 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Iacuras
Date: 2004-10-01 18:47
I don't know about you guys, but my band director hates the Eb Clarinet. He says we will never have an Eb, and makes it so that when there are Eb cues for the clarinet, we play them with the least number of clarinets possible (normally one or NONE!!). Does this happen with other bands? Is having a Eb in your concert band important?
Steve
"If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon."
"If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly."
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-01 19:30
IMHO from some experience, there should be one, But ONLY one Eb Sop, in each band, to support any piccolo players [but not compete in pitch with them !!] as that is prob. the greatest band director's complaint. Like with the oboe, there's no place to hide !!! Just thots, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-10-01 20:03
My experience mirrors that of Iacuras --- most of the band directors I've known have hated and/or feared the eefer. I'm not sure why, but perhaps it's just one of those instruments that must be very well played, or not at all! Sort of the opposite of, say, piano, which inherently plays in tune and has a nice tone quality regardless of who's playing it.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-10-01 20:30
I'm assuming high school level?
The Eb can be excruciatingly painful if it's not played very well, as David said (i disagree with the in-tune comment on the piano, but that's a subject for another thread).
With all our discussions about how hard it is to play the Bb well, all the problems are greatly compounded on the Eb.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: kal
Date: 2004-10-01 22:37
^I agree^
Were you just referring to the tiny sopranos, or all Eb clarinets? It's been my experience that most directors have the same attitude towards altos.
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Author: Camanda
Date: 2004-10-01 23:17
My director transposes eefer parts for me and my stand partner, which we play an octave down because there's no way we could match pitch. He wishes we had an eefer, and believe me, I'd do it if I had one. I've had experience with the little high-pitched devil and I can control it.
As far as alto clarinets go, they play basically an alto sax/bass clarinet thing, as far as I can tell, and we have 2 basses and 5 altos, so no need for the alto clarinet in my band. Plus my director hates it.
Amanda Cournoyer
URI Clarinet Ensemble, Bass Clarinet
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-10-02 02:03
Hi,
I play 1st clarinet and sit right next to our eefer player and he has a ball. Some of the parts double the flute as well as the piccolo part but occassionally, there will be a real beauty of an interesting part.
I just got an eefer, can play it well in-tune, and look forward to tag teaming with him on some of the marches. It is all about listening, blending, and above all playing in tune!
HRL
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Author: VermontJM
Date: 2004-10-02 04:45
It took me four years to convince my conductor to allow me to play eefer in winds, and another four years to get it in band. He has had bad experiences in the past and felt like he was adding insult to injury in terms of intonation by adding an eefer.
If it gets too high and the intonation is just impossible to keep with the piccolo player, I sometimes just bring it down an octave. Better to sacrifice timbre than tuning, I think...
My least favorite thing about eefer is that it's not my entire instrument that's out of tune - just certain notes, particulary E above middle C, altissimo E and clarion B. Go figure. I can't lip those suckers down enough (they are about 30 cents sharp if I don't think about it.) Which reminds me.... time to call the Brannens for an overhaul for the little beast.
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-10-02 09:14
At first, there should only be one Eb soprano in your band!
Our band director did also not like the Eb soprano....In the beginning he just used it in the difficult parts, because he didn't know that a Eb can sound great to... After two peaces I did play already whole music pieces!
It's a difficult but great instrument to play. Most people hear one bad Eb player and think all the Eb sopranos are going to give them a headache….
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Author: GKF
Date: 2004-10-02 13:03
Eb is difficult to play in tune, but a great challenge! Ask your director if he's every heard a great Eb player on a great instrument. It's my experience that a "student-model" Eb is not the way to go. Perhaps an investment in a superior instrument could change his mind?
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Author: William
Date: 2004-10-02 14:26
Superior Eb Soprano Clarinet (oxymoron)
But GKF is right--a "pro level" effer will be easier to play in tune, but they can still be WMDs in the hands of any clarinetist who normally has difficulty matching pitches or is not experianced in playing the little instrument. A good Eb clarinetist should be able to play a Bundy Resonite in tune--but on a Buffet R13 effer, acceptable intonation would be easier to achieve. However, my "bottom line" still is: the effer must be PLAYED in tune no matter how "good" it is.
(WMD--weapon of muscial destruction)
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Author: hartt
Date: 2004-10-02 16:27
As Hank mentioned, it's all about blending, listening and playing in tune (all instruments/all chairs).
In an orchestra, the eefer is usually blending with the high strings and piccolo. Often, the composer included an eefer part. In a band, it's only with the piccolo, if there is one and depending on the music, the eefer part is included as a tranposition..
In a small wind ensemble/band, the eefer's presence is more pronounced than say a full orchestra. This is further exemplified by (for example) an editor's transcription of the literature. I play 1st or eefer in a clarinet choir and in the wind ensemble, play eefer, 1st oboe on C clarinet (when there is an eng horn part) and sometimes a real TREAT....sop sax (oh how that yamie pro sings).
As specific examples, I've played Bolero & the wonderful Mozart pcs; Marriage of Figaro, Eine Kleine Nachmusik (4 mvmts) and Cosi Fan Tutte.
The eefer parts played as transcribed offer no blending / balance issues in any pcs/movements when played in a wind ensemble.
When played in a clarinet choir, yikes.
>The 1st mvmt of Eine Kleine is better performed without an eefer. The balance is just not there.
>The Cosi Fan Tutte (arr by McCathren) flows along very well except for measures N thru O. Even when played in tune, the high C's, C#'s and D's are piercing......especially since these are played staccato and fast.
The other extreme is the same piece wherein the clarinets repeatedly answer each other with 2 measures of slurred 8th notes.......wonderful blending / balance, harmonics.
As in your situation with the concert band, there is also a concert band here wherein the director (well respected in the state and a retired sym trumpet player) refuses to have an eefer. When new music is distributed, he simply / always refrains from including the eefer part. Reason...."we don't need it". Period. BTW, same director for the city Civic orch and again, no eefer usage......same reason.....despite a composer writing for it.
eefereefer ![[happy]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley12.gif)
dc
(:o)
ps........solution: practice your buns off and become proficient, then convince your director that if played well (by you, of course) the band would have a broader dimmension.
You can always start your own clarinet choir. (:o)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-02 18:03
Very well said Hartt [and others]. Puts hackers like me in my place [of envy?] TKS, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: hartt
Date: 2004-10-02 23:37
Don
Hacker (lol).....noooo way.
I've received many insights from your contributions as well as from many, many others.
It is I who hopefully can pass an insight along to others. If I could only play at 50% of where I was 30 yrs ago, I'd not be sooooo frustrated. It's not just playing something well, it's sharing & communicating the sound, nuances and musicanship to the audience as well as cohorts.
ex: those 'echoing' slurred 8th notes mentioned previously....one 'echo' wasn't even and too loudly, I said something other than 'crap' because THEY WEREN"T EVEN. Others know my focus so they lol. It was a rehearsal.
BTW, that section N thru O in Cosi Fan Tutte......when taken down an octave (in a clarinet choir)......an entirely different blending of instruments and harmonics. I don't think Amadeus would have minded.
dennis (:o)
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-10-04 16:40
E-flat clarinet is a strange animal, and sometimes kids get set out to play it because they can't compete with the best of the B-flat players. A ticking time bomb for unsuspecteding brass-major band directors. In fact, it's a bigger ticking time bomb because the fact that some schools don't have them reduceds potential competition for positions in regional and state level groups.
When I was a senior in high school (1977), there were only three auditionees (out of at least nine districts) for All-State Band. One chose band, one chose orchestra, and the third one threw her audition because she had only come to show her boyfriend that she could take an out-of-town trip without him if she wanted to.
I've watched several students in my area use it as an instant ticket into All-District seats and All-State auditions. One of my students did it for five straight years, and became quite lazy because he could just squeak by. (pardon the pun) After he graduated, his closest competitor was so bad, that she was reassigned to B-flat clarinet at All-District. (she had been the only auditionee out of at least 25 participating high schools)
In college, I had a pretty good time with the eefer because I just made tuning the top priority--and my clarinet instructor showed me how to modify B-flat clarinet reeds for rock-solid stability. After all, that's one instrument where it's not much use trying to chase that elusive 'dark' sound. <g>
In my local area now, there are a few eefer players in the community bands. They all have good instruments, and several have MM's in clarinet. Even so, some directors still avoid using it. One of the best eefer players that I've played with as an adult was actually an oboe player.
Allen Cole
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-04 21:39
You portray the Eb problems, and solutions, very well, Allen. After I had my mps, NOT the barrel, shortened so I could tune UP to a sharp piccolo, I should have looked for reed improvement, but after its concert gave up on my eefer, did re-try it in our comm band on a Wagner re-orchestration, none too well !! Keep tooting, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-10-05 02:29
Hi,
I've got me a cute little eefer
When I play it I tickle my front teefer
For the price that I paid
On the eBay parade
You could probably call me a thiefer
HRL
PS I have a very nice Penzel Mueller Artist with two matching barrels, a short and a long. I use the short most often.
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-10-05 04:19
Hank ... that's risible
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-05 13:33
You seen to have a good concept of "time", Hank, please explain it to me. All I can think of is the song "Time on my Hands" and movie "As Time Goes By", however Bartlett has many quotes re: it. Afterthot, GBK, you may want to shut this thread down, I'm not helping it any more, right? Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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