Klarinet Archive - Posting 000899.txt from 2001/01

From: Ginger Calkins <gicalkin@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Boosey & Hawkes wood clarinet
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2001 15:59:34 -0500

At this point, it is probably a combination of both. The pads on the
instrument are very worm-eaten, leaving many, many, many airleaks to deal
with. So, it takes a LOT of breath to get sound out. The repair tech didn't
even assemble the horn, just looked at the pads and said it needed help. He
personally doens't think much of the Boosey & Hawkes brand. So, I don't know
if he can produce that B or not.

Hm...well, I visited same friend in California a couple months ago and had a
blast playing with her little student model plastic horn with none of the
problems I'm exeriencing with this one. Which is what leads me to want to
blame the instrument.

Of course, I am stuck playing with a shot reed at the moment, which is not
helping. I normally play[ed] on Mitchell Lurie 4 1/2s but when I got a new
reed I could not compensate for the stiff new reed AND the pads being out of
whack. I liked my Michell Luries best after about 1 1/2 - 3 hours of good
hard playing time. Plus a little shaving off the top....My friend in
California plays on Vandoren 2 1/2s and as I was fooling around with her
horn the first thing I noticed was the "mushiness" of her reed.

So, although there is a strong possiblity that at least half of the problems
are my fault, I still want to put blame on the instrument, if for no other
reason than to "feel better". After all, I was a darn good college player
and I don't want to admit that I might have lost all my skill. Just because
I haven't played for 5 years or so....

Is it at least possible the upper-register problems are coming from
adjusting my embouchure to compensate for a worn out reed and pads that
aren't fully sealing, rather than a "permanent" problem that would hold true
over any instrument I played on? [this is where you make me feel better
(grin) ]

I hadn't thought of renting an instrument, but perhaps the band director at
my alma mater has a clarinet that is not in use at the moment. She and I
played together, so I think she would loan me one to try out. I won't be
able to wait until the wedding, as I will have to LEARN whatever I'm playing
:)

William Wright wrote:

> <><> Ginger Calkins wrote:
> However something else is out of whack as I can NOT play a "b" above the
> break [i.e. all fingers down] without starting out on some other note
> and working to it, either up or down. I'm assuming it is a quirk of the
> horn.
>
> If a competent technician says that your horn has many problems,
> then it's probably true, but.....
>
> Some of the problems that you mentioned in your previous post,
> especially the "I need to sneak up on this note" comment that I have
> quoted above, are also symptoms of not maintaining constant embouchure
> or breath support as you approach a note that is difficult to finger.
> Playing with a 'full' tone in the lower register and a 'thin' sound in
> the upper register(s) is another example of performance difficulty
> rather than equipment difficulty.
>
> Have you considered renting a clarinet for a month (probably $30 or
> so) and then seeing how many of these problems persist on an instrument
> that is in good repair? Of course, if you rent it during the wedding,
> you will be solving two problems at once.
>
> For that matter, if the repair person can play clarinet a bit
> (competent repair people need to play the instruments they work on in
> order to test its performance), is he or she unable to play a B on your
> instrument?
>
> Cheers,
> Bill
>
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