Klarinet Archive - Posting 000697.txt from 1997/10

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: Clarinets players becoming sax players & bass clars
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 09:29:44 -0400

It is better in tune, therefore better centered. We have forty-year-old
Leblanc short bass clarinets at our school, a 25-year old Selmer with two
octave keys, and I own a new Buffet Prestige R-13 with low c and two
octave keys. I frequently have students come in complaining about the
note, but I play the horn with their setup and have no problem. It is a
position problem in the back of the throat and how one voices with the
back of the tongue. Also, students often forget to take a ton of
mouthpiece......

The notes never center quite as well as others (they are the throat Bb of
the bass clarinet really!), but accessing them can be fixed by staying
open in the back, using a lot of air, taking plenty of mouthpiece, and
knowing exactly how to voice the note. Happy practicing!

Roger Garrett

On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Roger Shilcock wrote:

> I can't say I find these notes weak precisely, but they do seem difficult
> to hit when leaping up from the bottom register. When I started on the
> bass, I found controlling the passage across the break the most difficult
> bit. I've never had an instrument with more than one register key,
> though - is this easier on an instrument with 2?
> Roger Shilcock
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
> > Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 18:07:34 -0400
> > From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
> > Reply-To: klarinet@-----.us
> > To: klarinet@-----.us
> > Subject: RE: Clarinets players becoming sax players
> >
> > At 11:46 AM 10/15/97 +0100, Ian Dilley wrote:
> > >Strangely I had a similar experience just yesterday. I tried playing a
> > >bass clarinet for the first time. Even though it's many years since I
> > >played a saxophone I kept trying to use my LH middle finger for first
> > >space F and C above the stave.
> > >
> > Been there, done that. Maybe it is the plateau keys that fool you, or that
> > curvy neck making you think tenor sax. Or the neckstrap. Or mouthpiece
> > angle. Anyway, you are not alone.
> >
> >
> > >Incidentally, on this bass clarinet I had a lot of trouble playing the
> > >notes from G just above the stave up to C but above C it became a lot
> > >easier. Can someone tell me if this is normal for bass clarinet, or was
> > >it a bad instrument/mouthpiece/reed or is it just me?
> > >
> > I believe those are traditionally weak notes on bass clarinet, but if
> > someone knows how to fix it, I'd like to know for my own horn!
> >
> >
> >
> > Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
> > 451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
> > Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
> >
> > If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.
> >
>
>