 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2005-05-26 19:00
I play Bb sop. clarinet in a community band and I have the yen to try another instrument and I'm just wondering if any of you who have experience with Bass clarinet or sax have any suggestions.
I thought bass clarinet might be the easiest to transition to because it has the same fingering as soprano clarinet. But I'm having some trouble finding a bass to try here in the Los Angeles area. I thought that using a bass cl. with a floor peg might be more comfortable to play since the weight of the instrument rests on the floor.
I was wondering about alto or tenor sax. Can I use my Bb clarinet music for a tenor? Same key. Also, it seems that good used saxes are easier to come by than bass clarinets.
I do have an alto available to use (my son's rented jupiter) so I can try that without going out and renting or buying a new horn.
The community band is klezmer oriented and I have seen bass cl. and saxes uses in klezmer.
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-05-26 20:24
All of them are easy to switch to. Bass clarinet will be easiest of all, but the sax's fingerings are very similar to clarinet. It really depends on which instrument you want to play the most.
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Author: Bob A
Date: 2005-05-26 20:34
Ken, I can't speak for Dave, but he plays ALL. What he is (I think) trying to get across is that if you step outside the community band/klezmer arena into more 'conventional' jazz or dance-band music you are going to find gigs for bass clarinet limited. Check your local musicians pages for 'calls'. See how many are for bass clarinet. Of course, if it's for love and fun--money excluded--by all means go for the bass clarinet. It's fun down there.
Bob A
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-05-26 20:35
Ken, I 'm talking about the long term ---- if you want to be versatile and marketable, learn saxes. To play in community bands --- whatever. Honestly, the world doesn't need any more bass clarinet 'doublers'.
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-05-26 20:48
To be quite honest, if you play in a large size community band, the opportunity to actually play more than one instrument is nearly nil.
Where I play, where it’s made of more than 40 musicians, you come with your main instrument and that’s what you play, period. Bass clarinets and saxes are commonplace and there is often a dedicated player already on that part.
So it all depends on the size of your band, the smaller the band is, the more opportunity theoretically there is for you to play clarinet plus something else. Otherwise, there is more than likely at least one player already for every conceivable part. The conductor won’t need you to double on bass clarinet because there is already a guy there.
Unless of course, you take your second instrument and go and join another band…., then in that case, learn as many as you like.
Personally, if you want to get paid or be valuable to a band, learn the bassoon, trombone, or percussion. Like Dave said, the world doesn’t need another bass clarinet doubler…
Willy
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2005-05-26 21:09
Well it's a community klezmer band which basically accepts any interested players, currently there are
2 violins
2 accordions
1 clarinet
2 recorders
1 trumpet
1 trombone
1 banjo
1 guitar
1 string bass
1harmonica
1 keyboard
1 percussion (doumbek, tambourine, woodblock, triangle)
1 vocalist
1 mandolin
We also have an alto sax player who doubles on flute but he has other obligations and has to be away from the band for a while. I'm the clarinet player.
Of course just working on my (soprano) clarinet skills would probably be the most logical way to go.....maybe having a tenor sax or bass cl. in the group would add to our sound....
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-05-26 21:24
Interesting combination of instrument, looks like it could use some enforcement at the bottom end. Go with the bass clarinet.
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-26 23:22
Wow I wishg we had a community Klezmer band. Hoover is a big city, as is Birmingham. I bet if we did it'd be hard to fnd. That would be so much fun to get invlovled with though. I'm a big fan of klezmer. The most fun I have while playing is when I play in a concert band that plays some klezmer-esque, like Armenian Sances or Wedding Dance. How does a band like that get started? How did you get involved with that style of music.
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2005-05-26 23:48
I got interested several years ago because I was buying a number of Yiddish related CD's including those of the great Yiddish/English parodist (and clarinetist) Mickey Katz (who wrote "When the Schmaltz gets in your Eyes"). Naturally my interest in Yiddish led to klezmer. L.A. has a number of klezmer bands. I talked to the director of a local Jewish organization, The Workmen's Circle about starting a community band on the westside of L.A.
He mentioned that the Workmen's Circle in Cleveland has a very large (40?)
klezmer group and he was hoping to start a band here. Anyway the thing just snowballed...and it's basically just glued together by e-mails. We meet about once a week on weekend mornings. And we are getting ready for a couple of gigs....a "klezmer brunch" on June 19 and gig at the downtown L.A. public library. We have been joined by a singer.
So it's a lot of fun. But I don't really have bandleader experience and at the present time there is really no musical director so we operate on a kind of workshop format.
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Author: Markael
Date: 2005-05-27 02:00
I’ve just been through a similar process myself and I chose bass clarinet. My situation is a little different. I don’t play in the community band; I teach on the night when they rehearse.
For a long time I took it as a matter of faith that I would one day get an alto sax as a second wind instrument. And I still might eventually get one as a third wind instrument. Or not. My thinking began to change when I heard a recording of Don Byron in which he did some solo bass work.
Dave S said, “The world doesn't need any more bass clarinet 'doublers'.” My thinking was just the opposite: The world doesn’t need another sax player!
The practical concerns about getting gigs are valid. You’re more likely to get paid to play sax. But I say: Follow your heart.
If it’s in your heart to play a particular instrument you will find a place and a venue for it.
If you build it they will come. It’s like learning a foreign language. Not everybody needs to learn Spanish. In this postmodern day and time, if you learn most any foreign language, you will find a use for it, and quite possibly right in your home town.
These days people are doing all kinds of unlikely things with unlikely instruments. Bela Fleck is playing stuff that is not considered to be banjo music on a banjo. Margo Leverett is playing Klezmer flavored bluegrass on the clarinet. It is so clichéd and conformist and knee-jerk to tell every clarinet player to play sax as The second instrument.
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2005-05-27 02:29
Hi David:
Could you please explain what you mean:
"Honestly, the world doesn't need any more bass clarinet 'doublers'."
Thanks,
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2005-05-27 02:31
Hi Markael:
Could you please explain what you mean:
"My thinking was just the opposite: The world doesn’t need another sax player!"
Thanks,
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-05-27 03:12
Mkybrain said:
"I'm a big fan of klezmer. The most fun I have while playing is when I play in a concert band that plays some klezmer-esque, like Armenian Dances or Wedding Dance."
We played Wedding Dance in my school band last year. I had an eefer solo with the piccolo (we didn't have the flutes play because they couldn't play it well enough). That song was really fun, but the solo was kinda hard! I sometimes messed up in class but luckily nailed it at contest!
Oh yeah! I double on tenor and bass. They are both beneficial to know. Can you possibly learn both? I get to play tenor in jazz band and next year I get to play bass in our adult community band (which I'm young, but they are letting me be the bass player). I also play bass sometimes in our school orchestra. I love them both!!!!!
Oh yeah... you asked if you could use your clarinet music on tenor.... you can because they are both in Bb, but you'll have to transpose most of the clarinet parts down an octave!
Post Edited (2005-05-27 03:15)
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Author: Markael
Date: 2005-05-27 13:44
“The world doesn’t need another sax player.”
Well, I didn’t mean it literally. The statement was at least brief; the explanation will require some verbiage.
Of course there is always room for one more musician. And if every individual musician had to be great, or unique, or the best, most of us would be silent and the world would be a colder, sadder place.
I also did not mean that I don’t like saxophone. I am fortunate in being able to listen to a local saxophonist who is unbelievable, has a huge repertoire, and never gets in a rut. A couple weeks ago I heard him do a virtuosic rendition of “Lester Leaps In,” and I could just imagine his holding his own with Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins in a cutting session.
I teach clarinet. By picking up a sax and practicing a little I could easily and quickly pick up some sax students. Instead I chose bass clarinet. I probably won’t pick up very many bass clarinet students, but I will be adding depth instead of breadth, becoming more competent and knowledgeable as a clarinetist. There is something to be said for sounding the depth of one thing before becoming a jack of all trades.
Every advantage is a disadvantage. Sure, it’s easier to get gigs as a sax player, but the sax is well represented in many forms of non-classical music, and the clarinet is under-represented. Many people haven’t discovered the beauty of the bass clarinet both in the characteristic low sounds and in the solo potential of all registers. The incredible range of a clarinet gives the bass clarinet a certain advantage over a saxophone.
Finally, I confess to a certain clarinetist arrogance I have held but now renounce. I recall having had the opportunity to play alto sax in the high school stage band. I could play better sax than most of the sax players we had at the time. I have said on occasion that clarinet players make the best sax players.
That statement is wrong and misleading and I hereby retract it. Some time ago one of my students started playing alto sax on the side and he brought an extra horn for me to play. I bought my own mouthpiece. I found myself trying to play it like a clarinet, having a tendency to blow the low notes into the next octave. Since then I have done some reading and research and realize that the obvious similarities between the two instruments fool clarinetists into disregarding the differences.
In the end a person’s reasons for picking up a particular instrument are personal—part logic, part a matter of the heart, part whim. I have a friend who chose trombone because of the trombone playing pigs on the Valleydale commercial. (Anybody old enough to remember that?) Who knows—maybe that’s as good a reason as any.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-05-27 14:11
John,
What I meant (and I realize it's an arrogant thing to say) is that there are too many imcompetent bass clarinet 'players' out there, by which I mean people who casually pick up a bass clarinet and make awful noises on it. Since there are far fewer paying gigs for bass clarinet than the saxes, my point was that, if one were to choose a casual double for the long-term, sax would be a better choice. I've been a bass clarinet specialist for 30 years and I can't stand it when the instrument is badly played as it so often is, especially by those who play it casually as a 'double'. On the flip side, as a weekend warrior I've made easily fifty times as much money over the years playing saxes compared to playing bass clarinet, and if Ken wants to get called to do things other than play klezmer in a community band, I suggest he pick up sax rather than bass clarinet. No offense to anyone intended!
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-05-27 14:17
I'm certainly not an expert on Klezmer bands, but I do know that Giori Feidman, perhaps the best know Klezmer clarinetist, plays both Klezmer clarinet and Klezmer bass clarinet, so I would think there would be some call for a Klezmer bass clarinetist. Are saxes normally used in Klezmer bands/music?
(If you were talking about a regular community band, I'd suggest picking up whichever instrument was most needed. The conductor would tell you what he liked.)
If you do choose bass clarinet, it would be highly suggested that you use a peg. In my opinion, a peg and a neckstrap is even better.
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Author: SolidRockMan
Date: 2005-05-27 14:27
I play clarinet and alto sax in my church group, the clarinet came first. I would have probably preferred to play a tenor but the group already had one so...
Markael is correct in that a sax has similarities to a clarinet but they are distinctly different instruments. Most important IMO is that the clarinet embouchure doesn't work on the sax and vice versa.
Another issue with the alto is that it is pitched in Eb. I'm not sure what concert keys klezmer is normally played in but when matching 'standard' guitar/keyboard keys like A major or E major, you wind up playing awkward keys on the alto.
In your own situation you already have an alto player in the group so what I would recommend is getting comfortable with the sax by using your son's one and in due course go for the tenor.
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2005-05-27 14:44
Thank you, David & Markael, for your explanations. It does clear up the confusion of "we don't need...".
As we all know, what we all need...is to keep LIVE MUSIC in everyone's ears ans hearts!
It takes talented younger musicians to help us keep music alive and well.
Lets all encourage more "Bass Clarinet & Saxophone" musicians, and even some more of us "doublers."
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: John Morton
Date: 2005-05-27 15:42
Yeah, let's hear it for live music! There is every reason to follow popular taste if one is to make a living. But to those of us who play, the music is also its own reward, and develops in strange and wonderful ways. I'm still floating from a performance last Tues. of one of the most attractive groups who'll never make a dime, and wouldn't you know they're all clarinets! Read about it here (it ends with some remarks about sax doublers):
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/23/DDG9FCSH5J1.DTL
John Morton
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2005-05-27 16:25
First I wanted to say that I really love this clarinet bboard and I really appreciate all the valuable feedback. I know that the choice of an instrument is a personal thing but it's good to be able to "think out loud" using this forum. Now I realize that there is another bboard for "ethnic clarinet" but it does not seem to get much traffic so I would rather post here even if it is klezmer related....and I hope that is Ok because most of my posts will probably have to do with not just klezmer but instruments and music in general.
I think the way I will go is to see if I can ease into Bass playing this summer especially if I can find a local teacher. As far as getting a bass, I don't know. I'm tempted to try out one of the resonite Yamahas that they have at the Woodwind/Brasswind.
As far as saxes...yeah I think I'll mess around with the alto that we have in the house. It's on a month to month rental and if my son doesn't continue with it I could keep it out longer. I did try sax for a few months several years ago but I switched back to clarinet.
Clarinet was my junior high/ high school instrument 30+ years ago so I think that the fingerings and feel of a clarinet is kind of deeply rooted in the old brain cells. I guess its kind of like typing...I don't need to think about where to put the fingers. So I think that at my age, 50, it would be harder to learn new fingerings than at high school age (of course) but it's probably not something that should scare me off.......so the more the merrier it would be cool to try a tenor sax at some point but it sound like for the purposes of the klez band bass may be the way to go initially.
Getting money for gigs is not the motivation at this point, as I don't really see this as a source of income....of course it is nice to get paid.
Oh yeah, someone mentioned Don Byron and Margo Leverett....yeah I have some of their stuff and it's great. Byron did a klezmer CD. Can anyone recommend a Byron CD where he plays a lot of bass? Or any good CD's where there is a lot of bass. Jazz or Classical or anything?
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Author: Markael
Date: 2005-05-27 17:04
Ken,
You and I are about the same age.
The Don Byron CD I was referring to is “A Fine Line: Arias and Lieder." I just looked at the liner notes and discovered that he plays at least some bass clarinet on six of the eleven cuts.
Recently I purchased the Bassics CD, which I think I learned about from this board. It includes two pieces of music on PDF files, both of which have some notes that you won’t be able to play unless you get a bass to low C. One of those pieces you could fake; if I’m not mistaken it only has one low D. Even for someone without interest in playing the instrument, The Bassics is good for plain old listening pleasure.
Eric Dolphe is a name in jazz often associated with bass clarinet. I don’t have any of his CDs. Yet.
I was very fortunate to get a good deal on a bass clarinet on eBay. Fortunate indeed—that was my very first eBay transaction! But first I rented a student model from the local music store to get the feel of the instrument. I paid less for the grenadilla LeBlanc than I would have paid on the student Selmer as a rent-to-own.
About fingerings: Sax fingerings aren’t hard for a clarinet player. But one of the things I like about bass is that it feels like a clarinet.
Something funny happened when I first started diddling on the bass. I have played a lot of clarinet and very little sax. Yet, the experience of playing “Someone to Watch over Me” with the stage band is ingrained in memory. The arrangement was in concert Bb, and the melody line on sax started out G-A-B-D.
I played that line on the bass clarinet, starting, of course, on the low C, which is fingered like the low G on sax. I played C-D-E, and then, instead of going to the throat tone G, I played a D, as if the clarinet had an octave key. My fingers had the sax fingerings memorized, and the crooked neck on the thing made it feel somewhat like a sax. I’ve tried to tell this story to others; only reed players can understand it.
You might have to remind the uncircumcised Philistines in the audience that this baby you are playing is not a saxophone.
M
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-05-27 17:33
Markael's last sentence above reminded me of a funny incident a few centuries ago when I was playing with a Top-40 band at a military officers' club, and happened to have a bass clarinet on stage (can't recall why!) along with my tenor sax and flute. We were playing a slow dance tune, and some colonel-type was dancing with his date and trying to impress her with his knowledge of musical instruments. As they passed the stage he pointed to my bass clarinet and told her, "And that's a black saxophone".
p.s. I didn't have the courage to ask the Colonel if he was an uncircumcised Philistine.................
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2005-05-27 17:51
Hi,
I have several doubles that I do including bassoon and even some brass work as long as it does not get too hard. I think the whole process is much like a young lady told me once. She was a gate agent for Delta Airlines and had just announced the flight from MCO to PDX and on to Japan in three languages. I asked her how many languages she spoke and she said "four but after the first couple, the rest come pretty easy."
I found that very interesting (although I would contend that Arabic is pretty tough) and think the same logic might apply to doubles on musical instruments. Once you get the first couple of basic woodwinds schemes down (flute, clarinet, and sax) the rest of the stuff comes easier. I play piano so the bass clef for bassoon holds no fear. Most music ed. majors must have a working and playing knowledge of all instrument anyhow so...
An article in one of the saxophone magazines highlighted LA doublers and it was very good. However, I believe that I picked up that having to double on shows books is not a critical as in the "old days" when you always traveled with a lot of instruments in the trunk of the car.
My advice to younger players is to learn several doubles if you expect to work gigs.
HRL
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2005-05-27 18:25
LEARN YOUR DOUBLES:
My doubles are:
Penny Whistles (in all keys)
Ocarinas (in all keys)
Recorders (S, A, T, B)
Ethnic Flutes
Piccolo
Flute
Alto Flute
Eb Clarinet
Bb & A Clarinet
Basset Horn (not Alto Clarinet)
Bass Clarinet
Contra-Bass Clarinets (both EEb & BBb)
Soprano Sax
Alto Sax
Tenor Sax
and...Woodwind Toys!
Please, my friends, learn your doubles. Just this past year I was hired to play most of my doubles. It can make the difference between making a living, or making a really good living! Keep practicing.
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-05-27 18:50
What a Vunderbahr discussion obout playing in a wide variety of "groups"!!! I do much the same [very enjoyable] playing "routine", and find that the bass cl is in greater demand [I have a couple more bands asking me to play], but would like to explore the music for my alto cl [just cant find the time !]. Our bands have plenty of saxes [altos and tenors, not many baris tho] so I might suggest it, since it matches the low range of the [usual] bass cl and its music. the transpositions are not too difficult, and would help one's marketability, and as Dave et al says "learn all the inst you can". Of course the cost of most any of these horns, high quality suggested, may be a factor in decision. Could go on, but "nuff for now. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2005-05-28 00:35
Hi, John Moses, how are you? I was wondering what you were referring to as "woodwind toys". I might have thought of various ethnic flutes if you had't already mentioned them.
Wow - what a list.
Sue Tansey
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2005-05-28 04:05
Hi Sue:
It was nice meeting you at WICKED.
Woodwind Toys, in my case, have included:
Jaw Harp
Harmonica (a toy, the way I play it!)
Tonette
Slide Whistle
Nose Flute (don't ever borrow one of these)
Egyptian Double Flute (looks like 2 recorders strapped together)
Police Whistle
Tromboon (a trombone played with a bassoon reed)
Clarinet mouthpiece (played with cupped hands and blown into)
...and almost anything with a reed or mouthpiece that makes a sound.
They all can be lots of fun, but you must practice even the most simple horns to play them well.
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: ginny
Date: 2005-05-28 04:57
My son, 16, doubles on bass clarinet and there's a fair demand for his services on that. He has had conductors for youth orchestra or wind ensemble call needing a young bass clarinetist and placed well on bass clarinet in State Honor band. He's first chair Bb at his High School however. He occasionally is a ringer with the local Jr. college wind ensemble on Bb when they're short players for a gig. The wind ensemble is usually short of bass clarinets and they get recruited out of the band. My son has also taken up tenor sax so he can play in jazz band, but no one has called up to get him to play that. His teacher hopes to get him aquainted with flute this summer and is encouraging him to look into children's musical theatre gigs where he'll need all this...maybe a different sax though.
I don't double on any winds, clarinet's enough for me.
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Author: ginny
Date: 2005-05-28 04:59
I double on tambora and occasionally percussion in our Balkan band. No Klezmer, nice as it is.
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Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2005-05-28 19:22
John,
It's to your credit that you can play a tonette or police whistle musically, correctly, and resonsibly. It's not easy!
Egyptian double flute sounds neat - I'm going to be on the lookout for one of those.
Sadly, some of my recorder students turn their instruments into nose flutes...
Sue Tansey
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2005-05-29 00:15
The only thing I have against the bass clarinet as a second instrument is that the demand for your services on it may paint you into a corner...
In my community band, if you are known to play Bass Clari, that is all you will play!
I suppose it comes down to what sound you most like to make in public.
Prices for good Bass Clarinets and Alto saxophones (second hand) are comparable...
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Author: Low_Reed
Date: 2005-05-29 02:17
Hi, Ken, Markael, et al. I too am a member of the mid-century club (just about to hit the double nickel), and would like to offer some thoughts on BC recordings, BC vs. sax, and Yamaha resonite horns:
I love Don Byron's bass clarinet work on Arias and Leider, especially his rendition of "Reach Out, I'll Be There"! BC crops up in a lot of places, if you're looking for it. On a recent, really cool Tom Waits album called "Blood Money" there is BC accompaniment on several of the cuts. David Murray, from the World Saxophone Quartet, plays some BC cuts with pianist Aki Takase on a CD entitled "Blue Monk".
Speaking of Thelonius Monk, a contributor to this board has put out a TERRIFIC all-Monk, all bass-and-contrabass clarinet album recently called "The Monk in All of Us". Ulrich (Uli) Drechsler is his name, and he's an outstanding jazz man on the BC!
I played bass clarinet in high school and college bands, then played nought but the stereo for the next 27 years. Then I picked up a tenor sax, and took on-again, off-again lessons and played in a community band for the next five years. I thought the tenor sax would be a great way for me to play the blues, rock, and jazz that I loved, and would be an easy transition from BC. (No sweat: The upper register is fingered the same, and the lower register is just an OCTAVE key away!)
Well, I actually had trouble in the bottom register, just like Markael mentioned. Even after almost three decades, I wanted to play the thing like a bass clarinet. And the embouchure was different, too. Anyhoo, after five on-and-off years, I decided to buy a bass clarinet. Did a lot of research, and settled on a Yamaha YCL221 resonite horn, which I bought from WWBW. Man, when I put that horn together and started to caress it, it was like a real homecoming for my fingers and my reptilian music brain! The fingerings felt right, the embouchure and mouthpiece felt right, and those dark, resonant low notes sent shivers along my spine!
That horn really has worked well for me over the last three years. It has great tone and good intonation (except for the long B, which I'm working on). It is well-made, with a sturdy, compact case that is easy to carry. And it is dimensionally stable in all weather conditions, with no need for bore oil!
IMHO, you can't go wrong with this particular model of BC. And I certainly believe that you can't go wrong with bass clarinet in general! I have recently bought a Klezmer clarinet duet book, which I'm going to play on BC. And I'm having a really good time exploring jazz, blues, ballads, and classic rock with the BC. I have had fun in school and community bands, but I'm having even more fun playing the genres of music that really turn my crank!
For more discussion of the YCL221, check out http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/bass-clarinet/message/10308, and follow the threads.
I'll BC-ing you!
Bruce
**Music is the river of the world!**
-- inspired by Tom Waits and a world full of music makers
Post Edited (2005-05-29 14:50)
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2005-05-29 04:56
Thanks Bruce, that's helpful. I'll follow those threads. From what I've read so far from your posts on Yahoo, it seems like I should expect to take the new horn to a repair tech right off the bat?
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Author: Markael
Date: 2005-05-29 10:29
I agree, that’s a wonderful post from Bruce. Not only does it contain good information, but it radiates with pride and affection for this beautiful and underestimated instrument.
Of course I took my bass clarinet to the shop right away because it was used. It was in quite good shape, but because it hadn’t been played a lot the corks were stiff. I had trouble getting the two joints apart. Rather than risk bending a key I let the technician do it for me.
Pads are finicky on a bass because of its size. Even the hint of a leak can cause a problem. The technician tweaked mine slightly. Here I am a novice to the instrument talking like an expert, but it does make sense to take in even a new horn to be checked out. Out of the box you get an objective opinion on the instrument, and you have established an important relationship.
Mark
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Author: Low_Reed
Date: 2005-05-30 15:56
Absolutely, Ken. Even though my sample size is just one, I've become a firm believer in having a local repair person look over ANY horn that's new to you. When I bought my BC from WWBW, I was pleased that they included a technical once-over before sending it out. But what I didn't realize is that "contents may settle during shipping". And this is no fault of WWBW's (or anyone else's) tech folks.
I also like Mark's notion of establishing a relationship with a local repair person. I've done that, and it's been really helpful. I also have a good relationship with my BC teacher, who is a professional jazz saxophonist. These folks, and several people on this and other on-line forums, have made it clear to me that the instrument is an important part (but not the only part) of the system that creates music. So continued exploration of horn adjusting, mouthpiece/reed/ligature combinations, and your own body's contributions to the system can be really rewarding. If you start with a horn that's been tightened and fine-tuned FOR YOU by someone local, you will have a leg up on controlling some of the variables that contribute to your sound.
Bruce
**Music is the river of the world!**
-- inspired by Tom Waits and a world full of music makers
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Author: Wes
Date: 2005-06-01 05:25
Yes, go for it, whichever horn appeals to you. Then, next summer, you can get another. It is most important that the instrument not leak and that it is properly adjusted. Most new instruments should be checked and fixed as almost all of them leak some. If you can take some lessons from a fine teacher, you would not regret it, and you would progress much faster, minimizing the bad habits sometimes learned by self teaching. Providing high air pressure to the instrument is so important, blowing through the phrases.
By the way, there are sometimes Klesmer concerts at the Westside Jewish Center on Olympic near San Vicente. There will be a bit of Klesmer there on June 5th in the afternoon but I'll be playing in Sacramento. Good luck!!
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2005-06-01 20:45
Thanks Wes, I did see the listing for the Jun 5 event, but they don't mention the name of the band. Do you happen to know which band is playing?
I did try out an old rental Bass cl. at a music store yesterday. It was a Yamaha. There was no floor peg in the case and it was hard to support the instrument with just the neck strap. I was glad I had the experience of trying one out.
This morning I played the alto sax that my son has out on a rental program. It was a lot of fun, but it seems that the lowest notes are a bit hard to hit.
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Author: FrankM
Date: 2005-06-03 13:04
Synonymous Botch mentions being "painted into a corner " once you are known as a bass player. Years ago, I got a call to play a musical which had the bass clarinet part in the Reed 3 book along with tenor sax and regular clarinet, which are my usual doubles. I really enjoyed playing bass clarinet, wound up buying one, and started to get calls for the bass. Unfortunately, in most musicals since then , the book with bass usually includes bari sax, not tenor. I'm lucky to have buddies who lend me a bari when I need one , but I sort of miss playing the tenor and the "higher" books.
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Author: archer1960
Date: 2005-06-03 19:53
As a not particularly accomplished clarinet player in junior high, I had an interesting double. I was last (occasionally next-to-last) chair clarinet, mainly because I didn't practice enough to move up, what with sports all year around. Our band conductor wanted more help on the low end, so he asked me to try bari sax, which turned out to be quite fun. It took a lot of air, and I had plenty of it, and I liked being the only one playing a part and being heard for once. Then my family moved before my junior year, and when the band director at my new school heard that I had played bari sax, he asked me to try the contra-bass clarinet (we already had a bari sax, an alto clarinet and 2 bass clarinets). That turned out to just about the same as the bari sax wind-wise, but had the same fingerings as the Bb clarinet I was used to. Great fun, playing with (and occasionally below) the tubas, but reading treble clef!
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