 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: michinoku
Date: 2007-05-05 17:02
Say I have a student bass clarinet and I'm interested in trying to tweak the sound without having to pay for a whole new instrument.
Are bass clarinet parts interchangeable enough that I could buy, say, a new bell or neck, and have that affect the sound?
(I'm already experimenting with mouthpieces and reeds.)
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Author: Max S-D
Date: 2007-05-05 18:53
I thought about this for awhile, but there aren't really any aftermarket necks or bells available for student basses, aside from custom jobs. It just seemed silly to be putting $1000 of upgrades into a horn I paid $600 for.
Splurge on a good mouthpiece and a nice, secure ligature like a Rovner EDII or the Optimum, which I only recently learned even existed for bass clarinet. Put the rest in the bank and save up for a better horn.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2007-05-05 20:15
If the neck of your bass places the mouthpiece straight into your mouth (like a sax neck) then you might consider having it adjusted so that the angle is more accute: placing it more like the angle of a soprano clarinet.
I know David Spiegelthal offers this service.
Other than that I agree with Max! Find a great mouthpiece and start saving for a pro horn (if you are so inclined).
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2007-05-07 04:04
Well, the obvious choices are (in order of their desirability:
1) Make sure that the horn is in tip-top physical condition, with zero leaks, and then keep it that way. This one has a one-time expense of a partial overhaul, even with a brand new instrument, but it pays off a lot over the long haul.
2) Obtain something in the way of mouthpiece that is better fit to you as a player. This does not necessarily have to be a custom mouthpiece, but certainly something above the Vito or Bundy cast plastic ones that such instruments generally ship with. A little expense (plus some time spent in trials of similar mouthpieces), but it makes a world of difference.
(If it were me making the selection, I'd go for a more open than the normal mouthpiece (although for many years I made do with Selmer C and C* facings, I currently use a very open Selmer G with what some consider to be too soft of reeds (Vandoren 2.5 out of the purple box).
Concurrent with this, I'd also consider the ligature and reeds used. On the ligatures, even though I'm partial to the one that I invented and market, I have always advised students to go with what works best for you. I feel that I can get as good a tone out of a standard brass ligature as I can from the most expensive Harrison rig.
3) The next step is a major investment, hence its place in the que. However, I made my students (back in the 1980's) get a Bay neck or one of the alternatives out there over the years. Students who did 1) and 2) did much better, but students when they had 3) on the horn literally "took off". The change in the angle enables both comfortable play (it's not just those exaggerated photos that show contorted young bass clarinet players; you can see them anywhere where the horn is played) and fingering closer to normal clarinet technique.
(Note too that I am assuming that we have a horn with a floor peg. If not, move that up to 2) and bump the others down accordingly.)
Only as a very distant 4) or 5) would I start worrying about purchase of a pro-quality bass clarinet. If you are going to be nothing more than a serious student of music in your school years, you most likely will put the thing aside once done and never look at it again.Not much point in tying up several thousand dollars for years when you only need a horn that works, something that list items 1) through 3) will give you.
If you are majoring in performance and have the blunt to purchase one without too much strain, I'd still recommend restraint. Wait until the student loans are paid, when you know that you've got the skills to qualify for a professional place in the music world, and only then take the plunge. There are a lot of people making good money out there with less than optimal instruments, and the ultimate judge of your quality is how you sound, not what stamp is on the upper and lower joints.
In harmony instruments (with the possible exception of the lowly alto clarinet), the price point is often two to three times that of a "pro" soprano horn. There are also instrument trial problems (few to choose from), and it is harder to gain access to those for a comparative trials situation.
Now, if money is not an problem, I would suggest first sending me about $15,000 (remember, this one is preconditioned upon money not being a problem), and then go forth and buy the bass of your dreams, followed by every bell and whistle in the book. You deserve it if for no other reason than the fact that you have just wired me fifteen grand.
Most people when at the age of college entry think that they know what they "want to do" when they go off to university. Most find out that their ideas at age 18 were quite different from what they knew at 23. (Over the last seventeen years, I've had about twenty people work for me, and of those twenty, only one was working in the field in which she held a degree. And, yes, two of them were music majors.)
Buying an expensive pro harmony horn before you are sure of the path before you may be a big mistake, assuming that you have other debts to consider. Fix up the one that you have, watch where life takes you, and plan on a pro horn for when you will need it, not when you want it.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: michinoku
Date: 2007-05-07 18:39
I'm not majoring in performance (I am now the proud holder of a liberal arts degree that focused on music composition and fiction writing) and in fact the bass clarinet was a graduation present to myself.
I plan to use the instrument to perform quite soon, but not in a classical or jazz setting at this very point, where the audience would know more about my horn from my tone than I do.
Now, my next question;
is it a better idea to buy a bay neck, or have mine upgraded?
Thank you all for the kind advice. I'm really glad to not be snobbed upon SOMEWHERE on the internet.
-m
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