Klarinet Archive - Posting 000341.txt from 1994/02

From: "Jay Heiser, Product Manager, Govt Systems" <jayh@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Big A
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 09:56:26 -0500

--> It's not necessarily the question of whether the Low A on bari
improves
-->tone quality as it is a question of necessity. Composers write for the Low A
-->on bari and expect it to be there, especially in jazz. You'd be hard pressed
to
-->find a bari without a Low A that play well in tune in all registers (esp.
palm
-->keys) and has good action. The Old Selmers (Mark VI etc.) have notoriously
-->bad intonation. The newer model Selmers and Yamahas (which are also quite
-->nice) come with the Low A as standard. Also, the keys that saxophone is
usually
--> required to play in also make the Low A an asset. So, Gerry Mulligan may
-->be right but, he can afford to be. He doesn't have to sit in a pit or jazz
-->band and play notes an octave up instead of having them there.
-->
-->MIchael B. Favreau
-->Ithaca College

But you can almost always cover the part by sticking your foot
in the bell & lipping it down a tad. Seems to me that I once
played a chart that had lots of A's but no A#s, and a rolled up
piece of cardboard did the trick.

I always expected to get a low-A, but I had a chance to get a
decent bari for under $500 and decided that I could use my foot.
The guy I bought it from replaced it with a Yamaha. It has a
wonderful mechanism, but feels stuffy and isn't as powerful. I'd
like to try one w/o the low A to compare (maybe Yamaha doesn't
make one).
======================================
Garden Status:
Ice is just about gone. Ambitious
gardners started seedlings indoors a
month ago. I did not.