Klarinet Archive - Posting 000985.txt from 1998/12

From: CmdrHerel@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] practice?
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1998 15:02:16 -0500

In a message dated 12/26/98 12:10:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ryebass@-----.com writes:

<< I'm brand spanking new to the list and relatively so to the clarinet also.
I was wondering if there is a means by which to 'quiet' the instrument for
the purpose of practice...I have a tendency to be up around 1 in the
morning and get the urge to practice...which doesn't lend itself to a
congenial relationship with my girlfriend!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated, >>

This may sound kind of silly, but it's worked for me.

First of all, make sure you're in a room as far away as possible from where
she sleeps. A carpeted room.

What's worked best for me is to hole my chair in a corner of the room and hang
a large beach towel over the front of my music stand. I just plop the music
over the towel on the tray part of the stand and let the rest of the towel
hang down to the floor.

This way, the towel soaks up an impressive amount of sound without buggering
up the tuning or resistance of the instrument itself.

Also, if the logistics work, you can position some other furniture around the
area and drape extra blankets and quilts around it.

For the sake of the relationship, I'd avoid altissimo staccato studies for a
while...

And in time, she won't hear a thing, anyway. I've practiced in a studio over
my husband's head for years and by now I can do Daphnis on the Eb and he
doesn't even hear it. (No towels, no quilts, just a thin carpet!) Now that's
love! :)

Teri Herel.

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