have too much trouble, but then I use fairly small contra
reeds. The embouchure isn't too much different (other than the obvious fact
there is considerably more wood on a contra reed) but the air column is, so
you need to get used to that. I do find that (as during this past few
months) when I do a lot of contra playing and then go back to bassoon, it
takes a bit of time to "switch gears". Also, as work tends to be "feast or
famine" I find I have to "reacquaint myself" with the contra for a day or
two when I have lots of contra playing after not having played for a long
time. This is particularly a problem when I have to rent an instrument (and
not always the same instrument).
This is an interesting thread... :)
i
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nat Echols" <nat@-----.edu>
To: <doublereed-l@-----.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 8:17 PM
Subject: Re: [DR-L] Playing contrabassoon
> > 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
>
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> DOUBLEREED-L@-----.edu
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