Klarinet Archive - Posting 001039.txt from 2003/04

From: "Patricia A. Smith" <patricia@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Attn, Dan; was, Basset/Alto
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:46:15 -0400

Dan Leeson wrote:
> I have almost no experience playing alto clarinet. The only one I did =

> play was the basset horn in F which I consider an alto clarinet because=
=20
> of its bore size and the fact that it uses an alto clarinet mouthpiece.=
=20
> So I'm qualified to comment on the instrument personally.

and

> I should have said, "I am NOT qualified to speak about the alto clarine=
t."=20
>The mistakes one makes when in a rush are disgraceful

> When I have heard a Buffet or LeBlanc basset horn play, I hear a very=20
> lovely sound when played well but I don't find that it has the characte=
r=20
> of a basset horn. Specifically, it is not plaintive enough for my tast=
es.
>=20
> It is only partially a joke that the basset horn is said to be to music=
=20
> what the basset hound is to dogdom. The basset horn is supposed to hav=
e=20
> that kind of a tragic, plaintive sound, though that may be more in my=20
> imagination than anything else. It is a sound character that I find it=
=20
> difficult to identify on those basset horns that have the wide bore.
>=20
> On the other hand, I would be very hesitant to do a blindfold test to=20
> see if I could detect the difference.
>=20
> I have been playing narrow and medium bore basset horns all my life, so=
=20
> I lean to them from inclincation as much as my perception of sound=20
> character. Besides, I don't find playing on an alto clarinet mouthpiec=
e=20
> to be an enjoyable thing. The larger the mouthpiece, the more=20
> difficulty I have in playing in a refined fashion. That was also true =

> of the bass clarinet where I felt that I never played in a refined way,=
=20
> even in my best days. I just could not control anthing that big in my =

> mouth.

Now, I think I've got an idea - despite my earlier denseness - obviously =

the alto IS in a lower key by =BD step, as Gary Van Cott pointed out to m=
e.

It must be the mouthpiece, then, that makes the difference, as much as=20
or even moreso than the bore size of the two instruments in sound=20
quality - you said it with these words, Dan:

> Besides, I don't find playing on an alto clarinet mouthpiece=20
>> to be an enjoyable thing. The larger the mouthpiece, the more=20
>> difficulty I have in playing in a refined fashion.

Size DOES matter! At least when it comes to mouthpieces. Maybe what=20
the real problem is with alto clarinets is not particularly the=20
instruments themselves, but the beastly mouthpieces that those of us who =

attempt to play the beasts utilize with them! 8-O

So not only would a true basset horn have a much smaller bore than the=20
LeBlanc instruments whose measurements I cited earlier, it also would=20
NOT utilize an alto clarinet mouthpiece, but a mouthpiece designed=20
SPECIFICALLY FOR a basset horn. Is that true?

The plot thickens.

Patricia Smith

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