Klarinet Archive - Posting 000089.txt from 2005/06
From: "Ted Casher" <tedcasher@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bb & C clarinets
Date: Fri, 03 Jun 2005 12:07:51 -0400
Hey, Willy---
I have a Bb and a C. The C gets a very bright sound---and plays out of tune
in regard to the acoustics built into it.
Methinks Brandwein or Tarras played Bb in America so they could feel at home
w/the other clarinetists in this country....I don't have the historical
reason.
I have listened to both Tarras and Brandwein, and I like Brandwein better,
because of his time and his attack. Dave Tarras sounds like his reed is too
soft for him, although he gets around the instrument very well.
The player who got me into Klezmer playing was Mickey Katz. He had a
Yiddish-American show, which consisted of parodies of American pop tunes
with a freilach interspersed in the middle of each one. He was also a
really good Dixieland player---he had worked with the Spike Jones band for a
number of years, but Spike was not too munificient with the money, so Mickey
set out on his own. Back then, there was a large Yiddish-speaking Jewish
population, encompassing Orthodox, Conservative and Reform---not to mention
the Arbeiter Ring (workers' party). The adherents of the last mentioned
hardly went to Temple at all! But---there was enough of an audience in the
major cities for Mickey to make a couple of tours a year.
Mickey is now better known as Joel Grey's father; also, Jennifer Grey's
grandfather. BUT---I was raised in Skowhegan, ME, where there were only 5
Jewish families. Might as well have been a goy! My parents loved ethnic
Yiddish comic records, and they collected Mickey Katz' works. So I grew up
with his big clarinet sound and his shwa in my ears. This is what led me to
Klezmer---it felt really natural.
I approach Klezmer like a Dixieland musician----I constantly improvise over
the chord structures after stating the melody. If my cohorts look askance
at me doing so, I will take out the C so I don't have to transpose.
For historical aspects, read Hankus Netsky or Henry Sapoznik.
Man---just have fun with it! I left concert clarinet playing because I
couldn't stand the great majority of stringplayers, conductors, and
especially---musicologists! The last legitto gig I did on clarinet was
under Hindemith himself, and, since I had played under the baton of one of
my favorite composers, I figured it was time to hang up my peashooter mpces
and stiff Vandorens, and to play music from the heart.
This was in 1959, and I have been having fun ever since! The only time I
have played in a symphony was on the sax.
I am better known as a tenorplayer, but I love my clarinet and practice it
every day.
I hope you are having fun playing Klezmer. May all the reeds run right!
Best,
Ted Casher
The Master of Disaster
----- Original Message -----
From: "willy kostucki" <wk@-----.be>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 7:52 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] Bb & C clarinets
Hello Ted,
Thanks for your answer.
This is precisely my situation: I would like to play the Klezmer on a
C (I got one recently), I have been playing Klezmer for 5 years on a
Bb. But what is the real advantage of doing so?
Is it an "easier" way to play or is it purely the sound that comes
out which is closer to the so-called original klezmer sound?
Usually Klezmer music is played in minor keys D or G or etc. Is it
easier to play on a C? More difficult? Or no difference at all?
As I am also interested in the Klez history I found out that
clarinetists-immigrants like Tarras or Brandwein finally turned to
Bb, some eventually playing on Bb with the fingering of the C they
where used to in Poland or Ukraine. What do you think is the reason
for that (switching to Bb and maintaining the fingering of the C)?
PS: I am an adult amateur beginner, this explain maybe the naiveness
of my questions. Sorry.
Zayt Gezunt!
PS: is Casher your real family name?
WILLY.
Le 01-juin-05 à 16:29, Ted Casher a écrit :
> Ted Casher here. I have both varieties---I use the C for klezmer and the
> Bb for everything else.
>
> I only play concert music once in a while---but if the situation arises,
> I will go see Emilio Lyons at Rayburn Music, in Boston, and rent an A.
>
> I own a Noblet C, and I put a Pete Fountain model mpce on it. It is a
> great fit!
>
> Happy playing!
>
> Ted Casher
> The Master of Disaster
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>
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