 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: reedy guy
Date: 2004-01-09 17:44
hi guys,
i'd like to know how you guys carry a contra alto clarinet (EEb) around. i recently got one contra, with its huge "coffin" carrying it. i unscrewed the middle "lock" on its main body, and "broke" the contra into 2 pieces. i think i can carry it in this way now, only if i can find a gig bag or so. but, still, the huge bell is causing some problems. so, any suggestions? or, how your bandmates carrying their contras?
lots of thanks!!
reedy
p.s. actually i posted this msg on "woodwind fingering guide" bboard too, b4 i found this board....sorry for taking up space on both places.....:)
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Author: William Hughes ★2017
Date: 2004-01-09 19:08
r.g.
Good luck finding (or creating) something. I use the original "coffin" case, but it is a pain (literally, at my age). Replacement hard cases are extremely expensive. The best idea I have seen was from a bari sax player in our band who strapped his case onto a two-wheeled luggage cart.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-01-09 20:19
The problem is that the very long rods on a contra mean that it gets out of adjustment with the slightest abuse. I wouldn't consider even taking the joints apart, as you have done, since putting the instrument together without pushing on the rods is nearly impossible.
If you want to keep your contra in playable shape, you have to treat it like a baby.
If I were you, I'd keep the coffin and go to the gym for arm exercises.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2004-01-09 22:59
I second those thoughts. My dad had a coffin made because his contra (now mine) kept getting out of whack whenever he took it apart or even moved it. It is really unwieldy, so I only take it to gigs where it will really make a difference. This monster is worth more than my car. I think I should take care of Igor at least as much as the Dodge.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2004-01-10 02:58
I third those comments. A friend of mine keeps thinking that he can take his plastic Bundy EEb apart, carry it in a small case, and assemble it on the job. The Allen wrench needed to assemble it will probably get lost and the alignment will not be as good as if it were kept in one piece. Good luck!
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Author: reedy guy
Date: 2004-01-10 06:45
hi guys,
thanks for all your replies. actually i feel very honored to get reply from ken the star on this bboard. of course, i treasure the replies from the other guys too
back to my contra issue, the reason why i took my contra apart in the first place was that i got a totally soaked pat (the lowest pad on the lower joint) after my first playing on my contra!! i had it in the up-right position all the way during my playing, never flated. so at that point i thought that i have to take it apart to swab the bore, otherwise more soaked pats would come up. moreover, i acquired my contra second-handed, so, in addition to this reason, i thought it would be a nice idea to clean up, and to check up the bore.
so, here comes another question from me, how you guys clean up your contras? by using those pad savers (the "rod"?!) as they do on the sax?
another thing, the long-rods-and-alignments issue you guys mentioned above is also applicable to some other lower woodwinds, say, the bassoon. in fact, i play the bassoon too. but seems the force i put onto the instrument during assembling/disassembling my bassoon is far more heavier than that for my contra (actually it's fairly easy to put together my contra). how do you guys think about this?
also, it seems to me that, the larger the instrument's size, the more tolerable to mis-alignments. i play the oboe too, which seems tiny to me now as i got my contra. i found that my oboe is very vulnerable to even a small mis-alignment between the top and the middle joints. so, how do you guys think about this alignment issue?
sorry to bring up so many questions at one time.......hehe
reedy
p.s. i found that, on my contra, it's much easier and safer to deal with the bell and the lower joint, without the upper joint on it.....hmm, sounds good? hehe
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-01-10 14:10
I dunno about big instruments tolerating misalignments. I played a Selmer bass clarinet in college, and it would get out of whack if I LOOKED at it wrong. I learned to use a lot of cork grease and always pick it up by the lower joint.
Allen Cole
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-01-10 15:59
reedy guy said:
> so, here comes another question from me, how you guys clean up your contras?
> by using those pad savers (the "rod"?!)
Take the pad saver (pad destroyer), bend it in half and place it in the nearest trash container.
It's equivalent to keeping a wet rag in your horn.
Over time, the lint and fuzz sheds into the bore creating additional problems.
My repair tech loves them as it keeps him in business...GBK
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Author: Wes
Date: 2004-01-11 02:14
A pull through swab with an extra long cord and a heavy weight works well with a contra. If you play it very much, swabbing is an absolute necessity. I've seen the top of the upper contra Bundy joint become rough on the inside due to the prolonged soaking in saliva from years of no swabbing. It defocusses the sound, at least by my comparison tests with a smooth bore contra. I never use a "pad saver" and suspect that they could as well be called a "pad deteriorator".
The culprit in the contra mechanism is, of course, the vent key mechanism. The basson whisper key mechanism is less critical but the oboe is a complex mechanism that is a usually a disaster waiting to happen. Good luck!
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-01-11 20:14
What style of contra is it ... you mention "big bell" which immiediately made me think of a Selmer ... I think you've got a so called student model which is in one long piece, right?
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