 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-07-16 02:52
See their website. Resumes must be in by the end of the month.
Honestly, utility bass is the BEST way to get a foot in the door of any orchestra!
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-07-16 12:48
Playing bass clarinet in an orchestra is more than just a way to get your foot in the door, it's a great career. I should know, I've spent 50 years as the bass clarinetest in the Balrimore Symphony. Lots of great solos, good amount of clarinet playing, decent amount of down time, especially if the section has four players, I don't know if St Louis has 3 or 4. But it's a great position and I've always encouraged all my performance majors to study bass clarinet as well as clarinet. I wish the best to who ever wins this audition.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2013-07-16 13:14
St. Louis has four clarinetists. The advertised position is for a one-year temporary appointment.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-07-16 13:42
A one year position...........with the opportunity to re-audition for a permanent position after the one year.
Hey, no offense intended Ed !!! Just wanted to pass along some sage advice to all our young hot shots looking to be the next Morales.
....................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2013-07-16 13:44)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-07-16 15:37
Well, the 'young hotshots'/'future Morales' will have to learn that playing the bass clarinet is very different than playing soprano clarinet. Just because you can play soprano clarinet doesn't necessarily mean you can play bass worth a damn. They have the same fingerings, that's about it.
I'm sure Ed, Larry B. and other BASS clarinetists can tell you about how many fine SOPRANO clarinetists they've heard who (to put it bluntly) sucked on bass clarinet. I'm just an amateur but I've heard plenty myself.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2013-07-16 17:09
"A one year position...........with the opportunity to re-audition for a permanent position after the one year."
I'm not so sure. The actual wording in the announcement is:
"Anyone accepting this One Year position will need to re-audition for permanent/tenure-track employment, and it is understood that they will follow the regular St. Louis Symphony audition procedures."
As I read it, this statement is boilerplate intended to make it clear to candidates that there is no possibility this appointment can convert into a longer-term position. If (and only if) a permanent position arises, the candidate will have to re-apply and will have no special consideration in the application/audition process.
That said, I expect anyone accepted to audition for this position would also be accepted to audition for a permanent position should there be one. And, if the winner does a good job, having a year performing with the orchestra will be a plus on his/her resume. But it's still no guarantee that the winning candidate would even be invited to a permanent audition.
James Meyer is the long-time bass clarinetist with the SLSO. This position could be a signal that he is planning to retire during the current season. If so, there may be a permanent position for next year, but for budgetary purposes, the orchestra may decide to continue filling the position with temporary appointments. There is certainly precedent for that in terms of how they handled Bob Coleman's stroke and George Silfies' retirement. Additionally, I haven't heard any official (or unofficial) announcement to the effect that Meyer is planning to retire so it could be that he is simply taking a year's leave of absence.
Still, a full-time position with the St. Louis Symphony, even if only for a year, is a great opportunity, particularly for someone who hasn't put down roots yet. As orchestral jobs go, it pays well, has good benefits, will look very good on a resume and provides an opportunity to work with David Roberson, Scott Andrews, Diana Haskell and Tina Ward.
Dave S., with all due respect, I think you are underestimating the training young clarinetists are receiving these days. I think Ed, Larry and others would agree anyone aspiring to a career as an orchestral clarinetist had better be very good on all the utility clarinets as well as soprano.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-07-17 18:57
Paul, I never gave it a second thought, no offese taken, or ever thought of. David is right, I've had many clarinet players come to me to learn how to play the bass clarinet because they "sucked" at it. I'd usually help them out in a few lessons teaching them how to voice the upper register above the G right above the staff. When I taught at Peabody I gave every student that requested it a free semester of bass lesson and encouraged my clarinet students to take the offer. Many of them did and did very well. It's a matter of approching the bass as a bass and not a clarinet. Different voicing, mouthpiece position in the mouth, tongue position sometimes, reeds, mouthpiece. It's a different animal. I even taught Ricardo Morales how to play bass, at the Eastern Music Festival I insisted all the students play bass at least in one concert. Of course he took to it like a fish in water.
If the player that gets the one year job is well liked and there is a national audition for a permant position they may be invited directly into the semi finals or even the finals. Every orchestra has their own rules and it's usually up to the audition committee.
By the way, I'll be retiring in September after 50 years and because our second player is a very good bass player and wants that position he will be doing it next year at least and they will hire a second when he's playing bass. It might be a one year position or as needed, I haven't heard the official word on that yet. I know there will not be a national audition for either position in the near future. We were the only section that had four players full time. We used to have all the WW sections with four players. It's a money problem. They just hire subs as needed.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-07-18 15:49
Ed Palanker wrote,
>It's a matter of approching the bass as a bass and not a clarinet. Different voicing, mouthpiece position in the mouth, tongue position sometimes, reeds, mouthpiece. It's a different animal. >
Yup. I've been playing eefer, Bb, A, C, Eb alto and EEb contra-alto for years, along with saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor and bass). Just got my first bass clarinet about six weeks ago. I've been practicing it exclusively since then and I'm definitely still on a learning curve with it. As an amateur I'm sure I've got a more difficult learning curve than a pro would have, but the bass is different enough that I think it probably wouldn't be a good idea for anybody to plan on jumping straight from newbie to auditioning on a bass.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-07-18 19:02
Oddly enough it works the other way around too. I pretty much specialized in bass clarinet in high school and college and played very little soprano clarinet, except in the occasional pit orchestra. Came to realize that my soprano chops were terrible and that I needed to make a serious effort to bring them up to the level of my bass playing. It actually took me about five years of work to get as comfortable on the soprano clarinet as I had been on bass. The moral of the story is the same: they are different instruments!
Congratulations on your bass purchase, Lelia -- whatchuh get?
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-07-19 13:32
> Congratulations on your bass purchase, Lelia -- whatchuh get?
>
It's nothing exciting: American Selmer (plastic) probably made in 2004 (according to info from the seller; and that information is consistent with the specs), with a Bundy mouthpiece. It's in near-mint condition, apparently bought for a student who'd been playing a school instrument but promptly quit. It's better than I'd expect for a student-quality clarinet and it has the extended range. The keywork feels familiar because it's nearly identical to my Bundy EEb contra-alto and my pro-quality Selmer alto.
I'd assumed I'd want to replace that mouthpiece, but so far, I'm not inclined to do so, because of something I never expected (or wanted, frankly, but it's ... interesting, and I'm a chump for anything interesting): this bass can wail right up into the altissimo. With either a Vandoren V-16 size 3 tenor sax reed or a Rico Royal size 3 bass clarinet reed, it plays all the way to (clarinet) second C above the staff, with the greatest of ease -- and I can "lip it up" (overblow it with a very firm embouchure) another octave above that with the same fingerings. Yes, octave: G to G, etc., as on a sax, not another 12th. Bizarre. Jane Feline comes running up the stairs and sits there with her head cocked and a quizzical look on her face.
Now why anybody would *want* to play into the squeak-register on a bass clarinet is another story altogether. That range is completely useless. But the tone quality sounds surprisingly good up there. It sounds a lot like the Selmer Signet Special Bb soprano I use for jazz. Okay, yeah, it sounds as if I'm having kind of a bad day on the Signet Special. But still.
My biggest learning curve so far is in the throat tones and from the break up to G above the break. And now you're going to tell me I should be testing for a tiny pad leak on one of the 5th finger keys. True. But I'm afraid if I solve that problem, I'll mess up the weird altissimo, so for now ....
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-07-19 14:36
Contra (Eb and BBb) is totally natural for me. I just wrap my lips around the mouthpiece and blow. It comes out strong and easy from bottom to top.
But bass is unnatural. From third-line B up through G, and to a lesser extent the rest of the clarion register, I can't avoid the "I've got a cold in my nose" tone. No amount of voicing, embouchure loosening or tightening or adjustment in breath support seems to help. It happens on every bass I've played, from a plastic Bundy up through the top of the line Buffets and Selmers.
Bummer.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-07-19 15:54
>From third-line B up through G, and to a lesser extent the rest of the clarion register, I can't avoid the "I've got a cold in my nose" tone. No amount of voicing, embouchure loosening or tightening or adjustment in breath support seems to help. >
That's the stuffy, weak tone I've been experiencing from mid-staff B on up to G in the clarion. I have trouble getting those notes out at all -- yet from G up to C above the staff is okay (though not great) and altissimo comes much easier than any part of the clarion. That doesn't make any sense, but there it is. After I wrote that previous message, I decided I was just being silly not to check carefully for pad leaks and deal with them, if any. Did that -- couldn't find any. The corks all seem fine. So do the springs. So much for that theory.
Since this is the only bass I've ever played and I'm still new to it, I'm inclined to blame myself and my inexperience (including my inexperience with what should be the best key-opening heights, among the things I haven't tried to assess). What I'm hearing from myself right now would not be acceptable playing in a half-good amateur band or orchestra. One thing I need to do right now is to quit entertaining myself with the "Eek! A mouse!" register and work more seriously on my obvious problem in the part of the range that composers expect from a bass!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Paula S
Date: 2013-07-19 18:40
Lelia, I am interested to know how you get on with the LH levers as I know you have small hands like me? I never thought I would be able to play Eb alto and never would have tried if the band hadn't suggested I play it, as well as eefer and Bb. Because the keys are plateau on Eb alto, there is a lot of room for manoeuvre. Is it the same on bass?
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-07-20 22:42
My American Selmer bass clarinet has plateau keys and feels much the same as my Paris Selmer alto, which also has plateau keys. Another thing I like a lot: this bass has a one-piece key section with no center joint. For "vertically challenged" people with small paws, it's nice not to have to wrestle a big instrument together in the middle to set it up and then apart in the middle in order to put it away. I like a one-piece body anyway because the keys are better-located for the best intonation that way. This bass does have a bridge key, but it's a relic of the alternative design, a bridge over nothing.
I think most adults could reach these keys, but repetitive use injury might be a problem for people who have to stretch as much as I do. Each of my hands barely spans an octave on piano, and it's a "flat palm" octave -- but my hands are unusually strong for their size and that's why I don't get hurt playing these big horns. I got this way because I'm ambidextrous and I'm a (now retired) stained glass designer-builder-repairer. For all that people who break glass for a living like to present ourselves as *Artists* (la-di-da ...), the truth our clients don't usually get to see is: it's construction work! Large men ask me to open jars.
Anyhow, I've been able to play all of the single reed instruments I've tried so far except for the Leblanc "paperclip" contra. In theory I can reach everything on that one but the stretch is so awkward that it's not practical for me and I think the amount of practice time I'd need probably would injure me. Also, on the wide body of my bass saxophone, in order to reach all of the keys and the mouthpiece at the same time, I have to play while standing up, with the sax on a support stand, and I can't use the thumb rest at all because I have to move my entire right hand around to the front to reach all the right-hand keys. I've never tired to play a contrabass saxophone but I suspect I wouldn't be able to manage it.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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