 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-03-08 00:52
When we have discussed the position of the bass i.e. between the legs. I have a problem of seeing the music. I look through the neck and I feel like i'm crossed eyed. any suggestions?
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Author: Willie
Date: 2001-03-08 02:27
Heck, try it with a contra! I've had to learn to read off to the side, sorta and look at the conductor with the other eye at what ever angle need be. I figure in a couple years, I will most likely start to have eyes like the comedy actor Marty Feldman.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-03-08 04:45
I'm trying to get used to holding the horn between the legs also. Positioning the horn as far to the right as is comfortable and setting the music stand a little to the left allows me to see the music. But this position is going to take some getting used to. With my low Eb bass I simply hold it on the right side like a sax but this doesn't work too well with the low C horn.
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Author: Eils
Date: 2001-03-08 09:27
I thought I was just odd coz I was having this problem, and it's reassuring to know that I'm not alone. I've tried playing my low Eb bass at the side but I find it very hard because to put it bluntly I'm rather tiny. But I can't see over the top of it if I have it on the floor!!!Any suggestions???
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Author: graham
Date: 2001-03-08 11:18
I have this problem too, which is exacerbated when players are crammed together and it is not easy to move about. Does anyone else also suffer from fuzzy vision when playing low notes? I usually have to look well ahead, because a low E or E flat makes everything go very fuzzy and I can't always read myself out of that register, (I use a stick without a rubber bung on the end, which I imagine may be part of my problem, as it is me absorbing the low frequencies, not a rubber bung).
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2001-03-08 13:41
I don't seem to have this problem, so let me give a few of suggestions. (I really wish I had my instrument with me at the moment so I could observe what I do.)
First, I keep my stand pretty high, but this is mainly so that I can see the conductor just over the top.
Second, I keep the stand relatively far in front of me - I am guessing about 1 1/2 to 2 feet from the instrument. Usually, each note on the page can be seen by one or the other eye if not both. I may make subconscious adjustments of the positions of my instrument and head as I, for example, move from one page of the music to another. Occasionally, if I play something with smaller notes, such as march-size music, I need to move closer to the music and make angle adjustments.
I would suspect that if someone has trouble seeing with one of their eyes or has a particularly dominant eye, there will be more difficulty because (s)he will need to be able to see all of the music with that one eye. Normally, one's brain should be able to automatically switch to concentrating on whichever eye it needs to.
Third, and maybe most importantly, because I sit up very straight and tilt the instrument so the mouthpiece angle is closer to that used when playing a soprano, I may be looking over the top of the neck most of the time. To do this, it is necessary to sit on the front edge of the chair and have your stand high, as I mentioned in my first point.
(I will need to check all this out when I go home tonight.)
--Don Poulsen
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-03-08 14:42
Have any of you tried the Bay neck? It seems that would help somewhat to put the head and neck of the player at a similar angle to that of the soprano clarinetist.
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-03-08 17:03
Brenda I had c. bay send me a neck to try. The new selmer neck is almost a copy of the bay. So it was not any improvment. If someone had the old style neck this would be a help.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-03-08 17:08
The Bay bass clarinet neck (or my homemade version) with their sharper angles (close to that of a soprano clarinet) do indeed provide the indirect benefit of allowing most players to see over the neck better (thus precluding the aforementioned Marty Feldman syndrome).
Other subtopic: To avoid having one's brains rattled by low notes, use a mouthpiece patch (my favorites are Bay's thin clear ones). These will eliminate most vibrations from being transmitted up through the teeth and jaw.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-03-08 17:43
Another benefit of using a mpc. patch is that it keeps your teeth from sliding around on the top of the mouthpiece. This is doubly important on the bass where finding a comfortable playing position can be a scuffle.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2001-03-08 18:21
Or use a double-lip embouchure to keep your head from rattling and your teeth from sliding.
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-03-08 20:03
hi guy I love the bass---i just wished that i could play the middle register better. Some day a better horn.
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2001-03-08 22:22
Graham-
oh my god! I'm not insane! I practice in the living room a lot, and when i play an E or Eb, the image on the tv or computer monitor vibrates up and down. I thought it was a psychological thing or something, since nobdoy else can ever see it. i can see everything else in the room fine, only the monitor and tv vibrate. thank god i'm not going crazy!! I dont think lack of a rubber stop is affecting this for you though, i have a stop on mine and its resting on carpet, and i still cant see straight. as for seeing the music, i position myself to the left of my music and look out of the corners of my eyes - since I'm also pretty little (everybody thinks its hilarious, the horn is almost as big as i am - its gonna be pretty interesting soon, one of my friends wants to teach me trombone)
*ashley*
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-03-09 02:51
Bob,
Behave!
By the way--the double-lipping idea is excellent. I haven't touched a mouthpiece with my teeth since 8th grade when I got braces and learned double lipping out of desperation. Then, later on my college prof. told me most professionals double lip.
The instrument sounds so much nicer AND it makes the mouthpieces sell for more on eBAy! HAHA
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-03-09 13:49
I don't believe it's true that most professionals use double-lip embouchure --- I suspect it's far less than 50%. Besides, double-lip has a major (in my opinion) drawback -- you can't play standing up, because at least on the soprano clarinet you have to support the instrument by clamping it with your legs. As I prefer to practice standing up, and often perform that way (jazz, not orchestra!) I would find double-lip to be a hindrance. However, there's no denying that playing double-lip increases the market value of your mouthpiece on eBay. <LOL>
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-03-09 14:03
David,
I play with a group that performs standing up all the time and have never had a problem with double lip. I've been playing that way for about 35 of the 39 years I've played clarinet. My teacher is a soloist with the International Clarinet Symposium in Paris and he performs standing up all the time and never has a problem.
But, if you get used to biting the top of the mouthpiece with your teeth it's hard to learn to double lip. It's not a big deal. Whatever works is fine. One isn't right and one isn't wrong.
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 2001-03-10 00:41
Dave,
I know of quite a few double-lippers that can play just fine standing up ;^) Whether the effort required to play double lip standing up is worth it is in the eyes (and mind) of the player.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-03-12 14:25
I'll concede being wrong about the inability of double-lippers to play standing up, but nevertheless, wouldn't you all agree that the majority (that is, >50%) of players do not play double lip? If I wrong on that, too, I'll eat my humble pie ---- we're here to learn!
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 2001-03-12 14:37
Dave,
In the USA the great majority of players don't use double lip - I don't know about much of the rest of the world; however, what I find interesting is the high percentage of top-notch, well-known players who played double-lip for a significant fraction of their career, not just as a remedial exercise.
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