Klarinet Archive - Posting 000354.txt from 1994/02

From: "Steven A. Haaser" <HAASER@-----.EDU>
Subj: Introduction to Klarinet
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 10:59:26 -0500

Encouraged by Dan Leeson's recent welcoming message, I am sending this to
the mailing list. I have been subscribed for about three weeks now and I am
quite impressed with the helpful and informative postings. The decorum of
the group is singular in my experience. Bravo!

Although I consider myself a flute player (a third-generation one no less),
I do play clarinet and sax for shows. In fact, in the summers the last few
years when my two community/college orchestras close up I have been playing
clarinet in the Columbia Community Band. I enjoy the relative anonymity of
playing in a section, usually third clarinet. Playing my R13 all summer and
ignoring my flute has helped my clarinet skills alot. Hasn't been all that
bad for the flute either. I `relearn' flute going through a lot of my
teaching curriculum at a very fast pace. I rediscover many pitfalls in
flute playing that way because they are obvious when your playing is at such
a low level to start.

The discussion about various instruments, especially old ones, I find most
interesting. My father, now retired, considered himself primarily a tenor
sax player when he played in dance bands in the 30s. But he was a good
clarinet and flute player as just about everyone was back then. Anyway, he
has all the drooled-after old Selmer saxes, the balanced action Tenor, the
cigar-cutter alto, ... I used to play his Selmer full-Boehm with low-Eb
until I bought the Buffet. I certainly don't miss the extra weight of that
Selmer, but the articulated C#-G# was handy as well at the left-hand G#-D#.
Now I panic when I get into a passage and find I can't get the D# because
there is no left-hand key. (Oh, were those pencil Ls and Rs supposed to mean
something to me?) And I enjoy the clarinet section. They're a much more
gregarious, beer-drinking lot than the flute players :-). Also fiddling
with the reeds, sandpaper, reed rush, sealing the flats and such bring me
more sympathy for my oboist wife (now there's reed hell) and more
appreciation for how easy I have it playing flute.

After about 40 years of not playing (except forcing him to play flute duets
with me when I was a student), my Dad has returned to playing. He must be
out 4 to 5 nights a week with wind ensemble, concert bands, dance bands --
even an German oom@-----. It's a good
thing he's a runner and has good breath stamina.

I have something to add about older clarinets/Albert system. My grandfather
got caught back in around 1917-1920 when the pitch was consistently adopted
in US orchestras as 440. Before that he had played a higher pitch
Rittershausen flute. About a year before the pitch change he bought a new
wooden Haynes. The next year it was useless, being too high. So get a new
Haynes (silver this time). He figured he didn't have it too bad though.
All his clarinet buddies really got caught. Most of them had recently
changed from Albert to Boehm clarinets just before the pitch change. Then
they had to get another _pair_ of lower pitch clarinets. Some players went
the other way around and bought lower pitch Alberts and then switched later
to playing Boehms to match their section-mates. My father observed that
Albert clarinets were very inexpensive and widely available in the 20s and
30s, and many Black players used these clarinets.

I have my Dad's old, complete Klose' Method which has full fingering and
trill charts for both Albert and Boehm clarinets. There is also an
interesting discussion of ``advantages of playing with the reed below the
mouthpiece''. I think this book has copyright around 1910 +/-. And no, Dad
never played with the reed on top. I don't know if Grandpa knew anyone who
did though.

I didn't intend to ramble on at this length. Keep sending those interesting
facts and hints (I print several items and include them in letters home to
Dad).

Steve