Klarinet Archive - Posting 000024.txt from 2002/05

From: "Sabal" <jomalu@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] New to the list
Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 12:45:03 -0400

Hello all.

I had played clarinet (not professionally, but through college and beyond)
daily for about about 16 years until I had children. I've been playing on &
off, (but not in an ensemble) for the past 6 years. I am now back to daily
practice and am going to be joining the church choir as a soloist. I play
an Evette & Schaeffer by Buffet that I estimate to be from about 1970-1975.
The best I can guess is that it's roughly equivalent to an E13 today. I use
a Vandoren B44 mouthpiece .

Here is my question:

I'm having trouble with upper register consistency (surprise surprise).
Often the tone takes on a sharp, nasal quality (in the A -F above the staff
range) and I desire to toss my horn right out the window. I have always
seemed to have had this problem with this clarinet...even in the years when
I was in much better shape. At any rate, I'm wondering if the problem might
have an instrument-related component at all that could be helped by an
equipment change. This clarinet was a huge step up from the plastic student
Yamaha I owned initially eons ago, but it seems this has always been a
problem area regardless of where I was on the learning curve.

SO, aside from the obvious (practice practice, practice and get those lips
into shape), can anybody give me any suggestions about improving the tone
quality in the upper range and/or whether a different clarinet might make a
difference for me.

Thank you so much for your time!!

Barb Sabal

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