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Back in the saddle

Author: Stacy Friedman
Date: 2007-03-06 18:08

Hi everyone. I'm new to the group but I've been reading for a while. I'm getting back into bass clarinet playing after many years off. In high school I was the low clarinet specialist -- bass/contralto/contrabass -- and did the typical run of state/regional honor ensembles. So I was at least somewhat good once.

I sat in with a local community band last night. There was some good and some bad...

The good:
1) I can still play. And I still like it. A lot.
2) I can still sight read.
3) I still love the Chaconne from Holst's First Suite.

The bad:
1) I have a much finer sensibility on tone now than I did last decade, and I realize that my upper clarion sounds less like a clarinet and more like the grunting noise you make when you do too many situps.
2) My horn is not particularly well in-tune with itself.
3) My chops only lasted for about 90 minutes (but those will come back).

I'm playing on a 20-year-old plastic Bundy with a modified Bay neck, Bay mouthpiece/lig combo, and Vandoren 3s (blue box). I know I might need a better horn -- and in fact, I don't know that I've ever played on a really good bass clarinet, so it might also be me. I hope not, but it might. I also had the Bundy tuned up at a local repair shop last week. I'm not sure if that was sufficient, however.

For example, there's the 16th-note run woodwind run in the Holst Chaconne where the bass clarinet starts on the upper C, and I feel like I need to get lucky in order to not sound like a Canada goose huffing -- not the squawking noise, but that growl they make when they're really mad. Staccato up there is also remarkably difficult, and even when the notes come out it sounds like a tenor kazoo. In contrast, I don't have any problems with soprano clarinet, though it's not my specialty, nor any problems with alto saxophone which is.

On alto sax, I have full facility around the horn, and a tone that I am very happy with -- mellow and lilting with only a hint of edge (Selmer soloist mpc refaced to an E, I think / Rovner lig / Vandoren 3s). I also have the idea of what I want my bass clarinet to sound like, and how I want it to perform, but I'm not getting there.

I don't just want to ask for blanket advice, so here's what I'm considering:
1) Send my Bundy to a real bass specialist, get the tone holes undercut, keywork and pad height adjusted, and perhaps add a 2nd register vent on the neck. Is this worth doing to a plastic Bundy?
2) Investigate some of the newer hard-rubber bass clarinets -- and now I can consider a low-C instrument. I've been in contact with Arioso about a new version of their low-C bass that's going into production this spring. Heather there said they had good feedback from the design changes they made over their existing model, the AHC-120, when they showed it around at NAMM and TMEA. Has anyone tried the prototype new Arioso? I've read somewhat unfavorable reviews of their existing model here (poor keywork), so I'm wondering.
3) Find an eBay horn with at least the 2-vent register and get it patched up (again, by a bass specialist).
4) After all this, the next time I'm in the Bay Area, visit Clark Fobes and see if I can get a better piece for me than my Bay.

Now I'll ask for advice: what are your thoughts on the above, and/or what else would you do if you were picky about sound but not getting it from a plastic Bundy? (Flying to France and picking out a new Selmer 67 or Buffet 1193-2 is not an option...)

Thanks a lot in advance,

Stacy

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Re: Back in the saddle

Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2007-03-06 18:20

Stacy Friedman wrote:

> The bad:
> ...

When I started playing again as an adult (soprano clarinet) after a 25 year hiatus, I also noticed things about my playing that were bad. Likely, though, I had always played this way; as an adult I could hear myself with mature ears and also had mature objectives in playing that I didn't have as a high school band player.

Eventually, I acquired many new instruments, mouthpieces, etc, but before you do the same you might want to start with the simplest things first. Take your bass to a reputable but not necessarily famous repair person. It may just need pads and adjustments, not brand-new register vents, etc. It may not play perfectly afterwards, but it will play well enough for you to get better. Until you build your chops you're wasting your money on exotic equipment, IMHO.

Steve Epstein

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Re: Back in the saddle

Author: CEC
Date: 2007-03-06 23:50

Hi Stacy,

I'm in a similar boat to yours. I double majored (composition and performance) in college and had the good fortune of making a living professionally for a short while as a doubler. I've been trying to make my comeback for about a year (after 15 years off), but have had a number of obstacles to climb, so I'm not quite back in the groove. Yet

My humble opinion is that no single-vent design can be pushed into top-notch playing territory (in terms of the high registers) no matter how much tweaking.

Were I in your shoes and location, I'd seek and absorb the advice of Mr. Fobes.

Best of luck!

Chris

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