 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: TwrlGrl
Date: 2000-04-18 21:53
Yesterday I received my clarinet audition music for the Stephen F. Austin State University High School Band Camp. Today I went to the site where the music for auditions was and saw that they had alto clarinet audition part, also. I was wondering when I go to band camp, should I try out on alto clarinet or soprano? I've been playing clarinet for the past 3 years and I picked up alto last October.
TwrlGrl
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-04-18 22:09
Well, it depends on how good you really are on the clarinet. There is a huge surplus of soprano players out there, but there is an extreme shortage of alto and bass clarinet players out there. So, determine your own skill level and play the horn that gives you the greatest shot at success. Chances are very good that you will succeed with the alto, and be defeated by a better player on soprano almost every time. Examples help cement the arguement into place. I held onto a slot in the marching/concert band in high school despite my terrible lowly skill level because I switched to bass clarinet mid way through high school. My pro tutor was extremely highly rated on any clarinet he could pick up when he graduated from a nationally ranked music college many decades ago. However, the only steady pro gig he could get was as a bass clarinetist with a US major midwestern city orchestra. Hey, 25 years as the bass clarinetist is a fantastic career in anyone's book. So, play the odds in your favor. Go for the rare horn. It will open up doors of opportunity where the soprano horn's are already closed.
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 2000-04-19 11:21
I agree with Paul in a lot of ways; the auxiliary horns are great experience and give you a real advantage. Make sure you keep working on the soprano, though, since the further you go with music, the more they'll expect you to play both as needed. If you're undecided, most applications have an "alternate instrument" line; say that you play alto, and if they want you to audition, they'll probably tell you (eagerly) ;-) Hope this helps!
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Author: mike
Date: 2000-04-19 18:13
Part of it, too, depends on what you hope to get out of this band camp. Depending on the literature that they play, the alto (or bass) parts might not be very interesting or challenging, at least not in the way most soprano parts are difficult. (pet peeve: a lot of bands tend to stick weak players on the bass cl. and other low-voiced instruments. If the players on these parts don't have a good sense of time and rhythm, the music always has a "flabby" feel to it. Moral: even those boring parts are important to the music and they ARE challenging to play musically!)
Having said that, I think a lot of people would agree that if you're going to play one of the low harmony clarinets, that you should practice the same sort of technical exercises over the full range of the instrumnet that soprano players are expected to master. But you also need to master things like on- and off-beat stacatto, which is a whole lot harder to do with any "crispness" on the bottom end of a bass than on a soprano.
I don't think paul, in his response to yours, was really trying to say 'if you're not any good, you can always play bass or alto because no one really wants to', but that's how I initially interpreted it. I suspect that his teacher got the bass clarinet gigs not because there wasn't anyone else, but becuase he was a good bass clarinet player. Granted that there is usually less competition for that chair, but it's out there, and its playing the bass (or alto) because it likes playing that instrument (and is probably praciticing and improving even as I write this)...
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-04-19 18:40
Very well said, Mike, yes the alto and bass cl parts need the same good quality playing that one ascribes to the sop. At times an arranger just doesn't realize that the A or B can't accomplish sop. gymnastics, the bass part for comm. band of Carousel [Rodgers] is real tough [for me]. I particularly enjoy the occasional solos and the tempo-setting, as well as an individual music stand when having fun on the A and/or B !! Don
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Author: Michael
Date: 2000-04-20 00:06
Don Berger wrote:
Very well said, Mike, yes the alto and bass cl parts need the same good quality playing that one ascribes to the sop. At times an arranger just doesn't realize that the A or B can't accomplish sop. gymnastics, the bass part for comm. band of Carousel [Rodgers] is real tough [for me]. I particularly enjoy the occasional solos and the tempo-setting, as well as an individual music stand when having fun on the A and/or B !! Don
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Don, I picked up the alto for rental last week and I've played on it a few times. I had no idea that it was such a different beast than the soprano. I can't get use to the neck strap, so I keep trying to play without it. I wonder why the break is such a difficult chore on the alto? I think it is a cool looking instrument and I hope to get better acquainted with it. Michael
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-20 02:35
Michael wrote:
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... I picked up the alto for rental last week and I've played on it a few times... I wonder why the break is such a difficult chore on the alto?
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While I don't play alto, may I suggest having it double checked for leaks. Even new horns may have some pads that aren't seating quite right. On the soprano, the four large pads at the bottom are particularly difficult to seat and so can be leaking when they are new (or newly replace). I suspect that an alto is even more "sensitive" this way.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-04-20 18:52
In response to the postings, I didn't mean to imply if you are terrible, try the harmony or bass clarinet. No, you won't get any points anywhere if you are that bad, no matter what horn you are playing.
I learned how to play the bass clarinet in high school from the first chair bass clarinet player right next to me. She had the luxury of private lessons in high school.
Then, I really learned how to play the clarinet from my bass clarinet playing pro. Yes, he can also play the soprano, harmony horns, saxophones, practically any single reed woodwind you can think of and do it exquisitely well. He was an absolutely superb soprano player in college, but the orchestra needed a bass player. He won the audition for it and kept it going for 25 years straight. He also told me several times that the competition for bass/harmony chairs is very tough but the competition for soprano chairs in professional orchestras was absolutely brutal. It may be different today, but given the numbers of sopranos versus any other type of clarinet, I bet the odds of success on a bass/harmony clarinet are still better than a soprano.
I have to agree with the posters above when they say you should be good on all kinds of horns, not just the soprano. The technical reasons they gave are absolutely valid. The tricks you learned on one horn can and should be used on other horns.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-04-20 20:06
Yes, they are all different horns, having some things in common, but widely diff. tonalities and break-fingering problems IMHExperience!. Re: a no-leak cl, more so for alto, much more so for bass [produces very high overtones, usually called squeeks, so easily!!]. Most basses need "double-register-keying" IMHO. The same old story, practice X 3. I prefer to think of my alto as a basset horn, and try to play it for W A Mozart's approval! Don
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-04-20 20:48
Re. that trouble crossing the register break, many altos have an especially bad (weak, muffled-sounding) 4th line clarion D and there's not a lot you can do about it. Usually when that's a problem, the notes from mid-staff B on up to about top line F all sound lousy, but the D is by far the worst. That's the part of the register that separates the fine altos from the average or worse ones, IMHO. If that D sounds like a frog with a frog in its throat, try a harder reed, or an alto sax reed. An alto sax reed can brighten up the tone of an alto clarinet, increase the volume and make the sound project better, although if it's already a strong alto, the sax reed can make it uncharacteristically shrill. My Selmer alto projects well, but I do sometimes put an alto sax reed on there for more oomph. I'd also take that advice to check for a leak, though.
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Author: Michael Kincaid
Date: 2000-04-22 17:22
Lelia wrote:
Re. that trouble crossing the register break, many altos have an especially bad (weak, muffled-sounding) 4th line clarion D and there's not a lot you can do about it. Usually when that's a problem, the notes from mid-staff B on up to about top line F all sound lousy, but the D is by far the worst. That's the part of the register that separates the fine altos from the average or worse ones, IMHO. If that D sounds like a frog with a frog in its throat, try a harder reed, or an alto sax reed. An alto sax reed can brighten up the tone of an alto clarinet, increase the volume and make the sound project better, although if it's already a strong alto, the sax reed can make it uncharacteristically shrill. My Selmer alto projects well, but I do sometimes put an alto sax reed on there for more oomph. I'd also take that advice to check for a leak, though
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Leila, thanks for the suggestion about the sax reed. I borrowed an alto sax reed from my nephew and it makes a world of difference. I'm constantly amazed at how much difference the "right" reed can make. The alto clarinet I am playing sounds good--I'm now really motivated to try to improve my abilities with it. I may even take it to band rehearsal on Monday just for fun.
I must be improving overall, because I can now open a box of Mitchell Lurie Premium #2 and play all the reeds out of the box without finding a bad one (on my soprano.)
The alto sax reed I'm using is a LaVoz soft. The alto clarinet reeds that I tried are Vandoren #2; I just never have good luck with Vandoren reeds; I'm sure it must be me.
Michael
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