 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: gigaday
Date: 2011-11-23 12:02
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Thank you Marcia for your interest in my custom thumb rest. Here is a link to a web page that contains the pictures, including a zip file with them all in: http://www.wikiwhatever.com/thumbrest/. Also attached to this post are 5 of the photos, there are more on the web site.
This is a prototype that I made myself from hard pine, aluminium and some great padding material of which Mr Kooiman was kind enough to supply me a small quantity.
Like you, I tried the Kooiman Student but found it did not suit me. I wrote to him and exchanged some ideas on what I thought should be done to improve it. Mainly that the basic concept of pressing down on something that you were trying to hold up seemed to me to be counterproductive. So, based on some modifications that I made to the Kooiman rest, I set about making one from scratch.
The bracket that holds the rest to the instrument is aluminium and is a copy of the plastic Kooiman one that broke so I had to make a replacement anyway. Only difference is that the rest slides on from the bottom rather than the top.
The rest I hope explains itself with the photos. I did think about trying to manufacture something on the same lines with facilities for adjustment. But I can't be bothered. All the adjustments I have made for myself were done by setting the height on the slide and rearranging the padding to give me the support that I wanted.
If you have any questions, please ask away.
Tony
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Author: marcia
Date: 2011-11-23 16:12
Thanks Tony. However I don't see myself taking on the task of trying to make my own. My problem with the Kooiman was the fact that it was not possible to adjust the height of the thumb hook relative to the casing. Apparently the previous model did have that facility but the later model that I purchased had that option removed. I don't understand why he would have done that. There was a suggestion that the next version would have the adjustment option restored, but I have not researched that at this point.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-11-23 17:50
Two Words:
Neck Strap
(and learn to hook/unhook quickly enough for Bb/A changes)
;-)
Bob Phillips
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Author: gigaday
Date: 2011-11-23 19:24
Bob, I tried a neck strap and couldn't get on with it. I use one with my EWI and it's fine for that, don't know why:- It's bit lighter? It doesn't have an embouchure as such? The fingering is much simpler?
But the strap just didn't work for me with the clarinet.
Marcia, if you can find someone to do it for you it's actually simple enough. I did it all with a saw and a rasp, simple hand tools. Doesn't take that long to do either.
I realise that what I have made is ugly, it's just a prototype, but I really can't understand how players tolerate hanging the weight of the instrument at the end of their thumb. The leverage is just plain wrong! My design solves this.
If anyone wants to take the idea, polish it up into a commercial product and charge 150USD for it, I say that they will make some money.
Tony
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-11-24 17:31
One of the Texas clarinet profs I met at ClarinetFest in Vancouver insists that all of his freshman students give a neck strap a fair trial. He told me that most decide to use one. Some do not.
Other teachers distrust the strap as interfering with the embouchure and discourage its use.
What sort of problems did you encounter with your neck strap trial? Some folks have trouble changing clarinets quickly enough when fiddling with the strap is added to the instrument swap.
I don't know what an EWI might be.
Bob Phillips
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2011-11-24 21:09
Bob, an EWI is a wind synth or Electronic Wind Instrument
Peter Cigleris
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Author: gsurosey
Date: 2011-11-24 23:55
My teacher had my ditch my neck strap because when I was using it, my left hand position was wacky (I was turning it up and out somehow). I still do it sometimes, but not nearly as much since I stopped using a neck strap.
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Rachel
Clarinet Stash:
Bb/A: Buffet R13
Eb: Bundy
Bass: Royal Global Max
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Author: gigaday
Date: 2011-11-25 08:52
Bob, the problem I had with the neck strap was that I found it impossible to get the length just right. It was either too short and messed up my embouchure or too long and I was carrying the instrument anyway. And even if I got it right one day, it felt wrong the next day. I gave it two or three weeks of trial before I abandoned it.
Also, as my thumb rest works perfectly for me, why struggle with something that didn't.
The EWI has a little rubbery mouthpiece and what embouchure there is (it's very easy compared to clarinet) can adapt freely without precise length-tuning of the strap.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-11-25 20:03
gigaday,
I hear you on the length problem.
I use a neck strap on the sax, and that seems easy to get the right length, you just swing the horn around its strap hook and poke the mouthpiece into your mouth.
On the clarinet, the axis of the horn and mouthpiece is almost parallel to the strap, so the length is critical.
I was lucky and got an ELASTIC strap for my clarinet, so I can treat the length in a different way. I adjust the strap so that the mouthpiece "floats" at just about the right place, maybe a bit lower. This balances most of the instrument's weight, leaving just a bit of force to be provided by your thumb.
I certainly have no argument with your satisfaction with your thumb rest; and agree that if it is serving you well, there is no need to change. The trick feature of moving the load down from way out on the thumb toward the hand is brilliant.
Bob Phillips
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