 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Wayne Thompson
Date: 2004-03-25 05:06
Alright, the joke is over. How do you do it? I'm playing a simple boom-chuck band arrangement, my first time on bass clarinet. I'm playing my rented Vito, in good condition, soft reed, good mouthpiece, embouchure improving all the time. My low register is beautiful; I can play the low stacato 16th notes almost as nice as on my soprano. You-all said that with the bass clarinet, now I am 'in the world of real clarinets'! So how the heck do I play accented low G quarter notes with quarter rests in between them? This thing doesn't respond in less than ½ second. The best that I can do, I think, is start the breath pressure gradually, with my tongue ever so softly still on the reed to squelch the high D or super high squeaks and let my tongue off and increase breath pressure, exactly like driving a stick transmission, come to think of it. Is that the trick? Plus more practice to learn to do it faster? Maybe combined with starting the pressure a bit before the downbeat to compensate for the delay? The worst notes for this problem seem to be low G#, G, F#, and F. E and Eb are easier, for some reason.
Actually, somewhere in the archives, someone commented that after some time playing bass they were now able to 'punch' low G. I guess I understand now what they meant.
I have new respect for that solo in the Grand Canyon Suite….
WT
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Author: William
Date: 2004-03-25 14:15
Articulating those low notes is an acqired skill, and it sounds (seems) like to are approaching it correctly. What woks for me is that I let the air pressure "build up" behind my tongue before actually enuciating low Gs and Fs so that when I actually release the reed--much like your stick shift anology--the reed is "jump started" into motion. With practice, it works.
But, if the concert is a downbeat away and "those notes" are still dragging the ensemble to a molto ritardandoissimobiggatimo, for the sake of the performance, just "transpose" the part up an octave where the staccato can be played with ease. Your audience will not even notice the change in register.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-03-25 14:19
I run into that too. Seems to me that with the bigger mouthpiece instruments (bass clarinet, tenor sax, bari sax) I would often have trouble of overblowing into the next register like you. One thing that helps is to really relax your embouchure. It doesn't need to be as firm as it is for Bb soprano. And you may also want to try a slightly harder reed. So if you're using a 2.5, maybe a 3 would work better for you.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Contra
Date: 2004-03-26 00:05
Play any clarinet pitched lower than bass and the time delay will feel much shorter.
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Author: Wayne Thompson
Date: 2004-03-26 02:54
Thanks, all.
I was playing alto sax tonight, and of course it's the same issue but not so much of it as for the bass kl. So I have some more perspective; I'll keep practicing. I don't have a bari or an octocontrabass around to get more perspective with.
W
PS I can't find "ritardandoissimobiggatimo" in my music dictionary.
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