Klarinet Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 2009/04

From: Margaret Thornhill <clarinetstudio@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re:Contrabass Clarinet --a response from Don Gross
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:35:40 -0400

The following meditation on contra clarinets is a forward from LA
Clarinet Choir contrabass clarinet player, Don Gross, who asked me to
post this one for him.
mt

Dear Clarnibass,

Because the Klarinet list doesn't like my AOL connection, please allow
me to respond personally.

I play bass, contra alto, and contrabass clarinets with (1) the Los
Angeles Clarinet Choir, (2) the Claremont (California) Winds, (3) the
Orange County (California) Wind Symphony, and (4) the Orange County
Symphony (bass clarinet only).

My bass is a 1983 Buffet RC Prestige to low C with a Richard Hawkins
mpc, my contra alto is a vintage Selmer Bundy to low Eb with a Selmer C*
mpc, and my contrabass clarinet is a Leblanc "paperclip" to low C with a
Woodwind Company mpc that was refaced by Tom Ridenour before he left
Leblanc.

There are several questions to ask yourself before you start looking
seriously.

(1) how much are you willing to pay? The rosewood Selmer and the metal
Eppelsheim contrabass clarinets are well over $20,000 U.S. I do not
know the Ripamonte instruments as they are rare in the United States. I
would avoid the VITO like the plague. You also must carry a stool
around with you because they're very long one-piece instruments. In
addition, the VITOs being plastic also have a tendency to break in the
middle.

(2) What range do you need? The VITO instruments only descend to low Eb
which is totally unacceptable for virtually all the modern contrabass
clarinet literature -- especially wind ensemble and clarinet choir.

(3) Will you be playing multiple low clarinets? It is virtually
impossible to switch from playing a straight contrabass from sitting on
a stool to playing an instrument that can be played from a chair. The
Leblanc, Selmer, and Eppelsheim instruments can be played seated in a chair.

I am intrigued by the Eppelsheim instrument and hopefully will get to
audition one owned by Vinny Golia who's on the faculty of Cal Arts in
Valencia, California about 25 miles up the Interstate from me.

I tried a low C rosewood Selmer at ClarinetFest in Vancouver when the
Los Angeles Clarinet Choir was performing and it was TERRIBLE. Using my
own mpc, I could get only one octave to sound from the throat G to the
low G. F and below were so horribly adjusted that they wouldn't speak
and NOTHING above the break was playable. I fault Selmer and their very
French technician for not properly adjusting the instrument in the first
place.

That said, Julia Heinen who's has the clarinet studio at Cal State
University Northridge, bought a low C rosewood Selmer for the university
and it is a magnificent instrument. However, it requires CONSTANT
adjustment because of the expansion and contraction of the less dense
rosewood. When it works it's wonderful, but you need a technician
sitting next to you at all times.

Bottom line: I absolutely LOVE my low C Leblanc paperclip. I paid
$2,000 for it 15 years ago fully overhauled from Charles Fail Music in
Atlanta, Georgia. Last year I spent $1,600 having the instrument
overhauled by Tom Yaeh at RDG Woodwinds in Los Angeles. Tom also
overhauled the paperclip owned by the LA Philharmonic and played by
David Howard and two other paperclips owned by Alan Savedoff who plays
contrabassoon with the Pacific Symphony (Orange County, California) and
Gary Bovier who plays with the Long Beach (California) Opera Orchestra.

My "paperclip" has never let me down and it is an absolute joy to play.
Granted, it has a distinctive sound that is not quite that of a bass
clarinet played one octave lower, but at those frequencies, it matters
little.

Please feel free to ask me any more questions you might have. Having
lived with my "paperclip" for 15 years, there are many "problems" I
haven't encountered.

Cheers,

Don Gross

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