Klarinet Archive - Posting 000681.txt from 2003/05

From: EClarinet@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Re: something a little different for marching band/eefers
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 12:03:35 -0400

Hi everybody!

Somebody said:
<<<Clarinets play directly to the ground, and that's why they can
not be heard. However, woodwind parts still exist.>>>

I used to think this too until I tried to mute my clarinet one day. The only
notes that were affected by what I did to the bell were F/C and E/B. That's
because the sound only comes out the bell for those notes. The sound for
other notes comes out of the first open tone holes below where you have fingers
down. So there must be some other reason why the clarinets can't be heard.

Somebody else said:
<<<One may not think they can hear a clarinet sound coming from the field as
such but if the section is playing you should hear that addition to the sound
character of the group as a whole.>>>

Yes, you should be able to hear the clarinets, if the director cares about
them and does something about it. My sister's hs marching band had a director
who was a clarinet player, so he always had woodwind features in each show, and
you could definitely hear them! They had clinicians come in and work with
them to make more sound, and they used to win best woodwinds at competitions
all the time. This didn't happen in my hs marching band.

To further illustrate the effect the director can have on instrumentation,
there is the case below, where someone else said:
<<>>

I have often played under directors who didn't like the eefer. Almost
without exception they were brass players. My COLLEGE wind ensemble director
(trombonist and VERY fine musician) had to be persuaded to allow the instrument. I
had to explain to him that it was a 'color' instrument like the piccolo, and
not just a high clarinet. Once he heard it on a regular basis, he grew to
appreciate it, and now, 10 years later, always uses it when there are real parts
for it.

We had a thread here last year about eefers and their use in orchestra and
band, where we discussed that it was our job to educate the directors about the
repertoire so they understood the need for our beautiful little clarinet. The
above-mentioned college director had to give in when he decided he wanted to
play the Dello Joio 'Variants on a Medieval Tune'. He tried to do it without
the eefer, but there are solos that I think are not cued anywhere else (as
well as alto clarinet solos), and needed those instruments (I doubled on them and
covered all the solos). The very next concert, he decided he wanted to do
Hammersmith, with TWO eefers, and so we did it!

There are lots of pieces in the standard repertoire that NEED eefer, like
Holst's Suites (has anybody ever done the 1st Suite with TWO eefers, like it's
written?), anything by Grainger, Copland, or Bernstein, RR Bennett( that great
'bird' solo in the Symphonic Songs), Gould West Point Symphony, Pineapple Poll,
Hindemith Symphony, Ticheli Blue Shades and other pieces he's written,
Vaughan Williams, Woolfenden and other newer composers, just to name some.

One of my hs students, who has made All-State on eefer twice, still had to
play these stupid games with his director, who is a trumpet player. They were
doing the Persichetti Symphony, and I asked him if he was playing the eefer
part, and he said, no, the director would not give him the music. So I told him
to wait, because eventually the director would realize that there are solos for
the eefer that are definitely NOT cued anywhere else in the band. I gave him
a photocopy of the part in the meantime to practice on (I have a library of
photocopied clarinet parts, from eefer down to contra, of music that I really
like the clarinet parts to, and use them for sightreading practice with my
students). OF COURSE, the director finally found out he needed the instrument,
and Russell was ready to go!

As to whether the eefer belongs in marching band, I say, if we can have
piccolos, we can have eefers! However, I doubt anyone will ever take that
seriously. Marching arrangements come with parts for piccolo, but not for eefer.
It's true you can arrange parts for it, but I can see where the director would
definitely win this one.

btw, I once saw a hs marching band with 4 SOPRANO SAXES! It seems they were
short on trumpets that year, and so covered the trumpets parts this unique
way. It was interesting, to say the least, and I always wondered how their
instrument budget from the school allowed them to buy those instruments. Then,
what do you do with 4 soprano saxes in concert/jazz music?

Elise Curran
Orlando
EClarinet@-----.com

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