Author: William
Date: 2003-03-27 15:00
My old clarinet professor once said that you can "pretty much tell what kind of bass clarinetist you are auditioning" by asking them to play a staccatto Ab (5). G5 and G#/Ab5 are the two most problematic notes on the instrument and you just have to develope the "feel" for playing them. My friend, who is a terrific ex NYC clarinet/saxophone artist (currently Professor of composition, saxophone and jazz studies at the Univesity of Wisconsin--Madison) describes actually "placing" these notes as opposed to the feel of "playing" them on any other instrument. In any case, the register between F#5 and A5 is a challenge for all beginning bass clarinetists, but is one that can be mastered with careful practice.
But before that can occure, your bass must be in relative perfect adjustment. Leaks can cause all sorts of response and quality problems in that register, and yet leave your lower notes practically unaffected. As others have suggewted, take your bass to an experianced, trained repairperson--as opposed to someone who is just fixing horns as a hobby or part-time venture. Play test it at the shop and have more tweeking done, as needed, until it is corrctly adjusted. My favorite repariperson, for basses, is Tom Fritz at IMS in DesPlaines, IL--but any trained technician who specializes in woodwinds should be able to do a adequate job. If you can "tame" those G & G# 5's, bass clarineting can be just the "most fun". Also, check out the September, 2002, issue of THE CLARINET which contains the artical, "Approaching the Bass Clarinet" by Dennis Smylie. He reviews special altissimo alternate fingerings that the great Josep Allard taught (and many use).
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
