 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Shadow
Date: 2005-04-02 20:11
Our high school band is currently about 65 peaple about 10 being clarinet players. They are good players but it is imposible for them to play loud, our 12 flute players competely drown them out at forte, but our two bass clarinet players are completely opposite, they are both heard all the time and overpower the trumpits on a regualar basis, in fact sometime the male bass clarinet player plays so loud our directer has asked him to leave the room until he learns what the dynamic piano means. He has also made some strange sounds with the intrument that i did not know was possible, like a goose or a violently crashing freight train. Also our trumpit players have absolutly no regard at to what they sound like or what dynamic they are playing, and they sound horrible.
But, I am curious is this just our band or are there other bands out there with this unbalance?
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2005-04-02 20:58
I can speak from experience as a middle school director for many years: Balance has to be taught as an ensemble concept from the beginning. Most high school musicians started in a middle school/intermediate school and then moved on. Unfortunatley, high school directors have a hard time trying to retrain young musicians that do not have an idea of a good ensemble sound, ie, good balance, blend and intonation. These concepts have to be stressed in the first year. First year students do not alway play with impeccable intonation, BUT they need to know what playing "out of tune" sounds like and strive for the best tone quality and intonation they can produce. My beginners were taught the balance "pyramid" the first year. We may not have always played with the best intonation/balance/blend, but they at least knew what it was "supposed" to be like. Playing a chorale during warm up is one of the best ways to achieve this concept. They are written in four parts that everyone can hear (hopefully).
jbutler
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-04-02 21:47
I DO second John B's observations on band-playing training. Our semi-pro comm. band, conducted by a skilled cl professor, needs and receives lectures on these subjects frequently and play much better for it. I am the bass cl'ist, and earlier was "hushed-up" and I have eliminated my squeeks, so now blend better with the various sections. We still frequently play too loudly, but follow our cond. better. At times I have to "sound out" on important [moving] parts, and our sop cl section does have problems vs the brass. A possible solution here may be the Forte clarinet's Power Barrel perhaps with big-bore cls to achieve greater volumn, but acceptance of teachings is # 1, IMHO. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: bflatclarinetist
Date: 2005-04-03 04:23
You'll laugh if I told you this but the flute section in my band overpowers the trumpets and that's not right! First clarinets are good (includes me =] ), 2nd and 3rd clarinets barely play and are so quiet. The 2 bass clarinet players are completely opposite! They are so quiet! My band director continuously tells them to play much louder but no....The trumpet section is made up of like 15 people and my band director who plays the trumpet can single-handlely overpower them all (which is REALLY sad for the trumpets). The trombones are okay but need to be way louder. I didn't even know we had a tuba cause she plays so quiet. The saxophone section blasts every song they need to be more softer and yeah. A lot of things that makes my band really bad.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-04-03 07:02
Bflat: A quick remedy to your "2nds and 3rds don't play" problem is to put one each of your current firsts on second and third, if you have enough.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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