Klarinet Archive - Posting 000979.txt from 1997/09

From: "Benjamin A. Maas" <bmaas@-----.net>
Subj: Re: bass clarinet QUIRKS
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 00:08:48 -0400

Playing a top staff G is going to be hard on any instrument you play. It
just so happens to be a very stuffy note on the bass clarinet. On pro
horns, there is a double octave key mechanism. This means that there are
actually two octave vents that open depending upon where in the range of
the instrument you are playing. On my Buffet, it is between B and D in the
staff.

If you are going to be playing higher than C above the staff, you should
learn the Third Partial fingerings. I find that these come out a lot
easier than standard clarinet fingerings. The fingerings chromatically are
the same as if you were playing chromatically from F in the lower register.
ie. D is open, D-sharp is the same as g-sharp, E and A, etc...

As Jeremy said, the bass clarinet also requires MUCH more air. Remember,
the bass clarinet is about twice the size of a soprano clarinet.
Therefore, it will need about twice as much air. I find that practicing
bass clarinet does wonders for my air support when I play soprano clarinet.

Well, this is my $0.02... Hope it helps some.

Benjamin Maas
Clarinetist and Digital Recording Engineer
Student, University of Southern California
Executive Director, Digital Renaissance Consort
bmaas@-----.net
bmaas@-----.edu

----------
From: Jeremy Alexander Yager <jayager@-----.edu>
Subject: Re: bass clarinet QUIRKS
Date: Sunday, September 21, 1997 6:38 AM

On Sep 21, 9:08pm, C Henderson wrote:
> Also - are there any bass clarinet quirks I should know about
> that are different to a normal Bb? (And what *was* that test that
> told you whether it was wood or plastic? :-) )

Bass has a couple quirks.
upper second register (top-staff G-C) is hard to control--I've never played
a
pro horn on bass though. Bass requires MUCH more air support--it is much
more
freeblowing than a Bb.

That's just a start...I've haven't played bass in a while so those are just
the
major things I remember.

> TIA
> Clare

--Jeremy

Jeremy A. "Galileo" Yager - musician, archer, poet & future engineer
NC State University : Wolfpack Archery! : NC State Marching Band
"We are afloat in a sea of wackos. I'm content to stay here in my ship of
fools." --Andy "Didymos" Simmons