Klarinet Archive - Posting 000619.txt from 2001/09

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Basset horns
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 23:21:20 -0400

Clark Fobes has, as usual, given a lucid and analytical analysis to the
issue of basset horn mouthpieces. To that I will add a speculation and
and an interesting story (hopefully).

Speculation: the reason why, in the case of the small bore basset horn,
a larger mouthpiece bore is required is because the place where the
moutpiece meets the bocal presents a size incompatibility. The two
holes should be the same size. At least that is my theory.

Interesting story: When I got my first basset horn in Paris in 1963, I
simply could not play it. Nothing worked right and the sound was awful.
I thought it was me, but that is really the self-guilt that my mother
gave me carrying through to middle age.

Then I went to take a basset horn lesson from Paul Howland who was, at
that time, one of the few basset horn players in NY who actually owned
one. He was a sensational player who did all the b.h. work at the met.
Years later he and I played the Strauss "Invalid's Workshop" together
with him on bass clarinet and me on basset horn, and he tore the part to
shreds. I looked over and said, "That's terrific," and he replied,
"It's in A in the bass clef. Not my favorite transposition."

Anyway, back to the story. Paul had a basset horn that he had purchased
from the widow of an Italian musician. The man was much older than Paul
when Paul got it, and he estimated that it dated from ca. 1910. It was
a Buffet, narrow bore. The original owner had had a special case made
for it and the space for the mouthpiece in the case was such that a
contemporary mouthpiece did not fit. The mouthpiece was longer than the
space for it.

Howland said that this convinced him that the m.p. that should be used
had to be about 1/4-1/2 inch shorter. But if he simply cut the m.p.
down by that amount, the pitch would have changed. To compensate, he
decided to open up the bore size of the mouthpiece. And that did it, at
least for Paul.

So he took the mouthpiece that I was playing at the time, bored it out,
cut it down by about 1/4 inch, and suddenly I could play a lot better.
Why I got so good that I became the 11th best basset hornest in Bergen
County, not so good when you consider that there were only 2 other
players.

Now all of this depends on the case made ca. 1910 being logical. Maybe
the case maker had no idea of how much room to allow for a mouthpiece,
but if he did, and if Howland was right, the standard b.h. mouthpiece
should be shorter and have a wider bore.

That is what Charlie Bay finally did for me ca. 1975 or so, and that is
sort of the kind of m.p. that Clark makes for narrow bore basset horns.

I add that Paul Howland was the brother of the Howland who taught
clarinet at Fresno for years and who was Clarke's teacher. It's a small
world. That brother got Paul's instrument when Paul died, even though I
tried to buy it from his widow. But by the time I got there, it was
gone. Years later I called Paul's brother and asked about that
instrument. He told me that he sold to a clarinet player in Denver.

It had a crack in it big enough to slide a dime through and Paul Howland
still played it magnificently. One final Paul Howland story.

There was a radio show called "Name That Tune" in which they called
people at random. Once day Paul was called and the piece played was a
very rare Sousa march. Paul got the right answer ("Solid Men to the
Front") in about 2 seconds. And when asked how he knew the name, his
answer was "I played it with the composer's band!"

Dan
--
***************************
** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
***************************

---------------------------------------------------------------------