Klarinet Archive - Posting 000655.txt from 1997/02

From: Roger Shilcock
Subj: bass clarinet over the break problem (fwd)
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 08:50:42 -0500

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 11:22:53 +0100
From: Anneke Sicherer-Roetman <anneke%chem.RUU.NL@-----.UK>
Subject: bass clarinet over the break problem

Hello clarinetters,
Since about 8 months I have taken up the bass clarinet in a wind band
that I already played Bb in. I consider myself still as a beginner,
perhaps advanced beginner. The sound I get from the chalumeau register
and even the throat tones begins to become satisfactory (not good yet),
but above the break all I can produce is a bad sounding b c and c#,
and higher up mostly no sound at all. I have a new Vito bass to low Es.
I still use the mouthpiece that came with it (Woodwind Company) and
Vandoren no.2 bass clarinet reeds. Our conductor, a clarinettist himself,
advised me to try a harder reed. I've tried Vandoren 2 1/2 and that
sound awful (hissing).
My question is: do I still have a lot of practising to do and the
sound will get better eventually, or could a better mouthpiece-reed
combination help me?
--
/-----------------------------------------------------------------
| Anneke Sicherer-Roetman (anneke@-----.nl) Utrecht University |
| Bijvoet Center - Padualaan 8 - 3584 CH Utrecht - Netherlands |
-----------------------------------------------------------------/

Dear Anneke:
>From what happened to me and what I did wrong -- you are probably
squeezing the reed too hard, which is why your conductor says "get a
harder reed", as a soft reed will suffer more from this. Possibly you are
not managing to hold the instrument sufficiently solidly - this can play
havoc with the embouchure on this instrument because if it slips one
tries to hold the instrument steady with the mouth (quite *wrongly*, of
course). Try to find older pieces of advice on bass embouchure and
breathing on the list. The reed may also be too soft for the mouthpiece
- if you are not actually squeaking, then the problem may well not be
the reed itself.
Roger Shilcock