Klarinet Archive - Posting 000157.txt from 1996/03

From: Raphael Tennenbaum <rtenn@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Another newbie -- and questions
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 1996 09:40:56 -0500

Kevin --

I'm afraid I am not so much "misinformed" about bass clarinets and embouchures
as "ignorant," but of course, it amounts to the same thing -- my thanks for
helping steer me straight.

I am extremely anxious to get my hands on one of these things, and as you can
perhaps tell, my anxiety may be clouding my judgement. It's kind of funny:
when I was in elementary school, everyone thought of the bass clarinet as a
sort of albatross -- now I can't wait to get my hands on one.

I am actually quite relieved to hear you relate the bass embouchure to the
ordinary clarinet embouchure as quite frankly, my tenor playing was scarcely
mediocre.

BTW -- yesterday I was at the Metropolitan Museum and took a look at the old
instrument collection, which was very absorbing (well worth it) -- there were
half a dozen bass clarinets, beautiful old instruments, but my favorite one was
a sort of flat serpentine instrument constructed of two pieces of, I believe,
olive wood -- split, shaped, hollowed out, and refastened together. What was
astonishing was how compact the instrument was. I wonder if you (or anyone
else here) has played this extraordinary instrument?

Rafe T.
Readme @-----.com/~rtenn