 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Hans
Date: 2001-07-03 22:14
When I was 12 years old I quit playing the clarinet, after some three years of practice and having participated in a Dutch band. Now, 20 years later, I bought a new Leblanc Spirit - complete wood - with adjustable thumbrest, before buying it I had it tested by a professional Dutch clarinet player. I myself moved to Mexico (for work) and now live in a small town without clarinet teacher so I am already playing around for some 6 months, trying to improve and depending on everything I learned when I was a kid. It is not the most ideal situation but I am having fun although sometimes it is difficult when things do not work as planned. For example, my embouchure in the upper reach is not what I'd like it to be: too "sharp" and "screaming" and I am having problem in getting a nice clean full tone. I am using a Vandoren 3 reet because the 2 and 2,5 turned out to produce an even worser tone in the upper reach. This also brings me to another point which is the durability of the reet. When I was a child they always broke or were damaged by teeth etcetera.... (I rememeber that our teacher was not pleased by the fact that we literally ate reets). Is there like an average play-time for these items? Well, I am just a novice who likes to play clarinet but does not have a teacher here to ask all these questions. Maybe someone can give me some advise. In advance many thanks!
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-07-04 00:26
Welcome to the fun, Hans. The reed you select depends mainly on the mouthpiece you have. Some mouthpieces need hard reeds (4-5) and some need soft reeds (2-3). Some are in between. Having a decent mouthpiece is as important as having a decent clarinet . . . I hope you have a good one.
How long do reeds last? For a beginning player, probably until you break them. As you get better, you will depend on the reed more. As you advance and are trying to get just the right sound, your horn doesn't change . . . your mouthpiece doesn't change . . . but every reed can be different. Those differences mean a lot to an advanced player, but you don't need to worry about that right now. For now, relax and have fun.
And welcome to the sneezy bulletin board!
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-04 14:43
Your Leblanc clarinet should be your best friend for intonation. They're much easier to play in tune than most other brands. In fact, they're famous for their excellent intonation and tone. The problem comes with us--we still have to learn how to "lip it" and play in tune with our embouchoure--mouthpiece, reed and ligature are super important combinations.
I also use different sized tuning barrels depending upon where and with whom I'm playing. If you're sharp all the time, you might get a longer barrel. Or, until you get the hang of things, you might try one of the click barrels that adjusts up and down depending upon your tuning problem.
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Author: Hans
Date: 2001-07-05 22:18
Thanks, I will just keep on trying. I bought my instrument past December so I do not have much playing experience yet but I think - maybe I am terribly wrong - that in the past months I have come pretty close to the level I had when I quit playing as a young child 20 years ago. Now comes the hard part: how can I get to play better without having a teacher near me? So many questions I would like to ask. Maybe I am becoming inpacient and want things to work much faster than they generally do. It would be really very nice to have a teacher listening. I'll just play on and read all the very helpfull comments provided by members of the bulletin board. I may not have a teacher but I do have access to the internet so it is great to receive all this interesting information. Many thanks!
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