Klarinet Archive - Posting 000390.txt from 2004/02

From: "Keith" <100012.1302@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: klarinet Digest 23 Feb 2004 21:15:00 -0000 Issue 5081
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 19:46:16 -0500

Kevin

You are right that you can't judge a bass by playing one if you don't =
play
one. I played a school horn for some years before I got a good quality
Selmer to E (not even Eb but a nice horn, which I will be selling =
sometime
soon), and that for some years before I got a low C Buffet. You need to =
take
a bass player with you to help choose.

Other people have given you good advice. I'll just add another factor in
favour of the low C. Since you play in community orchestras, you may =
find
yourself asked to transpose bassoon parts if they don't have enough
bassoons. Low C enables you to play the full and often used range of the
bassoon. And the parts are fun!

There is much more low C work for bass than there is for basset =
clarinet.
The latter is pretty well restricted to K622 and the quintet for A and =
the
Parto, Parto aria (Clemenza di Tito) for Bb. You don't need a basset
clarinet unless you want to play Mozart :-).

Oh and Janacek's Mladi needs a low D on the bass. That's reason enough.

Choice between the best Buffet and Selmer is your taste on the tone =
colour;
they are both fine instruments. The latest Buffet is probably the best =
bass
for intonation and ease of regulation, and I preferred its tone [I am =
not a
Buffet maniac - my other clarinets are Fox, Leblanc and Amati]. I also =
found
the Yamaha competent but colourless.

Keith Bowen

> ------------------------------
>=20
> Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 11:00:18 -0800
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
> Subject: Bass Clarinets
> Message-ID: <BAY1-F151k88GVaVJVK00007400@-----.com>
>=20
> Well, I looked around our music room and decided that I don't=20
> own enough=20
> clarinets. The obvious candidate at this point is a bass. =20
> My wife got her=20
> piccolo last year, so now it's my turn for a new horn.
>=20
> I strongly believe the advice that I myself have given myself=20
> before - the=20
> most important part of choosing a clarinet is to play it=20
> yourelf. The=20
> immediate problem here is that my sum total experience in=20
> playing bass is=20
> about 30 bars in the pit for "Annie Get Your Gun" many moons ago.
>=20
> It did not go well.
>=20
> So, some questions for you folk who play this thing=20
> regularly, in the hope=20
> that I can benefit some from your experience:
>=20
> 1) Cheap Out?
>=20
> If I buy a servicable student-level horn - say, a Bundy or=20
> Vito - I fear=20
> that I will end up buying two bass clarinets, this first one=20
> and the low-C=20
> professional model that I'll ultimately end up with. (I am=20
> doomed this way,=20
> since I think I'll need the range to low C for intended use,=20
> and this is the=20
> pattern followed to date with my closet full of saxophones.) =20
> I'm told,=20
> however, that the Bundy can be tweaked into a pretty=20
> servicable instrument. =20
> Thoughts?
>=20
> 2) Low C?
>=20
> In his master class at ClarinetFest two years ago, John Yeh=20
> told the crowd=20
> that those taking orchestral auditions should always have a=20
> clarinet to low=20
> C, as you can't win an audition the requires notes you can't=20
> play. This=20
> seems like very good advice for that intended audience. =20
> While my intended=20
> use is (or at least includes) orchestral literature, though,=20
> I'm not in the=20
> professional audition-taking mode; my expected use is=20
> primarily in the pit=20
> for musicals, the odd community orchestra, and maybe a pickup=20
> group for=20
> Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire if I get good enough on it.
>=20
> So - for you folks out there how play orchestrally - can one=20
> get by with a=20
> bass clarinet with the shorter range to Eb, or is there a lot in the=20
> literature that requires the extended range? If one needs=20
> the extended=20
> range for the bass clarinet literature as much we need a=20
> bassett clarinet, I=20
> see no need for me to spend the extra dough. If a=20
> significant plurality of=20
> works require it, though, I'll write the bigger check. How=20
> much is the=20
> lower range actually used?
>=20

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