 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-03-20 14:23
I have been playing the clarinet for 6 years now and want to try playing the bass clarinet. There are none around here to try and I was wondering how will it compare to the Bb that I play now.
I play a buffet R-13 with a J&D Hite D mouthpiece and a number 3 Vandoren reed.
Is the empbouchure different for a bass? how about breath support etc.?
anyone out there made the transition from a Bb to a bass might you give me some info.
I learn a lot reading the phorum. thank all you
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Author: Amy D.
Date: 1999-03-20 14:59
I just started playing bass clarinet about 2 months ago. I play a selmer bass clarinet that goes down to low C (it belongs to the university) with a Charles Bay mouthpiece(that belongs to my private lesson instructor) and a number 2 Rico Royal bass clarinet reed or a 2½ Hemke tenor sax reed l. At first, I hated the instrument. I had a terrible time even trying to get a decent sound out of the instrument(not to mention the fact that I had to sit on 2 stacked chairs to be able to play the thing because it's almost as big as I am), but after a while I eventually figured out that I needed a whole lot more air. For bass clarinet your embouchure should not be as firm as your clarinet embouchure and you have to take more mouthpiece. Those two things are what I have been struggling with. I seem to want to have a firm embouchure and take less mouthpiece so I have to constantly remind my self not to do that. I had to learn the fingerings for low Eb down to low C but that was no big deal. One piece of advice: dont' try to play Bb clarinet immediately after playing bass clarinet. I have found that it is almost impossible. The reed feels ten times too small and the clarinet feels like a toy. Don't neglect your Bb though. Hopefully this helps.
Amy
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Author: Angel
Date: 1999-03-20 23:49
I play bass clarinet and Bb clarinet. When I made the switch to bass it was hard. I did not have a good tone for almost a year. No lie. I then learned you almost don't need an embushure to play bass clarinet. it feels so loose. But that's beside the point. Also like Amy said don't neglate your clarinet. But don't play it right away. It took me a long time to be able to switch. For the last 3 years I have been switching in pit orchestras and other county orchestras easliy. But it does take practice and you must realize that the first few notes you play after you switch won't sound good. Be careful and eager to learn. The bass clarinet is a wonderful and beautiful instrument. I love it. It can sound like a cello, tener sax, trombone, basson, tuba...anything. If you know how to manipulate it. Good luck my friend. I learn a lot from here too.
Angel
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Author: Kimbo
Date: 1999-03-21 02:44
well i played BC about a year ago and i loved it i didnt see or feel much difference except size and sound i had do problems at all it was sooooo much fun any way i accidentally droped it and it broke and i went back to my Bb and had no problem swtching and just recently i switched to Eb alto clarinet and I hated it at first now ive grown to love it and last week i played the BC in our festival for one song cos we needed two and we only had one playing and we didnt need the alto and i had no prblem at all switching to BC and not even playing it for over a year now.
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Author: Julia
Date: 1999-03-21 04:54
i began playing the clarinet in 4th grade, and loved it almost right away. 2 years later i tried bass and hated it, mostly because i hated standing out with that huge akward instrument. but then a few yrs ago i picked up tenor sax, and bass clarinet again. BC is my main instrument now. i bought a buffet bass clarinet this fall, and though it was more expensive than a Bb, i can't get over the tone it gives me. it doesn't take too long of an adjustment period. it can be hard to play one after the other, but i cna only suggest that you start with the Bb, otherwise your mouth won't be able to hold the tighter embouchure.
that might not have helped, but good luck to you anyways
julia
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-03-21 14:18
Thanks to everyone for replying. I just was the high bidder for the bass clarinet on ebay and I am really excited to get and play it. It is an old buffet radio model. Anyone heard of that model?
If i am using a number 3 vandoren with my Bb what strenght reed should I try with the bass? It comes whith a hite mouthpiece.
Any method instruction book anyone could recommend for the bass?
thanks to all
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Author: sue stillman
Date: 1999-03-21 15:08
The only transition book I know is H. Voxman's. I did find a very gook BCl book at the conference in Columbus published in Paris but have had NO success in getting hold of another copy, written by Jean Marc Volta of the National Orch of Paris.
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-03-22 04:01
paul wrote:
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I have been playing the clarinet for 6 years now and want to try playing the bass clarinet. There are none around here to try and I was wondering how will it compare to the Bb that I play now.
Bass clarinets vary quite dramatically from student models to pro models. And they don't make intermediate modelslike they do in the soprano clarinets. Even pro models, if not take care of can feel and play badly. So there's no way to really compare unless you can actually play test them. As for comparing to Bb clarinet, there's no possible way to do that even comparing the Buffet basses. Bass is a totally different creature from Bb.
Is the empbouchure different for a bass? how about breath support etc.?
anyone out there made the transition from a Bb to a bass might you give me some info.
The embouchure is still a clarinet embouchure for the most part. On the low notes you can't start then with a total tongue start. You have to get the air going before you introduce the tongue to actually start the reed vibrating. Ancor tonguing is a good skill to learn for bass. Makes some of the scary tongue starts less scary. I ancor tongue on every single reed instrument so i have little problem. I've never been able to tongue the way everyone else says to. Dunno why.
Anyway... Obviously, since the horn is so much larger than Bb, it's going to require more air support. Just make sure you keep your throat open. Bass requires more warm air. It's more like saxophone in the "cold/warm air" respect.
It takes a little while to get the technique up to a similar level as on Bb. But not much. I neverreally had much problem as far as the transition. I am comfortable going from Bb to bass to Eb to sax. But not everyone has as easy of a time switching.
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Author: Contragirl
Date: 1999-03-23 00:58
We need more contralto and contrabass players! You seem to have your mind set on the bass clarinet. Try one of those! I don't know how to compare it to your clarinet but I'll be honest. You'll be very dizzy about the first month. Mouthpiece cushions help with dizziness. Other than that, contralto is fun. You'll need about ten times more air too. I don't know if I'm really good, or if the bass clarinets in my band are lousy. The contralto gets really REALLY loud. Louder than a bass clarinet...but that might be because the bass clarinets don't have as much air as I do, or they're in a bad range. I don't know. There are lots of options. Bass clarinet is fun, but contralto is better. Just my biased opinion though.
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