Klarinet Archive - Posting 000600.txt from 1995/05

From: "Lorne G. Buick" <lgbuick@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Church gigs
Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 21:47:40 -0400

>I find church performances most difficult. One has to sit there while the
>reed gets progressively dryer. No opportunity to keep it performing properly.
>Then you are expected to to make a delicate entrance with hundreds of friends
>and relative watching. I'm so surprised the horn speaks at all that I lose my
>composure. At my other gigs I can fuss and fiddle to my hearts content. Any
>suggestions??

I haven't done very many church gigs apart from weddings where I was simply
a hired gun and not expected to pay attention (beyond playing at the right
times, of course). But the few times I have, it's never been a problem to
discreetly blow through the clarinet to keep the temperature up and the
reed moist. Another good strategy is to take along a film canister (one of
those little black plastic cylindrical thingies that 35 mm film is sold
in)(I like these because the lids are watertight, so you can fill them at
home and don't have to worry about finding water at the gig) full of water,
then a couple of minutes before playing, take off the mouthpiece and dip
the reed (still attached to the m'piece) so that the water can soak in
before you have to play. The advantage of course is that you don't have to
reposition the reed. I've used this technique a lot in concerts, especially
when I have to switch to Eb or basset horn and back, with no time to warm
up or fiddle with things. In fact, I used to play Eb for only the last
piece of the program (with the Vancouver Wind Trio) and I would simply
leave the Eb mouthpiece in the water for the whole of the second-last
piece. I thought this was a terrible idea until I did it a few times and it
worked fine.

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LGB Lorne G Buick Draft III Music
lgbuick@-----.ca Wind Music
Arranging, Copying, Publishing
Have basset horn, will travel