Klarinet Archive - Posting 001144.txt from 1997/11

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Bass Clarinet Necks
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 21:12:32 -0500

At 06:24 PM 11/30/97 -0600, Jennifer McKenna wrote:
i played on a student
>model bass clarinet for all those years, and the embochure for that one
>was horrible, it was all wrong, and i'll tell you why. the neck!! if it is
>shaped like a swans neck it is a tenor sax type neck that requires a tenor
>sax type of embouchure. If the neck is shaped more at a 50-60 degree angle
>it is a REAL bass clarinet neck and requires more of a clarinet
>embouchure, it really all depends on what type of neck you have. the
>better the neck the easier it will be to change back and forth.

To the best of my knowledge, the STANDARD bass clarinet neck is the one you
call a "tenor sax type neck." It does indeed come at you at an angle
unlike that of the soprano clarinet. I have never had any problem making
the switch. Maybe that is why taking up saxophone later in life was also
relatively painless. Bay Woodwinds has been selling a modified neck for
some time that is set at a steeper angle like you describe. Also, current
production Selmer USA (formerly known as Bundy) bass clarinets have a neck
with a similar angle.

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
ICQ 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.