Klarinet Archive - Posting 000297.txt from 1999/02

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Getting used to a bass clarinet
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 23:47:50 -0500

First impressions. On Friday afternoon, I picked up the Bundy Bb bass I'd
mentioned earlier. The clarinet didn't have a mouthpiece, so on the way to
get the horn I bought a Selmer D (I think also known as HS**), Vandoren
"dark" ligature, and box of Vandoren #3's.

Well, to revert to Sixties vernacular, it's a trip to play this thing. It
is exactly like learning to play the clarinet all over again. Everything
on the instrument is in good shape, but it's just so damn BIG! Steroidal
reeds, steroidal mouthpiece, 20-ton horn. Thank God there's a peg fitting
and Perry Ritter found a peg and tip laying around that he threw into the
case. I am still trying to figure out how to START at a low note: it gets
down to what I guess is a low Eb (if that's the one with the key on the
bell) easily enough (the vibration can rattle glassware:-) if you're
working your way down the scale, but I'm still battling embochure problems
to START from the lower reaches of the scale.

Ritter warned me that high notes are even more of a problem for most new
playes, and he's not wrong. Above the equivalent of about G or A on the
soprano, getting a decent tone is a job and a half. I haven't blatted and
squeaked this much since the 6th grade:-); but again, if I work my way up
the scale like I'm just playing exercises (a good idea in any event), I can
go into a third octave rather comfortably. STARTING at the extreme ends of
the scale, however, are going to require me to develop some "dedicated"
bass chops. But it's already becoming fun...even those real bottom notes
where your whole head vibrates....

What's funny is going back to the soprano Bb after working on the bass. By
comparison, there IS no effort....

If any of you dedicated bass players have suggestions, I'm MORE than happy
to hear them. As long as they don't involve changing mouthpieces: the damn
Selmer Paris mouthpiece was a fortune as it was:-).

Ken

Kenneth Wolman http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/1649
When I stand upright in the wind
My bones turn to dark emeralds.
--James Wright, "The Jewel"

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