Klarinet Archive - Posting 000219.txt from 1996/10

From: Roger Shilcock
Subj: Re: bass doubling (fwd)
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 03:43:27 -0400

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 12:35:53 -0500
From: Neil Leupold <nleupold%POST.CIS.SMU.EDU@-----.UK>
Subject: Re: bass doubling

> ...but if there ISN'T time, like when playing the second reed book for
> Camelot which has Eb, Bb, and bass interspersed pretty freely, you might want
> to try Rico Plasticote reeds on your bass. The quality of sound might not be
> as high, but it's better than no sound at all or the squeeks from Hell that
> everyone in the hall can hear.

If there ISN'T time, a different person than Dan Gross (above)
recommended keeping the mouthpiece cap on the bass clarinet mouthpiece
during soprano playing in order to keep the reed from drying out. I
wonder if this would really be very effective. The mouthpiece cap
doesn't form any sort of seal around the reed from the drying effects of
air in the room. Perhaps it slows the process down a bit, which might
very well be enough to allow a switch to bass without fear of a dry and/or
warped reed.

I think that same person suggested dipping the mouthpiece w/reed in a cup
of water during rests in the music. This sounds very interesting to me.
I assume one would need to draw the excess water off of the reed after
dipping (by inhaling on the mouthpiece), lest the reed become
water-logged and fail to vibrate when it's time to switch to bass. This
water dipping idea sounds the best so far as a suggestion, as long as the
reed isn't saturated and there's time enough to place the mouthpiece back
on the instrument after playing soprano -- and prior to the next entrance on
bass.

Neil
Comment: Having water on the *inside* of a reed is not a good idea! How
does the "dipper" stop this happening?
The answer is he /she can't - so "inhaling" on the mouthpiece may not be
sufficient.
Roger Shilcock