 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2005-01-09 10:17
In line with the thread about the trumpeter of the Vienna Philharmonic, let me share my story of witnessing quite an unusual happening on stage.
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra performed Mozart's Clarinet concerto k.622 last Friday, with the British clarinetist Michael Collins as the soloist.
In the middle of the 1st mov, this world-renowned(I really didn't know him before, but his resume seems quite impressive) player put the whole orchestra to a full stop. He explained his basset clarinet ( is this the instrument? I was on the balcony seat and couldn't hear him well) had additional keys and sometimes it causes trouble, and that was what was happening then. So the entire orchestra started all over again.
Personally I was at first shocked that he stopped the entire performance, but then felt that it was awesome, and admired his courage and responsible behavior about his music. Indeed the audience applauded him.
Does this occur often? Or did I witness some of rare 'events'?
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: HedgeWitch
Date: 2005-01-09 11:28
How does that saying go about a bad workman always blaming his tools? I'd be inclined to give Michael the benefit of the doubt though, maybe he needs to get himself a decent repair tech......
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Author: Tom A
Date: 2005-01-09 11:34
Fifteen years ago I watched a (then) young Frank Peter Zimmermann playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. He was going hell for leather about half way through the first movement, almost airborne sometimes. During a fast, high passage there was a "twang", the soloist stoppped, and the performance ground to a halt. Conductor and soloist exchanged a few words then the conductor called something to the orchestra. The piece began again from the beginning.
Playing down-bow on the high E string, he had gone beyond the end of the bow and got the tip caught under the string, thus pulling it out of tune. There was clearly no opportunity to retune during the piece, so he and the orchestra had calmly stopped and begun again. It seemed to be hardly commented on by audience members later. I was 19 at the time and, as a young concert-goer, remember wondering the same things as you.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-01-09 11:40
That sounds just fine to me. If he had a problem that he had to start again, what else can he do? If you liked how he played it the second time, then I don't think it matters.
I recently saw Sharon Kam perform the Mozart concerto too, and it was a little like an explained concert. The conductor asked Sharon about the clarinet, and she explained Mozart wrote the Concerto for something more like the basset clarinet, but she chooses to play it with a regular A clarinet eventhough she has a basset clarinet, because she thinks the basset clarinet is not that good of an instrument comparing to the A clarinet. She said she had fun with the basset clarinet for a while, but the concerto sounds much better with an A clarinet.
After two great players say the basset clarinet is problematic I can only figure it's true.
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-01-09 12:51
Things like this do happen occassionally.
A couple weeks ago, Glenn Dicterow (concert master of the New York Philharmonic) was guest soloist with the New York Youth Symphony (which by the way is just a fabulous youth orchestra), playing the 3rd Violin Concerto of Sergei Prokofiev at the Isaac Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall. In the middle of the 3rd movement, his E string started turning loose and falling out of tume. Since there were very few rests in the music, the whole orchestra had to stop and allow Dicterow to make his adjustments.
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2005-01-09 13:59
I was at a concert of the Vancouver Academy of Music Orchestra http://www.vam.bc.ca/ last year, maybe the year before, and after two bars of the piano concerto the conductor Victor Feldbrill http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1SEC787782 stopped the show and asked those in the audience with crying babies to leave. The audience clapped, the babies were removed and the music was restarted. The Orpehum Theater was close to capacity at the time.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: Douglas
Date: 2005-01-09 15:16
Kevin, I didn't even know Prokofiev wrote a 3rd violin concerto...have only heard numbers 1 & 2. What is the work like and what is its date?
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2005-01-09 17:17
1)
In the BBC Young Musician of the Year Concerto finals, the string section winner, a most inspired young 'cellist played The ? Shostakovich Concerto. In a particularly virtuosic bit a string broke. He was so calm and controlled - in a good humoured he way walked off stage, changed his string, returned and played to huge acclaim - possibly winning the competition.
2)
We had started a Chamber Orchestra about 20yrs ago and we were including a Tchaik ballet suite which contained The Sugar Plum Fairy. We needed a bass clarinet for the famous low downward runs. I hired what transpired to be a complete banger from a dealer. I knew nothing about bass clars. As I was doubling, I quickly prepared for this solo and then nothing happened except sweat and consternation. I mean where do you look when you've missed the only solo you had ! The longest RH trill key had a bend in it which had not been in evidence at the rehearsal. Uhuh! Thoughts of a pit accident when I was at the loo ? No admissions of guilt.
Anyway it had hooked itself outside its guide and jammed open. I saw it half way through the second solo, just in time to get the last downward run.
The conductor's ashen face offet my red one !
Howsat for a problem ? I'm glad to say that my horrible intro to the bass clarinet has not put me off and I'm now doing a lot of bass work.
BobT
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Author: BobD
Date: 2005-01-09 17:30
Makes sense to me and I'd do the same. I was involved in a performance where the director started the piece and it was immediately apparent he wasn't conducting the piece he had scheduled us to play. He stopped, turned to the audience ,explained and resumed. It was treated humourously by all. No problem.
Bob Draznik
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Author: ken
Date: 2005-01-09 18:13
I wonder if these world-class, thoroughbred, musical geniuses who grind to a screeching halt because of tuning, dropped pads, broken springs, strings and bows ever considered bringing a spare set with them on stage? A back-up instrument could be quickly swapped out and prevent a total meltdown. Fundamental logistical preparedness is just as basic to a successful performance (and be taught) as any other critical aspect … continuity and piece integrity is a key element too, is it not? Even dime-a-dozen bar band rock guitarists know to bring more then one axe on stage and rotate ... the big shots use and pay stagehand tuners.
These unexpected life conditions truly define what live music is all about … the human element and spontaneity that can make it perilous, but grand in our sight. I speak for myself, but I was always taught one strives for personal best in live performance but not studio-perfection. Years ago, I too got burned and since then, always have a spare horn … it's just common sense. Unless your reed absolutely dies on the vine, you're suddenly too ill to continue, there's a train wreck with the ensemble/accompaniment or irresolvable personnel problem, or if there's a fire or earthquake you just keep going. Adapt, improvise, use alternate fingerings, (which you should know, no less then 3 per standard) grin and bear it, grab a top hat and cane, but don't stop .. period. We are there for the audience first ... anything less is pure bebop. v/r Ken
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-01-09 19:00
Hows this one for a mistake:
Philadelphia Orchestra rehearsing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring - the sprinkler system went off!!!!!!!
talk about a "wet spring day" !
They were testing the system and had a malfunction.
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-01-09 19:26
Yes, Douglas. Good eye, that was a typo. The one Dicterow performed was the 2nd concerto.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-01-09 20:22
Lol! David Blumberg pointed out a good one! I remember seeing the article pointed out (here as a matter of fact) and how people grabbed their instruments and ran if they could or covered up what the couldn't 'run with!
Just another reason I'm happy to be playing the clarinet. It's by far the cheapest orchestral instrument that I know of, and one of the easiest to grab and run.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: RAMman
Date: 2005-01-09 21:08
Good for Michael Collins is all I can say. It's not the first time he's shown a spot of courage either.
Around 2 years ago, he was due to play his Beethoven violin concerto transcription at the Royal Festival Hall in London. At the pre-concert talk, he explained that due to a recent bad reaction in Beethoven's home city, he had decided to do Mozart instead.
Several member of the audience objected STRONGLY, complaining how they had travelled from the States to hear this, they'd heard Mozart to death.
All this during a pre-concert talk broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
We heard Mozart...not Beethoven, one of the best performances of the work I have heard.
Personally I enjoy the story about Sibelius 1 the most...another (but much younger...) major clarinettist played the solo on B flat by mistake...
String entry...the conductor stops...and apologises to the audience.
He begins again with the words...'Strings will you PLEASE sort out your intonation.'
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2005-01-10 04:24
I few years ago I was singing with a local community choir. We were performing with a union pick-up orchestra of 25 - 30 players. At the dress rehearsal, It was imm ediately obvious to me that one of the trumpets was having a transposition problem. I don't know if his part was wrong, or if he had a wrongly pitched instrument for the part. It was TERRIBLE of course. He played the entire first half of the rehearsal seemingly oblivious to being totally out of pitch with the rest of the group.
At the break, our director had an animated conversation (which I could not hear) with the union contractor who then spoke with the trumpeter. He was fine for the rest of the rehearsal and the concert. He is an experienced player, and I can't imagine he didn't know that he was out of pitch, I can only assume he was making some sort of point. The player has not been back for more recent concerts with this group!
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2005-01-10 04:43
Haha, these stories are great.
I was at a concert given by our school band and the band started playing a piece that started with a saxophone solo and the soloist couldn't find his music. They stopped and the conductor had a few words with the saxophonist on stage. The saxophonist then went and sat down, only to find out that the music had fallen under his chair. The conductor explained cordially.
My junior year of high school, in the youth orchestra I was in, we played Tchaikovsky fourth, and in the third movement where the clarinet has the first solo (starts on F#) I had a "clarinet malfunction" and the solo didn't come out. Thankfully I got the next one (starting on high C) and fixed the instrument. It was so embarassing.
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2005-01-10 12:32
I had a normally perfectly well-behaved clarinet sieze up on me in an exam. I was playing away, quite happily, then evey time I played a throat note it came out as F natural ( I think). A screw on the top joint ring system worked its way tight and stuck! I had had that clarinet for several years and had never happened before, nor since. My pianist also fell apart on me. I just passed the exam. I think the examiner took pity.
One conductor, a couple of years ago, stopped a concert when an audience member's cell phone went off during a quiet passage
String players breaking strings seems to be an occupational hazard. As they say, "..it happens!"
An elderly clarinettist in a community band, during a rehearsal, picked up "The Sound of Music" instead of "My Fair Lady". The band played about half way through before anyone noticed.
A good performance is good because a whole lot of things didn't go wrong!
I suspect most of us can tell some story or anecdote about things going wrong during performances.
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Author: diz
Date: 2005-01-10 19:45
Bravo to Mr. Collins for having the tenacity to take control. Sounds like equipment failure, rare but vexing, and he did what he had to to get through the performance.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-01-10 20:35
Traditionally, a soloist who breaks a string exchanges instruments with the concertmaster, who then switches off with the assistant concertmaster. I assume the same would happen with a cellist. Well-known violinists travel (or at least used to travel) with two fine instruments, one of which the concertmaster would play if his or her own instrument was not of solo quality.
Oboes are notorious for cracking between the two tiny,closely spaced trill keys near the top of the upper joint. John DeLancie in the Philadelphia Orchestra always carried a second oboe onstage, which he put beside him in the "V" of a leather briefcase that opened at the top.
At Interlochen in 1961 or 62, the High School Orchestra recorded the Tchaikovsky 6th for broadcast. At the opening, the 1st bassoonist lost a pad, and the solo came out like Schoenberg. Dr. Maddy stopped the orchestra three times, but it still didn't work. He turned around and lectured the audience for spoiling the recording, pointed to the 2nd chair and said "You play it."
The famous contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink once shared a recital. During the other recitalist's performance, a baby began to cry. The recitalist glared at the mother, who left in humiliation. During Schumann-Heink's performance, another baby began to cry. She lulled this one to sleep with a tender lullaby.
Opera has had many famous disasters. My faqvorite collection, unfortunately long out of print, is "Opera Singers and Other Wild Beasts." "Great Operatic Disasters" is pretty good, as are the related books listed at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312346344/qid=1105392796/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-5099665-9771009?v=glance&s=books&n=507846.
Here's a famous mock review supposedly from the Bangkok Post, entitled "Wild Night at The Erawan" a/k/a "A Humid Recital Stirs Bangkok," in which everything goes wrong: http://www.snopes.com/humor/nonsense/piano.htm.
Ken Shaw
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2005-01-10 21:31
WOW~..that night in Bangkok must have been VERY hot.. Pianist with fire axe on stage choppin the piano that betrayed him earlier.
Thanks, as always, for sharing so many interesting stories. But I feel sorry for the unfortunate players.
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-01-10 21:33
Lucy -
The piano story is just a very good joke. It didn't really happen.
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2005-01-10 21:55
Oh,really?? Yes, I didn't see carefully the word 'mock review' ...(But it's so well written and I'm so gullible)..
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: Tom J.
Date: 2005-01-10 23:09
In the 70s I heard a performance of Brahms Double with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose at Severance Hall with Szell conducting. In the middle of the first movement Stern broke a string in the middle of a fortissimo double-stop. While the orchestra continued to play he immediately switched instruments with the concertmaster and performed the remainder of the work with equal brilliance, probably skipping only one measure.
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Author: diz
Date: 2005-01-11 01:56
Far worse that babies crying is mobile/cell phones ringing ... I was conducting a season of Mikado once and a lady sitting behind me (front row of stalls) had her mobile ring. She had the nerve to actually talk to the person. I turned around and glared at her ... to no avail so I said to the audience whimsically "I'll wait until madam has finished her call".
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2005-01-11 06:46
Well done, diz!
As for embarrassing cell phone...Our amateur ensemble's first performance ever will also be remembered as the one during which one of the cellists ' cell phone rang. We forgive him because he's also one in charge of the scores and one of the most active participants.
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-01-11 07:50
i had heard a slightly different version of the Sibelius 1 story
this version happened in a rehearsal
Clarinet player starts in wrong key (Bflat clarinet)
Strings players, in on the joke, all try to play transposing up half a tone
they manage to play (without conductor noticing) for about 30 bars of music before the thing starts to sound really really messy (odd giggle here and there)
conductor stops orchestra...... complains about the bad playing, looks a bit annoyed, starts the whole piece again
clarinet/strings play again in correct key
conductor works out that the orchestra have discovered that it is in fact his birthday (he had been keeping it secret) and were playing a trick on him.
in typical form, i don't remember who told me this story or which orchestra it was
donald
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Author: David
Date: 2005-01-11 12:59
If you're going to do it, do it in style
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element2.asp?id=153
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element2.asp?id=153
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Author: Robert Moody
Date: 2005-01-11 21:18
<<Adapt, improvise, use alternate fingerings, (which you should know, no less then 3 per standard) grin and bear it, grab a top hat and cane, but don't stop .. period. We are there for the audience first ... anything less is pure bebop. v/r Ken>>
Absurd. ![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif)
1. Name me three alternatives that I can pull out of my rump for second line g, the lowest e and high clarion c when my clarinet fails me.
2. Show me an audience who would prefer to hear garbage played straight through rather than a brief pause and pure delight resumed?
If you think you can have an instrument failure and trick the audience that nothing happened...on the spur of the moment, forget it. They are smarter than that and I believe you should have more respect for them than that.
On a different note, we used to play pranks in festivals and district or state bands. If in an orchestra position it worked best or sitting next to a soloist or 1st chair with a solo. Take an extra pad (slightly worn) and at the opportune time before their "spotlight", inconspicuously drop the pad near them and ask them..."Is that yours?"
Take care,
Robert Moody
http://www.musix4me.com
Free Clarinet Lessons and Digital Library!
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Author: Jimmy Zhong
Date: 2005-01-11 23:28
Once during a annual city performance our orchestra director was vigorously conducting a part when his baton hit the top of his stand. Half of it flew across the hall and hit a second violinist in the head. Luckily, he was OK and the show went on.
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Author: nobbsie
Date: 2005-01-12 11:32
I have had a spinkler system incident once before in community band. We were playing at a bowls club and the sprinklers turned on. Problem was we were up against a wall and had no-where to run, every one in the 2nd and 3rd rows go soaked.
This same community band also played for citizenship ceremonies. We had this piece which started with the Australian Anthem. Every time we played it without failure they new citizens would stand up and try to sing the anthem untill the tune change to something else.
Another trick to play on the player next to you is to put a small coin between their barrel and upper-joint. If they have tuned they won't notice the gap between the joint and they won't have any idea what is going on when they attempt to play.
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Author: Mark Cookson
Date: 2005-01-12 23:31
I was at a performance of the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with the New Zealand SO where the conductor (Philip Walsh) dislocated his shoulder mid-piece. He struggled on bravely for a while conducting left-handed (with the audience wondering what on earth he was doing) but the pain got too much and he just walked off stage as the music continued. The last 15 minutes of the piece were led by the concertmaster waving her bow - you could sense the players REALLY counting carefully :-)
Luckily, the choir's former director was in the audience, and agreed to conduct the Brahms German Requiem in the second half of the concert with only 10 minutes to prepare himself - talk about a pressure gig...
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Author: ken
Date: 2005-01-13 00:50
Robert Moody wrote: "1. Name me three alternatives that I can pull out of my rump for second line g, the lowest e and high clarion c when my clarinet fails me.
2. Show me an audience who would prefer to hear garbage played straight through rather than a brief pause and pure delight resumed?
If you think you can have an instrument failure and trick the audience that nothing happened...on the spur of the moment, forget it. They are smarter than that and I believe you should have more respect for them than that."
--if the correct joint is still functioning there are no less then 5 vent fingerings for those 3 notes ... add the flexibility of cleanly lipping up or down a 1/2 step or more there's like 10. Ever had to take a passage or grouping up or down an octave to save a run? The variables of mechanical failures and on-the-spot solutions are all but limitless, it depends on the situation and available quick fixes. It seems to me, freedom of choice and individual selection is just as valid assessing the performance experience. Portraying a professional image and presence is also a dimension of the total performance package, the music being the most critical but not the only factor. I choose to keep going if at all possible, not of disrespect but out of respect for the audience, composer and ensemble continuity; sometimes problems can work themselves out by continuing and not throwing in the towel.
I reiterate, an instrumentalist should bring a back-up horn with them on stage, or have one close by to swap out if the unthinkable happens. What level is one's musical common sense? Would any of us be bold enough to bring only one reed on stage? This philosophy is likened to the practice of an Assistant Principal learning and knowing all the Principal's solo parts if called upon to cover the part(s) ... just be prepared at all times and keep thinking ahead. v/r Ken
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Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2005-01-13 01:24
Okay, I have to tell this story. As a high school student, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, my school had invited another school's jazz band for an exchange concert. Saturday night, auditorium's packed, we're playing "Saturday In The Park" by Chicago, and all of a sudden the lights went out - completely dark. We kept playing without missing a beat, we had a great director and were really well prepared - solos and everything. You couldn't see an inch in the darkness. While we were still playing, the lights came on and the audience burst into applause. We finished the tune to another tumultuous round of applause. Needless to say, that tune was rechristened by us "Saturday In The Dark".
Sue
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Author: zzzzz
Date: 2005-02-06 14:00
I recently conducted a band in a concert - things started to go wrong but it seemed the obvious thing to stop the band and start again. It was by no means a professional concert, but still, there was a huge audience and that was the first time the band had performed - we started again and got the best applause of the concert! If its not going to work, there is no point in making a fool out of all the performers. stay calm and start again or it will just get progressively worse! pearls of wisdom shared...
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-14 15:51
sadly I don't have any GREAT stories of mistakes made, but I have a slightly embarrassing mistake- in a concert band concert last year I had a solo line with the principal flute. The piece was in a shakey meter... I think it might have been in 3/2. Well, I rushed a bit, the flute player dragged behind, and the whole beginning fell apart. And my director kept going. I am all for the stopping of a piece, especially if it falls apart in the beginning and especially if it's being recorded!
as for the lights going off story, that happened once, however it occured in rehersal and the band kept going, much to the surprise of my director.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-02-14 17:13
ken--
You say you bring a spare instrument and suggest everyone do likewise. This seems wise when practical, but do you really expect bass clarinetists, bassoonists, tuba players, string bass players, etc. to have an extra instrument on hand?
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-15 12:23
I have something to say about bringing extra instruments on stage: call me crazy, or simply extremely poor, but I cannot afford to buy another Bb professional clarinet! So the only extra I'd have is my crappy plastic student clarinet, and that would be a big insult; if my R-13 crapped out and I switched to the plastic bundy.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-15 12:36
Quote:
So the only extra I'd have is my crappy plastic student clarinet, and that would be a big insult; if my R-13 crapped out and I switched to the plastic bundy. It'd be better than your R-13 crapping out and just not playing.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-02-15 13:29
There is ZERO need to bring a "spare" instrument with you. Bring spare reeds, a secondary mouthpiece, and ligature - but bringing a spare instrument is just silly.
If your part is "important" enough to warrant, than if it breaks you can take a secondary player's instrument and finish the performance with it.
Consider this one: If you are an Orchestral player, just bringing one clarinet won't be enough as a "spare".
Having emergency supplies such as rubberbands can help if a spring breaks, having saran wrap (and a twist tie) for a ripped pad can possibly save a problem, and being able to transpose easily is probably the biggest life saver in a performance if something bizzare comes up.
One time in Orchestra, the Bass Clarinetist was toying with a pad which had come loose and she couldn't secure it. The old lighter trick wasn't holding as there wasn't enough adhesive to hold the pad.
I had a hunch for a solution and by gosh it worked - I gave her a dab of toothpaste and she used it to secure the pad for the performance.
As you well know, dry toothpaste is pretty stiff
The bottom line is to check out your instrument very carefully before a performance to make sure that nothing obvious is wrong. Most problems don't just happen, but can be seen coming. A broken spring would be an exception.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-15 14:22
Dave B,
I hear what you're saying about most problems you can SEE coming, but lets think about stuff that you can't help or are virtually IRREPERABLE in the time of a performance. Things that happen VERY seldomly, but in any event, they CAN and DO happen. Things like the wood cracking, a slip and the instrument falls and a key seriously bent out of shape, or even if someone doesn't have the right size spare pad or something like that. That's when I think a spare instrument would REALLY be handy.
I can also see how if you're part is key enough to borrow a secondary players instrument, which would be fine in a wind ensemble. But what if someone is playing a chamber music concert? Or orchestral where the second player's (and ONLY other player's) part is also vital?
All in all, especially with an instrument as small as the clarinet, I think bringing along a spare is worth the extra toting. It's a GUARANTEED answer to any problem that could go wrong with your primary instrument (mouthpiece setup aside)
music_is_life,
Also, in response to your post about your only backup being a crappy clarinet, just because your secondary isn't a professional clarinet doesn't mean it has to be 'crappy'. There are professionals on this board who put in their two cents time and time again on great used clarinets. I often hear people talking about Vito Resitones, buffet B12s, Amati pro-line clarinets (which are significantly less than a new R13), the new Forte clarinet, etc. etc. All of which can probably be bought for less than $500, some even bought NEW for that price. And apparently, they are good clarinets that won't leave you hanging and would probably make good backups.
So maybe, depending on what backup you currently have, maybe you could sell that and invest the difference in a better backup.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2005-02-15 14:29)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-02-15 15:33
Clarinets are indeed quite cumbersome to have and bring spares of if you're playing Bb, A, and Eb on a concert, let alone bass. I've never known it to happen, nor even heard horror stories or urban legends, of an instrument (belonging to someone who knows what they're doing) being damaged beyond quick-repair playability *during* a concert.
Such things CAN happen, but I'd hesitate to say that they DO to careful people with well-maintained clarinets. If it breaks beforehand, obviously, it's not a bad idea to have a contingency plan. (e.g. spare you can grab from home, friend nearby, phone number of miracle-worker tech)
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-15 16:04
david blumberg is a genius! what where you doing with toothpaste on stage?
if one has an A clarient and their Bb craps out...or vice versa, then yea, you better be really good a sight transposing!
I like the idea of stealing the other person's clarinet- except they might have important melody/counter-melody.... but, you do what you have to to get by. i was in a performance where the principal chair told me that if his reed crapped out, he was taking mine! that gives a whole new meaning to"swapping spit"! luckily it didn't have to happen, but we share clars with the same MPs, s it wouldn't have ben completely disgusting.
oh yea: as for the selling the crappy plastic, I would, but currently my little sister is playing the clarinet and using my old one. perhaps we can work something out and I can take mine back and sell it, but for the time being, that's all I have as a possible back up.
-Lindsie
Post Edited (2005-02-15 16:16)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-02-15 18:10
But there still is the matter of not just 1 Clarinet being enough of a spare. Chamber music too
Cause some is written for A and some is for Bb.
So you always have a "spare" clarinet on stage assuming that you have the 2 and your double case with you.
In High School at the Luzerne Music Festival we played Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and my R-13 Bb Clarinet had a serious problem towards the last part of the piece. My LH C#/G# key popped open as the spring broke ONSTAGE and in the performance. So I had 2 choices and I knew both of em
1. was to grab the 2nd Clarinetist's Clarinet and play the rest of the piece (it was also the last piece of the concert THANK GOD).
I thought about that prospect for a millisecond but 2 things made that choice a poor one. One was that his Clarinet was a plastic Bundy, and the other was that this kid was a real pig. He was the kind of guy who would play right after eating and not even rinse out his mouth, so I wasn't about to seriously consider grabbing his instrument to finish the work.
2. I had my A Clarinet onstage which was a Selmer 10, so I opted to finish out the piece transposing. It was an exciting ride as I didn't know if I would play it well or not - it worked out fine.
I got really, really lucky that it didn't happen in the 2nd to the last piece as I would have had to play the opening to the Gershwin, etc and it wouldn't have been very fun either way (nor probably very good either .....
btw - I had toothpaste on stage as I always keep my toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste with me in my case as I brush before playing.
Post Edited (2005-02-15 18:11)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-15 18:57
Quote:
But there still is the matter of not just 1 Clarinet being enough of a spare. Chamber music too
Cause some is written for A and some is for Bb.
So you always have a "spare" clarinet on stage assuming that you have the 2 and your double case with you. Good point Dave. I only have Bb clarinets (can't financially get an A right now). So I was thinking only about having my Bb spare. You're right that many people would have to bring four clarinets.
Perhaps this is an irrelevant discussion. Other instrumentalists don't bring spares. Maybe I'm just taking too many precautions and should just bring an emergency kit and, God forbid, should my main instrument break beyone repair at a concert, take it as a sign. When I think about it, you're right. I don't see many others bringing a spare instrument with them (I have seen a few, but like you said, only a spare Bb and not a spare of EVERY kind).
Darn it Dave B! Now I have to rethink this!!!!
Alexi
PS - Sight transposing using an A clarinet while in HS . . . . wow. I didn't even know the meaning of "transpose" in high school.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-15 19:18
this is a great thread, but i think everyone is overthinking WAY too much. how often does one's clarinet just break during a concert? mine never has. I have had issues with it, but really, how often do you, or other clarinet players that you know, or famous players, actually have problems like this? it's good to be prepared, but really, this is some serious "over-thought"
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