The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: uliano guerrini
Date: 2000-12-13 19:52
I lended today a selmer bass clarinet from the city school I attend for free for 4 weeks. I'm really excited even if I don't feel at home playing it: the embochure is really different from soprano and after the first hour of attempts I can play just up to the calrion F. Anyway the sound is great... so deep... well that's all, only to tell I'm glad and that maybe in a year or so I will start to look for second hand bass clarinet: I'm big and it suites very well my figure :-)
uliano
PS there is a fee to pay, I promise my teacher to polish it, what should I use for the siver coated parts? (she didn't know)
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-13 22:08
uliamo wecome to the world of the beast. i have had mind for about a month and I'm just starting to get into the middle register. if I could find music for the lower register only i would be in pig heaven. Enjoy.
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Author: donn
Date: 2000-12-13 22:58
You might try www.flitz.com. They offer free samples of their polishes, made in Germany.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-12-14 00:53
Welcome to the BIG clarinets. You just reminded me of the thrill the first time I tried the bass. I've been "hooked" on them ever since. I now play the contra alto and my daughter plays next to me on the bass. Have fun and enjoy!
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2000-12-14 19:17
It was a very long time ago that I made the switch from soprano to Bass, but as I remember, the difference in the upper register is that you don't squeeze out the high notes, you loosen the embouchre, not tighten it to hit the higher notes.
If you think the bass is wierd, try the contras (grin). That is where one learns to tread lightly. They really don't like being told what to do, only asked politely.
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Author: uliano guerrini
Date: 2000-12-14 19:44
Stephen Froehlich wrote:
>It was a very long time ago that I made the switch from soprano to Bass,
>but as I remember, the difference in the upper register is that you don't squeeze
>out the high notes, you loosen the embouchre, not tighten it to hit the higher
>notes.
today I had more time to practise, in a couple of hour I succeded to make all the clarion emit some sort of sound... B is really bad still...
my way has been to open wide the inner of the mouth and throat ad to pull as back as I could the tongue, I can't describe what I did to the embochure but maybe I losened a bit pulling out the MP a tiny bit
other sort of problem is finger wandering in the quest of keys... on the soprano the break is only a minor trouble...
> If you think the bass is wierd, try the contras (grin).
one step at a time, after all it's only 4 months I started: clarinet and music at all
I cannot exclude in a (far) future to try the contra, for the moment I'm just wondering were to find bucks for a bass, and how to explain wife that after $1500 of soprano (november) I need ... well how much I need? $3000 would be enough? before summer ...
> That is where one learns to tread lightly.
time for me to buy the damn dictionary ... meanwhile someone can explain me what does "tread" mean?
> They really don't like being told what to do, only asked politely.
I was starting to think that of the bass... but I trust you... "worst" has no limits!
uliano
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-12-14 23:55
I'm studying with an instrument repair tech. He recommended Flitz too. It's good stuff. I found it in a hardware store with the cleaning stuff. Polished my plastic clarinet today, I never thought it would shine so brightly...
I can hardly wait to use it on my contra!
Anyways, welcome to the land of low clarinets, I'm glad you're having fun.
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Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2000-12-15 02:26
I spent about 3 months or more searching for a bass. My problem was that the more I looked, the more I learned, the more I wanted one of the better ones. I wound up buying a used Selmer Series 9. By the time I get it restored, customized, and a new case, mouthpiece and accessories, it will be very close to $3,000. I'm happy though!
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2000-12-15 12:40
Uliano--
"Tread" means "to step or walk on or over." The idiom "to tread lightly" means "to be careful."
To save you the cost of a new dictionary, try the Merriam-Webster web site at http:www.m-w.com. It also has links to many language translation dictionaries. I used them to find out what a clarinet is called in different languages.
--Don Poulsen
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2000-12-16 03:44
I hate to sound paranoid, but perhaps you should visit a local repair shop and ask for some pointers on polishing. I have polished several metal clarinets. No big deal. Of course, it isn't very hard to polish if you take all the keys off first, plan to replace all the pads, most of the cork and an average of two snapped off springs each horn. Probably you will be OK if you stay away from the pads. You don't want to ruin any of the pads and you don't want polish getting in where keys hit the posts. I suspect you could gum up the action if you weren't careful.
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