The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-08-19 04:04
Do YOU have bad bad bad habits that you'd never tell your teacher about? If so, post them here! Share all the naughty stuff you know you shouldnt do but do it anyway!
I confess ... I purposely play on warped and sometimes broken reeds
I confess ... I pull my mouthpiece through with a swab which wears out the tip rail and various other things.
A friend of mine has a terrible one - she drinks coke and V and stuff whilst playing clarinet, before and after. The inside of her R13 is like totally decaying with caffiene. Urrghh why do that to a decent buffet!?
What are YOUR clarinet confessions? :P
2E
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2006-08-19 04:15
I don't practice much.
Wish I did, though, cause when I do, like before a solo performance, I can do some cool stuff. But I'm one of those who needs something on the calendar to motivate me. I'm in the offseason now after municipal band and before my orchestra starts up, so I'm going on three weeks without really playing.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
Post Edited (2006-08-19 04:17)
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2006-08-19 04:52
I never had to tell my teacher how much I (didn't) practice. He always knew. In fact, one of my lessons senior year in college he said to me:
"You're Lazy! Lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy...Now that I've said it, I can't stop saying it...Lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy..."
He went on for a couple of minutes and all I could do was sit there and nod in agreement.
I do drink beverages in between playing. Diet Coke or coffee sweetened with Splenda are the most common (I'm diabetic). I'd probably tell a teacher that though.
Why not own up to what you do? Even if you know it's "wrong" blowing sugary treats through your expensive clarinet is your decision and choice. Your horn, your sugary insides...
Katrina
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-08-19 04:54
1. For my entire playing career, I've been very superstitious about ONLY swabbing the clarinet from top to bottom because I want the swab to follow the path of the sound, not go against it.
2. In one of my weaker moments I actually tried tempering my reeds by using the microwave oven. One word: crispy
3. I listen to Acker Bilk ...GBK
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Author: GoatTnder
Date: 2006-08-19 08:16
I squeaked in Carnegie Hall.
Andres Cabrera
South Bay Wind Ensemble
sbwe@sbmusic.org
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-08-19 09:09
I used to listen to Emma Johnson before i knew anything.
I sometimes get lazy and swab my clarinet out with my mouthpiece on.
err...yea
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Author: Mary Jo
Date: 2006-08-19 10:45
My only deliberate clarinet audience is my 97-year old Grandpa and anybody else in the Ravenna NE nursing home who can hear the music through the walls of the activity center there. It gives me great pleasure to play his favorite, "Over the Rainbow," because it reminds him of life back then...and grandma.
Mary Jo
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-08-19 11:42
WOW there are some great ones! GBK I listen to acker bilk too! Ohh the shame huh? :p
I confess ... I dont know my scales as well as i should. It shows - ooh it shows.
More clarinet confessions anyone?
2E
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Author: carrielj
Date: 2006-08-19 12:37
I too enjoy listening to Acker Bilk : > I have a special reed that I use when I play 'Stranger on the Shore'.
I swab and wipe down my clarinet after use; then leave it assembled.
Carrie
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-08-19 14:19
I bought another clarinet.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Neil
Date: 2006-08-19 14:30
I bought a $10 "cream puff" off e-bay. Actually it's not too bad of an instrument for the price.
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-08-19 16:39
I always leave my clarinet assembled...wiped down and clean though... is that really bad??
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-19 16:50
kev182 - "I used to listen to Emma Johnson before i knew anything."
HAHAHA! Nice one Kev!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-08-19 16:59
1. I never learned how to breathe. So, I play until I start playing too fast, then I stop to, you know, breathe a little, then I start playing agaiin. Right in the middle of an etude. Right in the middle of anything.
2. I usually use reed rush but lately have been using baking soda for the same purpose.
3. I only play old clarinets and old mouthpieces, and I don't understand why.
and, the worst thing of all ...
4. I use medium or sometimes even *soft* reeds.
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-08-19 17:59
I think it's unfortunate that someone would criticize Emma Johnson's playing, especially a high school student. I've found that her recordings, while sometimes not as pristinely controlled or in tune as others, are very energetic and exciting. She's a musician. I've heard better playing from the technical side of the house, but often it's synthetic sounding, not music making.
"Technique, wonderful sound...all of this is sometimes astonishing - but it is not enough." Pablo Casals
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-19 18:51
My first open air concert's audience were cows.
Then the weather gods got annoyed and sent snow down to 6500 ft (in early August, that is).
I feel soo guilty.
But it was fun.
--
Ben
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-08-19 19:47
Confession 1:
I sometimes listen to Emma Johnson, but never never never never never never never to *cker *ilk. (As Sir Thomas Beecham nearly said, try everything once, except incest, country dancing and *cker *ilk.)
Confession 2:
No matter how much I practise, I will never play as well as Emma Johnson.
-----------
If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: D
Date: 2006-08-19 20:05
1 I scrubbed my mouthpiece with a tooth brush.
2 My playing is so bad that it improved the sound.
3 I heard Acker Bilk for the first time a few months ago and didn't realise it was a clarinet playing on the record.
4 I own 5 CDs (no tapes or records) and none of them are of clarinet music.
5 Those 5 CDs are 100 miles away at my parents house.
6 I frequently butcher the K622 for fun - but not in front of other people.
7 I definately suffer from GAS.
And if anyone cares the 5 CDs are Brittens Ceremony of Carols, The Man with the Wooden Flute, The BeeGees (don't know which one), The Queen Symphony, Dies Irae. Random selection, but I didn't buy them! Ceremony of Carols is probably my favourite piece of music ever though.... If you have never listened to it then this promise you will this Christmas. Magical!
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2006-08-19 20:12
1. I enjoy playing with vibrato every once and awhile, but won't do it in a performance.
2. I really enjoy bending my pitch, to the annoyance of my family. But I don't do it much anymore.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-19 21:11
No matter how much or little I practice clarinet (usually the latter), I make sure I NEVER sound like **** *******.
I never actually liked the clarinet at all when I was in my teens - I wanted to play oboe (but took that up AFTER starting clarinet), but only took exams on clarinet to get the bits of paper as I thought it was an easy instrument to get around (and there was an excellent clarinet teacher that started at the college), and the fact the AB exam music was actually written specifically for it - unlike the sax syllabus at the time which were either Baroque flute sonatas or arrangements of Bach or Debussy pieces. Don't get me wrong, I love Bach and Debussy, but only for what he wrote it for (though a lot of his piano pieces do sound tons better done on harp!)
I don't own or listen to any clarinet CDs, or any Jazz CDs! I like to listen to mostly Killing Joke, Ministry, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Human League, Ultravox, Visage, Queen, Madness, Specials, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Front 242, Young Gods, Fields of the Nephilim, ...
My main instrument is baritone sax.
My favourite instrument, which I enjoy playing by far, is cor anglais.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-19 21:26
Chris P wrote:
> I like to listen to mostly (...) Madness, Specials (...)
the sax backing (well, it's rather prominent) in "one step beyond" is mighty cool to honk, even with the clarinet. Some of the Specials' riffs are real ear worms. Nothing, however, beats the solo in Hazel O'Connor's "Will you?"
--
Ben
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-19 21:43
Oh yes! Wes MacGoogan's solo in 'Will You' was an inspiration to me as a youngster (as well as Madness and Ian Dury) - I still watch 'Breaking Glass' from time to time as well!
I found out about ten years ago I played on pretty much the same equipment as Wes MacGoogan (from someone he taught over Eastbourne way) - Yamaha 62 alto with a Lawton mouthpiece!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2006-08-19 21:45)
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Author: FDF
Date: 2006-08-19 21:45
I Confess:
When I was young, while playing the clarinet when a shaft of sunlight streamed through the window revealing particles of dust, I thought I saw notes coming from the instrument. Perhaps, they were waves of sound visible in the sunlight particles. But, I imagined notes caressing the invisible staff that floated through the room.
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-08-19 22:23
(1) I, too, clean my mouthpiece with the pull through swab - - I had never heard that shouldn't do that until I read it on this BB in the last few days
(2) I don't own any clarinet recordings - - I have about 600-700 cassettes, LPs, & CDs of "classical" from John Bull, Giles Farnaby on up to Paul Hindemith, Leroy Anderson, Aram Khatcheturian, & Alec Wilder (the latter played by the Columbia Studio Orchestra cond. by Francis A. Sinatra). Most of my featured instrument recordings are flute and harpsichord.
(3) I often go off on a tangent when practicing my clarinet lessons and begin playing songs I like by ear. . . things like "While Strolling in the Park", "I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl . . .", "Golden Vanity", "Un Bel Di Vedremo", "Mockingbird Hill", ad nausem. I may not complete my lesson at all that day. ...er, uh...those days.
(4) I keep several cheap student clarinets (Artleys, Bueschers, Vito, & B&H. CSOs, George?) on hand to practice . . . one at home, one at work (I stay after hours and play when other ears are gone), one at my mother's house (she's 80 and can't hear me when I'm out behind her house), and one in my car (for use other places like when I go fishing). The B&H is a repair project.
(5) I don't know who these people are: Emma Johnson, Acker Bilk, & Sir Thomas Beecham. I know who Kenny G is - wish I didn't!!
Eu
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-19 22:29
> I know who Kenny G is - wish I didn't!!
Bah. Be glad you don't know "Captain Cook and his Singing Saxophones". Yech.
--
Ben
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Author: SimpsonSaxGal
Date: 2006-08-19 23:29
1) I stole my sister's clarinet after she dropped out of band. Been using it for years now.
2) never took lessons on clarinet, and hardly know any scales. All that I know is self-taught, and what I learned from here and books.
3) I went to college as a sax major, dropped that, and now I play clarinets of various sizes more than anything else.
4) loved Kenny G, until I started learning about college music in my senior year of high school. Now, I dislike his music strongly.
5) I rarely clean out my (rather, my sister's) clarinet. It's a plastic Yamaha.
6) I dropped my old alto sax while clutching my HS's nice new tenor (luckily nothing seriously hurt, a quick cheap little fix)
7) The only time I use clarinet reeds is when I play the Bb. I use sax reeds for the bass and contrabass. Actually my plastic bari sax reed works wonders on the old school contrabass that I play in concert band now.
8) When my band decides that it'll be a tour year, I pick the heaviest instrument to carry! in HS it was a tenor sax in the heaviest case ever, and now it's the contrabass.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-19 23:49
Here's another:
I honestly do not like Mozart's music - I'll play it, but I really don't like it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-20 00:14
> I honestly do not like Mozart's music - I'll play it, but I really don't like it.
I thought Mozart was boring till I stumbled upon Schumann.
--
Ben
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-08-20 00:24
confession 6):
Back in the early 1960's when superman was on TV, one of the pieces my clarinet teacher/band director gave me to practice was the theme (simplified!) from Mozart's 40th Symphony . . . he had me to learn the phrasing & rhythm by singing:
"It's a bird,
it's a plane,
it's a Mo - zart!
{breath}
see him fly,
way up high,
through the sky!"
I still silently sing that to myself every time I hear the 40th . . . connot get it out of my mind.
Chris, how could you not care for a song with such beautiful lyrics about a great super hero?
Eu
Post Edited (2006-08-20 00:25)
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-08-20 00:34
I confess that I regulary attempt to syncopate the K622!
Put in a "rhapsody in blue" gliss where it comes to the high B trill to C
Pitch bend the triplets
Flatten the 3rd and 7th in any arpeggetic passages
Second movements great for improv over D blues in the breaks
Third movements good for attempting a 6/8 swing "polyrythm" feel
Growl/flutter anything you can! Its tricky but just make it interesting!
I confess I taught myself to double tongue (badly) because i wanted to improve my single tonguing. The tip of my tongue was nicked way too quickly and started bleeding while the mouthpiece was in my mouth. my reed was stained red urghhh.
I wouldnt ever tell my teacher any of this though.
I would rather live thank you very much ...
2E
Post Edited (2006-08-20 00:35)
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-08-20 00:49
1. I usually drink coffee shile I practice (thick dark espresso roast made in a french press... my pads look like coffee!). I have actually thought that this may be benificial for the wood as it probaly has coated the inside. This could also explain my very flat high C. (I should clean that vent again).
2. I sometimes drink beer to assist in practicing scales.
3. Of the some 400 CD's I own, there are about 40 Radiohead Cd's, and only about 10 or 12 clarinet ones.
4. Several of my CD's are Emma Johnson Cds. Lol.
That is all.
QUOTE:
"When I was young, while playing the clarinet when a shaft of sunlight streamed through the window revealing particles of dust, I thought I saw notes coming from the instrument. Perhaps, they were waves of sound visible in the sunlight particles. But, I imagined notes caressing the invisible staff that floated through the room."
Were you on LSD or something... that's pretty messed up!
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: goods
Date: 2006-08-20 00:55
ive sat on my ligature.............. twice
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-08-20 00:56
5. i once sat on my clarinet.
6. I got a new clarinet because I sat on my clarinet once.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: FDF
Date: 2006-08-20 01:25
QUOTE:
"When I was young, while playing the clarinet when a shaft of sunlight streamed through the window revealing particles of dust, I thought I saw notes coming from the instrument. Perhaps, they were waves of sound visible in the sunlight particles. But, I imagined notes caressing the invisible staff that floated through the room."
Were you on LSD or something... that's pretty messed up!
- Sean Perrin (Calgary, Canada)
No drugs involved, but thanks for the comment. Wish I could still see those notes coming from my clarinet! Too old, I guess.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-08-20 02:10
I am really , really hot for Emma Johnson (Emma Thompson, too). I love how she makes her custom clarinet sound like a piccolo trumpet in parts of the Crussell #2.
I listen to her bright, bright sound and love it --how about that cadenza in her performance of Crussell #2? WOW
Then, I'm reminded that WE DON'T PLAY CLARINETS BRIGHTLY, we play them dark, dark.
OH
I wish I could play as well as Emma.
I wish I looked like Sabine.
I wish I could play, sight read, sound like my teacher.
SIGH
Bob Phillips
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Author: mnhnhyouh
Date: 2006-08-20 02:49
I am a spreadsheet geek. I have details of how long each reed has been played. And how long I practice for.
Please dont tell anybody.
h
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-08-20 02:59
I've read all the posts in this thread
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Author: David Niethamer
Date: 2006-08-20 04:42
>1. For my entire playing career, I've been very superstitious about ONLY >swabbing the clarinet from top to bottom because I want the swab to follow >the path of the sound, not go against it.
I do this too. I won't tell you the completely illogical and irrational reason why, but I do it.
2. In one of my weaker moments I actually tried tempering my reeds by using the microwave oven. One word: crispy
The best story I know along these lines - I had a friend in grad school who studied with a big name oboist. He liked to boil his cane before gouging it and cutting reeds. One day he put some cane on to boil during my friend's lesson. His wife stuck her head in during the lesson and said "I smell something burning". Annoyed at the interruption, the teacher said "I've opened the windows - it must be fumes from the traffic" (this was NYC). Result - a few kilos of well sauteed arundo donax. (I believe in cooking they call the stuff that sticks to the pan "fond")
My other story - I sent a few tubes to a friend to try. He decided to accelerate the aging process by "kiln drying" the tubes in a 250 degree oven. Several hours later he remembered what he had done. It did NOT improve the reed performance!!
3. I listen to Acker Bilk ...GBK
There are some depths to which even I will not stoop!! ;-)
David
niethamer@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/index.html
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-08-20 05:11
Some of these posts are fantastic... this thread is an instant classic
"
I am a spreadsheet geek. I have details of how long each reed has been played. And how long I practice for.
Please dont tell anybody.
h
"
HAHAHA... this is so sad.
"
I've read all the posts in this thread
"
This was one of the funniest things I read all day.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-08-20 05:13
[QUOTE]I think it's unfortunate that someone would criticize Emma Johnson's playing, especially a high school student. I've found that her recordings, while sometimes not as pristinely controlled or in tune as others, are very energetic and exciting. She's a musician. I've heard better playing from the technical side of the house, but often it's synthetic sounding, not music making.
"Technique, wonderful sound...all of this is sometimes astonishing - but it is not enough." Pablo Casals[/QUOTE]
HA, other than her technique being pretty...uncontrolled, having very ruged harsh tone. Her phrasing is wayyy too emphasized and obvious. Some recordings arn't bad. She dropped out of high school, fell back on clarinet because she failed at something else. I find it sad that she becomes more famous, more recognized than other amazing players that deserve more! Its just not fair. I find she is like the Classical Kenny G of clarinet....not as bad
just my opinion! dont flame me!
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-08-20 05:27
Ok here are my confessions -
I'm not into hating a bunch of other clarinet players, like a normal clarinetist should do.
I sometimes swab my mouthpiece (why is this bad?).
I don't like the sound of saxophone. The only sound I like less than that is the sound of more than one saxophone together. I especially don't like tenor, soprano, alto, and baritone saxes, not in any specific order.
I listen to some saxophone players, but I listen to them in spite of them being sax players, because they are great musicians.
I don't know how many CDs I own (and I'm not wasting my time counting eventhough I have time to waste). A lot of them are of clarinet players. 90% of the CDs I regularly listen to are of clarinet players. 90% of those, are modern/free/avantgarde jazz clarinet players. 90% of those are of French clarinet players.
Only one of the nine clarinets I have/had I bought in my country.
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Author: marcia
Date: 2006-08-20 05:36
I listened to Acker Bilk this evening....only by accident!! It was background music to the TV show I was watching. Honest!! It was Stranger on the Shore. I wonder......is the Stranger looking for Molly??
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-08-20 06:07
marcia wrote:
> I listened to Acker Bilk this evening....only by accident!! It
> was background music to the TV show I was watching. Honest!! It
> was Stranger on the Shore. I wonder......is the Stranger
> looking for Molly??
Not that Acker Bilk needs my endorsement, but he DOES play a lot more than "Stranger on the Shore"
Click on the link below, and check out (for example) "Wolverine Blues", "Acker Bilk-A-Rovin" or "Someday You'll Be Sorry."
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/3525870/a/Pye+Jazz+Anthology.htm
As I've written a few times before - "...He plays music which appeals to the masses and brings enjoyment to millions of people..."
Obviously a dark, mellow clarinet sound is not imperative to success in the music business. He doesn't have one. So what? ...GBK
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-20 11:54
"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been a pretty long time since my last confession - about 23 years I think. You've already read my confessions. But since I know I can be forgiven for anything I've done, no matter how bad, what is my penance?"
Father O'[insert Irish name] - "Play Schubert's 'Ave Maria' three times."
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: D
Date: 2006-08-20 12:36
So on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is wrapping brown parcel paper round a cork to pad out a badly fitting joint?
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-08-20 12:59
kev182 wrote, referring to Emma Johnson: "She dropped out of high school, fell back on clarinet because she failed at something else."
I would like kev182 to provide a reliable source for that statement. Otherwise, I would like it removed from the bulletin board as libellous.
For another view of EJ's career, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Johnson_%28musician%29.
It is certainly true that she attended the University of Cambridge, which is unquestionably considered the most academically selective university in England, and one of the very finest in the world, and does not take dropouts however good their playing.
FWIW, I don't especially like her playing either.
-----------
If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-20 13:21
Maybe I've gone even further than thinking Mozart isn't the greatest composer of al time, so hold onto your hats:
I listen to Classic FM!
Yeah I'm annoyed they don't play whole symphonies or concertos (and relish the popular classics too much), but they do have some gems from time to time, though not as frequently as I'd like - they do play (bits of) David Schiffrin, Tony Pay, Sabine Meyer and Michael Collins recordings.
But Radio 3 reception is dreadful where I am.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2006-08-20 13:54
Ahem...OK...well, way back in school, before I bought my first wooden clarinet, I gave my plastic clarinet a good washing out under the faucet in the big sink they had in the band room. It was alot cleaner after that! The band teacher thought it was funny, and if I remember right he helped me re-glue a couple of pads that came off. Undoubtedly he would have been upset if the clarinet was borrowed from the school.
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Author: SimpsonSaxGal
Date: 2006-08-20 14:04
I played contra alto clarinet my sr year of HS. Used my one bari reed. I ate pixy sticks while lunch, and played for State right after. I played well, but my reed was forever stained bluish green. Lesson Learned: Do not eat Pixy Sticks or other colored sugary food before you play on a reed!!!
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-08-20 14:16
I have the feeling that we have a couple of sophomores trying to play mind games on us re Emma Johnson. I find the berating of her, Mr.Acker Bilk and ,periodically, other professionals on this board utterly repugnant. If you don't like a player please have the decency to keep it to yourself or just say so and let it be.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-08-20 14:21
David Peacham wrote:
> Otherwise, I would like it removed from the bulletin
> board as libellous.
Hehe. Far from a legal standing as libelous. Uninformed, most certainly.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-20 14:49
I confess that my first clarinet came from India. <blush>
--
Ben
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-08-20 15:11
Mark - I am not, of course, a lawyer, but as an informed layman I think an English court would regard that statement, if unsupported by evidence, as libellous.
If we believe Wikipedia:
"English law allows actions for libel to be brought in the High Court for any published statements which defame a named or identifiable individual or individuals in a manner which causes them loss in their trade or profession, or causes a reasonable person to think worse of him, her or them."
The intent of kev182's statement was, beyond doubt, to make us think worse of EJ.
-----------
If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-08-20 15:19
David Peacham wrote:
> The intent of kev182's statement was, beyond doubt, to make us
> think worse of EJ.
But coming from an patently uninformed source, would not meet any legal test.
So it stays. Case closed.
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-08-20 16:07
Wow, court case over my statement! Like i said... Just my opinion.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-08-20 16:11
kev182 wrote:
> Wow, court case over my statement! Like i said... Just my
> opinion.
Excuse me. What you said did not qualify by any way, shape, or means to be an opinion, but was a pure and simple misstatement based on ignorance. Take no joy in that ...
Hopefully you will take this under consideration and do a bit of fact-checking next time.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-20 16:29
I confess that I have not studied for, nor have any recognised qualifications for the job I do.
I did go to Merton Tech part time for a few weeks back in early 1995, I was also with the 3rd year students there but it was like going back to primary school for me, and spending around 5 hours total in travel time even though it was only a 120 mile round trip, most of it was spent sat in traffic jams, that was tedious to say the least. I could have just had my day off work doing nothing than wasting time (and petrol) learning nothing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2006-08-20 16:35
1- My teacher once told me never to crack my knuckles...and I still do............ALL THE TIME.
2 - I bought a really expensive mouthpiece and don't ever play on it. I play on my $70 Vandoren instead.
3 - Sometimes I don't practice the stuff I can't play because I know it sounds bad...instead I play stuff that sounds good that's easy. A little ego boost I guess. What's bad is I consider it a productive practice session.
.....I know...you can take me out back and shoot me.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-20 16:45
Oh yeah, I always crack my knuckles as well! Especially my right thumb during playing (and it certainly goes with a loud pop), and I also crack my neck which makes people really cringe.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-08-20 16:59
I also crack my knuckels, every morning first thing in the morning (and sometimes during the day too if I need). Each finger twice, in the middle and in the beginning.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-20 17:06
Ok, so I've been cracking my knuckles since I was about 13 - I'm now 34 and haven't noticed any ill effects. If anything, all my joints crack (even my sternum cracks!) and I haven't noticed any pain or loss of movement at all.
I've started a new thread on this, so post your observations or experiences there - it's a topic I would like to know about more, as it could ultimately be a bad thing to do - then again it could do no harm.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2006-08-20 17:10)
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2006-08-20 23:09
This is a good one especially on this board:
A few years ago during a tour I was sitting in a restaurant in Vancouver. The background music was a somewhat soulful saxophone player whose sound I had never heard before. I told the waiter that I liked the music and asked who was playing. He said he was glad I liked it and that the player had a mixed reputation. His name was Kenny G. The next day I bought a record that I enjoyed very much for a while. Shortly after I joined this board and realized I had to change my opinion drastically, because I must have been wrong before…or?
Alphie
Clarinet/Eb-clarinet
RSPO
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Author: FDF
Date: 2006-08-21 01:42
Your expectations have grown.
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Author: YourAverageBoy
Date: 2006-08-21 01:53
I like playing a song with my mouth all the way down my mouthpeice so it squeeks th eentire time to see what it sounds like....lmfao.
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Author: ChrisArcand
Date: 2006-08-21 04:35
Wow. Long thread.
"I frequently butcher the K622 for fun - but not in front of other people."
I laughed abnormally long and hard at that one.
Here are mine...
1. As was previously stated, I read this whole thread.
2. As also was previously stated, I put my swab through my mouthpiece until I found out somewhere that it wasn't good for it at all (and that was less than a year ago)
3. I also do not like the saxophone, unless it's jazz. I could write a whole book on this, but I'll keep it short : I think sax is an awesome instrument, and I love the sound of it - but ONLY in jazz applications. It just doesn't sound good in classical things. I prefer orchestra over band any day - just to get away from the wanna-be-classical-sounding saxophones. Still, I am a sax player (secondly, that is), I own a nice early model Mark VI and put it to use frequently (Jazz!)
4. Before this is said, I'll say that I practice many, many hours a week, along with actual concerts and performances for my clarinet, so it's not like this is nessessarily bad. But, when I get a piano song stuck in my head, I'll spend hours sitting at my piano transcribing the song till it's perfect instead of sticking to the instrument that I'm actually good at!
5. One more - when I was young and foolish in junior high I played on a Selmer Signet Special (still have it!) with the cheapest Buffet mouthpiece/lig setup you've ever seen. The lig was practically made of the same material as a Coke can. Anyway, I've dropped it and accidentally stepped on it. Squished it as flat as a piece of paper against the floor...Twice. (But it still works!...crappy...Good thing I bought a real lig...)
PS~ Mozart is the BEST, thank you. Boring? Hardly! You just have to have a different frame of mind from listening to Beethoven or Schumann or R.V. Williams to realize the different feelings that he portrays.
Post Edited (2006-08-21 04:39)
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Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2006-08-21 06:01
My confessions
1) I think Vivaldi's a hack
2) Pachelbel's Canon makes me dry heave
3) I've played saxophone
-Randy
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-08-21 06:51
Chris Arcand wrote:
"I've dropped it and accidentally stepped on it. Squished it as flat as a piece of paper against the floor...Twice."
Accidentally? Are you sure?
Chris Arcand also wrote:
"I also do not like the saxophone, unless it's jazz.... I love the sound of it - but ONLY in jazz applications. It just doesn't sound good in classical things."
When you wrote "also" I assume you meant in response to my post.
Earlier I wrote:
"I don't like the sound of saxophone.... etc."
Let me clarify - I don't like it in jazz. Classical saxophone is even worse.
For example - my friend was driving me (about an hour drive), and he is crazy about tenor saxophone. After about 20 minteus of tenor saxophone jazz quartet I started desperately looking for something else to listen to. I searched all over the car, but nothing! Everything was jazz quartets/quintets with tenor saxophone as leader (great players like Coltrane, Henderson, Gordon, etc). After about 30 minutes I was ready to jump out the window...... So, I also don't like it in jazz
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Author: Vrat
Date: 2006-08-21 07:06
I like the sound of my alto clarinet.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-21 07:27
> Classical saxophone is even worse.
Er...classical saxophone? As in "Saxophone concerto in F major"? I only know it from Jazz and Sunday afternoon programmes you don't really want to know more about.
I can't stand any instrument for longer than say two hours in a row. Not even clarinet.
--
Ben
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Author: Dancer
Date: 2006-08-21 09:53
I don't practice enough! And when i do i sit down so i am always getting told off for that!
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-08-21 10:56
I confess ...
When i was in about grade 6 or 7 we had a primary school band concert. The day before the concert i was sooo excited, i swabbed/polished/cork greased my buffet B12 up to perfection. I even had my reed chosen and everything, i was so ready to dominate this concert. Anyway, next day the concert came and as i was walking up the steps to the hall, i made the mistake of holding my buffet by the upper joint. *CLANGG!* I turned and looked down - the bottom half of my clarinet was on the ground at the bottom of the stairs! Major cork grease-age had caused gravity to pull the lower joint off the upper joint whilst it was in my hand. Its not cool for a grade 7 kid to destroy a B12. I wont make the same mistake with my R13, always hold it by the lower joint haha.
Sean.Perrin said "Some of these posts are fantastic... this thread is an instant classic"
Thanks but keep the thread goin guys! Im sure there are many accidents/horror stories like mine that you could confess!
2E
Post Edited (2006-08-21 11:01)
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-08-21 11:09
you can't stand for 4 hours practicing, so sitting down (correct posture) is Ok although you should feel really confident while standing. I usually do fundamental stuff standing and the rest sitting... or standing the whole time if i have a concert coming up.
My teacher has a similar experience that you had with your B12 =D right before blowing the high F for the start weber concerto 2 in a big concert, the lower joint came off. Lesson learned, never use too much cork grease. same thing happened to me while swabbing, bent a key or 2 =(
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Author: ariel3
Date: 2006-08-21 12:40
Greetings,
A year ago, I was the featured soloist with the Findlay Civic Concert Band. Prior to the concert I assembled my clarinet on a park bench which was about 300 feet from the band shell. When I finally made my way to my seat with the others, I was shocked to discover that I had lost my Kooman Maestro thumbrest. Stupid me - I had carried my horn by the top joint, allowing the thumbrest to brush against my clothing - - - and drop off. I went back to trace my steps but couldn't find it. Since I didn't have more time to search, I remembered that I did, after all, have the A horn with me, so I swiped the Kooman for that horn and was all set to go. Just about then, some wonderful person came up to the band shell and asked if anyone had lost this "thing-a-ma-jig" ? Yep, it was my Kooman.
Moral to story. Always, always carry the clarinet with the hand below the Kooman on the lower joint.
Gene Hall
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-08-21 12:56
7) In the 10th grade during a band festival competition, I came marching into the room with my bass clarinet . . . just as I did a smart column left to take my seat, the bell came off the clarinet and bounced across the floor right up to the judges' table.
Eu
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-21 13:48
I took photocopies of the entire 1st mvmt. of Pierre-Max Dubois 'Sonata Breve' into my grade 8 exam as I sold my copy a few weeks before (and couldn't be bothered ordering another copy), told the examiner I'm only using a photocopy of the first page as there was an awkward page turn(!), hid the rest of the photocopies inside the other music I was doing so it looked legit, pretty much bluffed my way through some of it and got the highest mark for it out of the other set pieces I played - even though I worked hard at the Weber I got the least marks for it!
I don't know how I got away with it as taking photocopied music to an exam usually results in instant disqulification.
And got distinction (134/150)! Maybe the examiner liked 20th Century French music - and she even saw I had the lot photocopied.
... Not only that, I played on a Bari plastic reed throughout the last year I was at college, I used it for playing everything.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2006-08-21 18:27)
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Author: Bob A
Date: 2006-08-21 14:13
I CONFESS to being continually clinically disturbed by our BB leadership. No considerations should be given to a chat group (not that I want one or would participate) but they allow this drivel to eat up quite an amazing amount of band-width.
Bob A
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Author: clarinet87
Date: 2006-08-21 14:31
Post Edited (2009-04-29 19:01)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-08-21 15:13
Bob A wrote:
> I CONFESS to being continually clinically disturbed by our BB
> leadership. No considerations should be given to a chat group
> (not that I want one or would participate) but they allow this
> drivel to eat up quite an amazing amount of band-width.
> Bob A
And now you've contributed ...
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Author: Ryan25
Date: 2006-08-21 15:58
Before my senior recital, I did not think to check my horn for any loose screws after two intense months of practicing. While performing the Francaix concerto, a screw came almost all the way out during the repeat in the second movement and I instantly switched from normal clarinet to "air" clarinet (which maybe was a good thing:).
I had to stop in the middle of the repeat and wave to my teaher in the audience to come backstage to help because at that moment I did not know what was wrong. He found the problem, looked at me and politely said "if I was not just watching you perform the Francaix from memory, I would think you were an idiot!"
I always check my horns before a perfomance now:)
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Author: BelgianClarinet
Date: 2006-08-21 16:23
I still swab my mouth piece, maybe it is time that I start looking for the threads that will tell me why I shouldn't.
I use vibrato in some cases and I like it ;-)
I even sometimes drink beer when rehearsing (wind band, not during study at home - yet), don't know if that's better or worse than Cola ?
I always play on my best reeds, and then find out that it has had its best time when I need to play a concert
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Author: BTBob
Date: 2006-08-21 16:49
I practice pieces and trouble spots a lot more than I do scales...
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-08-21 16:54
BelgianClarinet et al:
I've seen enough folks confess to swabbing their mouthpiece (I do too) that it appears there is something important that I haven't learned, so I have opened a thread on the subject. I'm looking to learn!
Eu
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Author: sgb2007
Date: 2006-08-21 17:45
1. I have no real practice regiment.
2. I have not taken a private lesson in 6 years, and even though I give in to my director's requests that I pursue them, I am not actually interested in taking them at all.
3. I am first or second chair this year in my high school's Wind Ensemble.
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Author: Koo Young Chung
Date: 2006-08-21 18:23
I love making violins.(my job)
I listen to almost exclusively piano musics.
I like practing my clarinet even though it sounds terrible.
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Author: DressedToKill
Date: 2006-08-21 18:30
I can't stand hearing the smear in the opening of Rhapsody in Blue. I prefer it the way he wrote it...just a scale.
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Author: Markus Wenninger
Date: 2006-08-21 18:31
I confess: I´m extremely intolerant against anything composed between late Monteverdi and 1900, and I am proud of it (2nd confession). 3rd: I´m completely neurotic about cleaning routine after playing (You know this "Did I turn off the light really really?" just when you locked the door, then going back inside only to find, indeed, lights out? The same thing, "Is there r e a l l y not a tiny drop of moisture left inside this tonehole...?" etc pp). 4rth: I dream of groupies in the New / Experimental Music scene.
Markus
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-08-21 18:54
Markus Wenninger wrote:
> 4rth: I dream of groupies in the New / Experimental Music scene.
LOL !
Probably the first time the that word "groupies" has ever been used in the same sentence with "new/experimental music" ...GBK
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-08-22 04:26
Actually, we have a one day (or actually night, all night) festival once a year (2 years so far) of new/experimental music, and a lot of people came to watch. Some people stayed for the whole 10 hours of it, so I'd say those are groupies.
Markus, I am also into this type of music, but I also like a l ot of other music, for example the music you said you are extremely intolerant about. It is interesting for me, why you don't like it?
Thanks.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2006-08-22 05:38
I like classical saxophone. I have enjoyed playing the sax parts in L'Arlesienne and Lt. Kije. However, when I listen to Bolero, the first things that come to mind are not the saxophone solos.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-22 06:02
"However, when I listen to Bolero, the first things that come to mind are not the saxophone solos."
And I bet it isn't the 1984 winter olympics either!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-08-22 06:56
I confess ...
When i first discovered webers clarinet works i pronounced it "WAY-BA" in front of my teacher cause i didnt know any better
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-08-22 09:53
Haha, there are some really funny posts here..
I confess, like someone else im really bad at practicing scales as well, and my sight reading is years behind my technique because i never have really had a chance to play in an ensemble until now. My sight reading is really embarassing! =(
I use to think Richard Stoltzman was horrible, but i'm starting to really respect him.
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Author: Pathik
Date: 2006-08-22 14:07
> Do YOU have bad bad bad habits that you'd never tell your teacher about?
>What are YOUR clarinet confessions?
I don't really know of any bad bad bad habits I have as a clarinettist, and as for confessions......well, my only confessions might be that I love all my three clarinets very, very much, I love the sound of my clarinets when I play them, it's so nice, feels so good, and I also really, really love practising, scales and technical exercises as well, in fact I would probably play all day long if I had the opportunity, but because I need to go to work for eight hours a day to get the money to feed my obsessive compulsive clarinet addiction, and because I do after all want to be considerate and kind to my beloved wife, who is not that fond of listening to me practising, I can only get away with two hours a day, at the most......and then there's also my CD collection of course, I've bought more CDs (and LPs in the olden days) than I really want to think about, and whenever I come across yet another exciting clarinettist, or another tempting/interesting looking clarinet recording/clarinet work I don't have, I (usually) can't resist the temptation to add even more to my collection....not to mention all the stuff (mostly clarinet related) I record from the radio and TV. When am I ever going to find time to watch and listen to it all? And lastly, in response to something that for some reason was brought up previously in this thread and this is not a confession as such, and it's nothing to be ashamed of, not a bad habit: I really love the clarinet playing of Emma Johnson and Acker Bilk (plus all my other clarinet heroes.....too many to mention). Better not get carried away......but it's still another four hours or so to go till I can play my clarinets today....I don't know if I can wait that long.....it's not easy....I'm probably a hopeless case....
....Pathik
PS: I play Buffet E11 and Leblanc Concerto II B flat clarinets and Hanson T6 A clarinet with a superb Eddie Daniels mouthpiece.....all really lovely and loveable clarinets, especially the Leblanc one
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Author: Mags1957
Date: 2006-08-22 21:37
I confess:
1) I often use a light "tremelo" style vibrato - very light and (I think) very subtle - really more a "spinning" of the tone - sort of my attempt at the sound of Harold Wright. I refuse to let it go, no matter how many auditions it costs me. That's the way I hear clarinet, and I can't play it any other way.
2) I also confess that I have swabbed my mouthpiece connected to the whole clarinet a time or two (or 100).
3) Even though I know better, I am somewhat of an equipment junkie. It justs interests me, and I have the money, so why not? And Yes, I absolutely LOVE my new Morales/Backun mouthpiece - the best I've ever played. Maybe it's a psychological thing, but if it works, who cares?
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Author: kenb
Date: 2006-08-22 22:26
An ambitious 12 year old with 6 months clarinet experience and money burning a hole in his pocket purchases music for the Mozart Clarinet Concerto; the cover reads "Arranged for A clarinet and piano."
Well, I had a clarinet and my friend played piano....
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Author: Carol Dutcher
Date: 2006-08-22 23:06
My confession is that: instead of practicing clarinet like I should, I'd much rather listen to Dinah Washington singing THE BEST IN BLUES which are positively the raunchiest songs anybody ever sang, with the best backup blues band in the world. It is hard to find this recording anymore. I lent mine to somebody and of course never got it back. So my confession is therefore that I wish I was a blues singer instead of a clarinet player.
And, I really like Acker Bilk. He's wonderful.
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Author: ken
Date: 2006-08-23 01:24
I defiled my most expensive clarinet by playing Carpenter's melodies on it. v/r Ken
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Author: diz
Date: 2006-08-23 06:18
My confession: I spend way too much time on this BB than could be more usefully spent arranging or playing the clarinet.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-08-23 09:49
I confess ...
I enjoy jazz improvisation on soprano sax and play a little too much tenor sax which ruins my classical clarinet sound and technique.
I too probably spend too much time on this BB as well, oh well i love it.
When this thread gets to 100 replies, I think itd make a good "keeper" :P
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2006-08-23 11:43
Hmm.. I do water the lawn with my clarinet... but that isn't a bad thin, right?
And I always swab my mouthpiece, get over it.
If it doesn't function properly anymore, than I will have to buy a new one...
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Author: Jhall
Date: 2006-08-23 12:26
Confession:
1. In college, I cut all the pages out of my Complete Klose, punched holes along one side and put them into a loose leaf binder. Not so bad? Then I drew a color picture of Alfred E. Neuman on the cover.
My professor thought it was a good idea until he saw the cover.
2. In high school I took my clarinet apart - keys and everything. The fact that I had done the same with wind-up clocks and never got them back together didn't deter me. It took an awfully long time to figure out where all the keys and screws went.
3. (I sure hope my director doesn't read this) On dance jobs I use a vibrato wide enough to drive a truck through. In concert band, I try to behave.
I feel better already!
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Author: Lobo
Date: 2006-08-23 20:19
By this time, I must be the only one who hasn't contributed, and yet I still hesitate. I don't want to be banished, but I'll chance it. My confessions:
1. Like many others, I don't practice enough.
(But wait, it gets worse!)
2. Since my cousin gave me beginning lessons when I was in the fourth grade, I haven't had another individual lesson in my life. (I'm well into middle age and have managed, without audition, to get into a wind ensemble comprising primarily music educators, pros, and people who at least studied music in college.)
(Dare I even post the next confession??)
3. I have used my ligature to scrape the gunk off the outside of my mouthpiece.
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-08-23 20:43
So many posts, I can't keep up reading them... I keep forgetting where I left off!
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-08-23 21:10
I've adjusted reeds with my thumbnail.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-08-23 21:22
> I've adjusted reeds with my thumbnail.
I do that all the time. What's wrong with that?
I even used a nail clipper and a nail buffing file on them.
--
Ben
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Author: sylvangale
Date: 2006-08-23 22:25
I confess...
I own a clarinet... and it's white.
(Vito Clari-tone)
Regards,
Stephen
♫ Stephen K.
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Author: diz
Date: 2006-08-23 23:42
Jhall, maybe a career in mechanical engineering is more suited to you?
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-08-24 01:09
I am looking at three (3) e-flat clarinets right now in my room.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-08-24 01:42
Sean:
Send one Eb to me and the other to Ben (tictactux). Then you won't have to look at so many.
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Author: MaDxClArInAtOr
Date: 2006-08-24 01:45
Post Edited (2013-10-11 22:11)
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2006-08-24 02:29
Wow. This is a pretty entertaining thread.
Aside from the above said falters I remember one time when I was in 6th or 7th grade I was sitting in our band class (I went to a very small school at that time, only 150 kinds from pre K-11th grade) which had around 15 people. The director was taking some time out of rehearsal to work with another player and he just couldn't get the figure. To the director's chagrin I said "Come on!" right in front of everybody. Very embarrasing.
In high school at a district band or state band festival, the band manager was up telling us some stuff on the stage and I remember busting out laughing (with the rest of the people in the front row on the stage) when he fell off the stage walking off. Not something I'm proud of, though. He was a big...a very big man; it was entertaining at the time.
I find myself kind of intolerant with players who can't get a figure after the third or fourth time. I'm not talking Francaix or Nielsen, easy stuff. Rhythms. It sometimes gets the best of me.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-08-24 02:44
[ Since this could easily be an unending thread, it's now time to close it - GBK ]
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The Clarinet Pages
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