Klarinet Archive - Posting 000030.txt from 1995/10

From: Ed Lowry <72122.3073@-----.COM>
Subj: I wish they could all be Bb
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 01:42:36 -0400

Elizabeth Morgenroth's question about whether Eb and Bass clarinet players
should sound like Bb soprano clarinets, albeit with an extended range, reminds
me of an old joke Jay Leno told about eating rattlesnakes and other exotic
animals. They always taste like chicken, we're told, to which Jay responds, If
it tastes like chicken, why not just eat chicken?

Having said this, while playing the Eb (which I do in a community band without
much formal training), I myself try to make the sound as bell-like, and as pure
of tone as possible, much like I think a Bb should be played in those registers.
In other words, I try to avoid a harsh, disagreeable piercing tone -- which I
have seen described in print, although I must say is not how I've heard it done
by professionals in concert.

It is a different instrument. Does it still taste like chicken?

Ed Lowry
Sacramento