Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2000-12-01 05:42
I bought a very old Selmer Series 9 bass which I'm thinking of naming Christina, sort of like Stephen King's malevolent self repairing car, Christine. I'd just as soon avoid the malevolence, so I wouldn't want to name her exactly the same thing. I started a few weeks ago with a similar observation to yours: The low notes were OK, but after the register key was engaged, yucch. It was particularly bad at the top of the clarion register. I haven't had the horn overhauled, and the mouthpiece is some unidentified piece of plastic, so I wasn't too concerned. I figured there was plenty of mechanical things that could be haywire. I kept tooting on the horn while I waited for the technician's schedule to open up, and for my three mouthpieces that I want to audition to arrive. Every day Christina, the magical self repairing horn, played a bit better. About a week ago, she sang to me!! I stayed up way past midnight listening to her sing. She sang beautifully everywhere, and most beautifully of all right at the top of the clarion register. Either Christina really is a magical self repairing horn, or I just didn't know how to blow a bass. I think maybe I didn't know how to blow a bass. It is pretty different from a soprano--like almost opposite. A person could be forgiven for not figuring it out right away. The exhilerating thing is that my soprano embouchure improved simultaneously. I'm playing altissimo better, and I have more consistent breath support, so the intonation is also better. I find that going back and forth between the horns is giving me new insights as to how to manage both better. I'm up to my 4th C on the bass now, and I'm pausing there to assimilate the new fingerings. It plays easily to that point. There is a whole octave left to explore above that. I haven't started to figure out those fingerings yet. I've got three fingering charts. They all disagree. I have had to invent or modify several fingerings to get exactly what I wanted, and I'm sure that will be even more true of the final octave. It is an awfully interesting instrument.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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