 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Barbara
Date: 2000-06-13 16:37
Hi! If anyone remembered my question about why is the clarinet not usually thought of as a jazz instrument by the jazz band instructors, I have switched to the alto sax to play jazz though a switch to tenor sax may also be possible. Is there a saxophone website like this to help me out? Thanks! 1 question though, do people think that doubling the sax and the clarinet will spoil the embouchure for the clarinet? Especially after playing mostly in the lower range of the sax?
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-06-13 17:02
actually i find that playing sax makes me a better clarinetist and vice-a-versa, i can fill my clarinet up with more air than a clarinetist my age who's never played sax. BTW i started out on Tenor Sax in 4th grade. visit www.saxgourmet.com www.selmer.com/htdox/saxcorner.htm
www.saxophone.org
try those for now and see if they help! happy saxing!
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Author: MikeH
Date: 2000-06-13 17:20
Here is the URL for a great sax discussion site:
http://www.geocities.com/harrir/saxophone/forum.html
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-06-13 17:31
Don't worry about messing up your embouchure (spelled right!) I'm playing bari sax. I'm actually finding my embouchure is getting better. I think it's because I pull my chin down on the low notes, and it's carrying over. The only weird thing that has happened to me so far is that I was playing Db when I wasn't supposed too. My teacher had some crazy idea (which could have been part of it) but I said, "Actually, I think I'm just getting my sax fingering mixed up with my clarinet fingerings".
That's the only bad affect it's had so far...unless you count the fact that it's getting easier to play loud on all of my wonderful clarinets. Bad for my cat, good for marching season
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Author: John
Date: 2000-06-13 17:45
When you decide to double, whether it's clarinet/sax or clarinet/flute or trumpet/oboe, be sure to give your original instrument equal practice time. Do not let your clarinet "fingers" get rusty.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-06-13 18:58
Enjoy all the sax you want, it's your life!
Okay, okay, but it was just too ripe for the picking. I couldn't resist.
From the folks I know who make a living at whatever single reed woodwind they can grab, doubling is okay, as long as you keep up with whatever horn you're playing at the time. Keep the fingerings straight in your mind and have fun.
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 2000-06-13 19:30
You might want to check out John Cipolla's Web site at <B><A HREF=http://www.johncipolla.com>http://www.johncipolla.com</A></B>. John has made a profession of both performing and teaching doubling techniques. John's a sponsor of Sneezy.Org, too - drop on by and tell him I sent you :^)
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-06-13 21:47
I double on clarinet and saxes, as an amateur. Saxes feel different enough to remind me not to use the clarinet fingerings. Sax embouchure was the most challenging thing for me to get used to. At first, I had trouble remembering to put more mouthpiece in my mouth and to use a looser embouchure. However, sax playing hasn't hurt my clarinet playing a bit. I think it's a great combination of instruments for doublers. If you like to play with groups, I think you're more likely to get work if you're versatile.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-06-14 02:40
If you try a soprano seriously, you may have to give up clarinet. Soprano is very difficult to tune in the first place. Steve Lacy gave up other saxes to devote himself only to Soprano.
If you try a soprano for fun and like to play or exercise sop and clarinet, you should start with cl, then sop. If you start with sop, your emboushure is too much tired to play clarinet. I wonder whether the same thing will happen with Bari/Tenor/Alto saxes and clarinet.Maybe,clarinet should be played first?
Websites:
Saxophone mouthpiece heaven: http://www.mouthpieceheaven.com/
(Selmer Soloists is Sax's Kasper, I think.)
Saxophone repertoire lists: http://www.crod.edu/faculty/rpeters/replist.html
Sax Products: http://www.dornpub.com/LinkSax.html
Sax (mechanical) freek suggestions:
1.Change thumb rest and hook to metals,which old ones had but new ones changed to plastic. They enhance volume and resonance very much.
2.Another queer suggestion:Change to metal hook. This is bucked up by a strange theory. Our body's surface potential is plus(+),whereas our body center is minus(-). During playing Sax, electrons flow into Sax via fingers because they have plus(+) potential. This mal-affects the atomic distribution of the Sax body and their sound. If the hook is made of metals, they can backflow into our body center(minus potential). This is not my original idea. It is good to your health for you to wear precious metals neckless by the same reason:it levelizes potential.
By the same theory(?), if you store sax in its case, you should place it in north-south direction(Earth's own magnet field direction). When you pick up it, it sounds better. Funny? Believe it or not, that flutist James Galway does this.
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Author: Lindy
Date: 2000-06-14 09:03
So long as you're an established clarinettist and don't try to double too quickly you should have lots of fun.
I played clarinet for 10 years before I picked up a tenor and more recently a flute, I'm getting loads more gigs now.
You might want to get a sax mouthpiece similar to your clarinet one atleast to begin with, I found it helped anyway.
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Author: herb
Date: 2000-06-14 13:51
BBS about doubling:
http://slmrweb.selmer.com/clarinet/discus/
then click "Clarinet Discussion"
then click "Doubling"
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Author: larry
Date: 2000-06-15 18:20
I don't know about Hiroshi's advise on not doubling with soprano sax. He mentions Steve Lacy's problems - but what about Sidney Bechet? He spent his whole life doubling on clarinet and soprano and is one of the most celebrated artists on each instrument.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-06-16 02:36
Doubling is a pros' choice to get broader opportunities to earn money. When he has earned enough and does not need to play multi-instruments, it would be up to him whether he chooses one or continue to do doubling.
I started Sop 2 years ago, and found it is extremely difficult to play in tune in the first place:only after I tried five mouthpieces I found a suitable one, and sympathized with Lacy.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-06-16 13:54
I found soprano sax the easiest of the saxes to get used to. The embouchure seems quite similar to a clarinet embouchure. I think sax players have a very hard time adjusting to the firm embouchure required on both clarinet and soprano sax. (I had the opposite problem -- convincing myself to loosen up my mouth enough for bass sax, in particular.) However, my soprano sax is an atypical one, a 1924 King Saxello, so maybe I would think differently if I'd been trying to learn on a conventional soprano sax. The Saxello has a reputation for intonation problems, and apparently people find those problems in different places than on other soprano saxes. I've never played any other soprano sax, but found the intonation compromises on my Saxello to be very similar to those on a clarinet.
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