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B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: liam_hockley
Date: 2010-02-10 04:46

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has any advice about the tubes used in Donald Martino's "B,A,B,B,IT,T", specifically the type/weight of paper that is best suited to this job, and the actual construction of the tubes.

Thanks,
-Liam

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2010-02-10 23:06

The paper needs to be light enough so that you can make a tube small enough to fit in the bottom joint of the clarinet and heavy enough so that the tubes won't get crushed when inserting them multiple times as you practice. Cereal box cardboard is too thick, regular paper is too thin. It's been 30+ years since I played this and I can't remember exactly what kind of paper I used but it was nothing special-just stuff I had laying around the house.

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: donald
Date: 2010-02-10 23:14

I'm fairly sure i remember Richard Hawkins telling me he had made his tubes out of plastic.... pipes or sheet? I can't remember, perhaps you should try emailing him?
dn

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2010-02-11 20:52

Another tip. Make the tubes a little too long so that you can easily tune them by cutting a little bit off the end.

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: Adrianna
Date: 2010-02-12 04:17

Recently, Stan Fisher from Acadia University gave a lecture and presentation at the University of Calgary. He actually played this piece with tubes and all. It was quite fascinating to watch. You might try and get in contact with him... whatever his tubes were made of, it worked well.

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: liam_hockley
Date: 2010-02-12 05:54

Thanks for the answers everyone! Actually, Adrianna, I saw him at the University of Victoria but spoke to him only briefly about the piece. It sure was a good performance though!

-Liam

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: liam_hockley
Date: 2010-06-02 20:22

I just uploaded a performance of "B,a,b,b,it,t"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCoJyoULHv0

Thanks to all who replied to the thread a few months ago, it was a great help.

-Liam

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-06-02 23:36

Liam -

Lovely performance. What did you put on the ends of the tubes to make them hold in the bore yet let you slide them in and out?

I think in a live performance you could get a good laugh, at least from an audience of clarinetists, when you slide out the big tube and reveal the small one.

Ken Shaw

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Re: B,A,B,B,IT,T

Author: liam_hockley
Date: 2010-06-03 00:44

Thanks Ken! I used narrow blue painter's tape (about 2cm or 6/8in wide). I made the ring of tape thick enough so that it would be more or less even with the bottom of the lower joint when the tube was inserted, it seemed to fit the measurements Martino wrote in the score.

My first performance of the piece (at a gala concert of student composer's new works, supplemented by some more well-known contemporary music at the University of Victoria) did get a few laughs... unfortunately it wasn't captured on film (or audio)!

Thanks again,
-Liam

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