 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2014-04-24 00:50
Looking at posts about drying tenon sockets, swabbing mouthpieces, and waxing reeds, I'm curious to hear any stories about "incorrect" things that well-known players routinely have done that would curl the hair of those who are particularly particular.
For example, I was told by a pro friend that he saw Stoltzman open a box of reeds back stage, pick through them for one that he liked, and play the performance on it with no break-in, and so forth.
And I knew one prominent player back in the 60s who admitted that he hadn't washed his swab in five years.
And one who used a "one piece" case for his instrument, and never took it apart--ever.
And one who used oleo as cork grease.
B.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-04-24 01:02
I was very tempted to buy a one piece case. And for about 6 months I kept my clarinet in a tall cabinet, assembled. Saved me assembly/disassembly time every day. Then I had a look in the joints and it was not pretty.
Let's see... I always swab my mouthpiece, dry my tenon sockets with the swab, and now I'm waxing reeds. But I'm no prominent player... yet. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2014-04-24 01:49
Stories, please. Not your own personal preferences and practices, "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts"! :-)
Let's keep this tight.
B.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2014-04-24 17:19
I've known pro players who never cleaned their mouthpieces, who refused to use basic chromatic fingerings, who never altered or broke in reeds (chose whatever worked, threw out the rest of the box), played with their fingers flying way up above the instrument (even in highly technical passages), played in contorted positions to rest the bell on a knee, a thigh, between the knees, etc., left reeds on the mouthpiece without cleaning either (until the reed 'died'), used a tub of vasoline for their corks (which some consider a major faux pas)...the list goes on.
Whatever you can imagine has probably been done. And if you dig deeply enough, it's probably be taught somewhere as the 'best' way to do it too...
I'm not naming names.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2014-04-24 17:50
>> For example, I was told by a pro friend that he saw Stoltzman open a box of reeds back stage, pick through them for one that he liked, and play the performance on it with no break-in, and so forth. <<
I always do that, unless the reed that is already on the mouthpiece is fine
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2014-04-24 21:38
At the Civitan (Arlington, Virginia) flea market on April 5, I saw the sad result of a big no-no. The clarinet was a wooden C. G. Conn, marked LP for "low pitch," a sure sign of pre-WWII vintage. Since I play C. G. Conn saxophones from the golden period of the 1920s, I would have loved to buy that clarinet for under US$50 and try it out, but alas -- ruined, probably not by a clarinet player, but by a flea market dealer.
The wood, not just inside the bore but all over the outside, too, had swollen and cracked in several places. Some of the key-posts had popped loose so that the keys dangled. The surface of the wood looked dull, grayish and checked. The plush case-lining was a stinky, rotten, moldy mess, stained blotchy gray and black. Maybe somebody could use those keys for parts, but the wood -- nope. Perished.
What had happened? I'll bet everybody reading this has already figured it out: somebody'd displayed this clarinet at an outdoor flea market in the rain, then closed up the soaking wet case and stored it in a trailer or an outbuilding where it froze and thawed, probably several times, over the winter.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bruno
Date: 2014-04-25 20:32
My flute teacher never took his flute apart. There used to be a woman in NYC who made instrument cases to order (forgot her name) and she made him a long case that would accommodate his assembled flute. He was principal flutist of the Met Opera orch. 1944 - 1965, Harold Bennett.
Kenny Davern confessed to me that he never played his "good horns" on gigs, but played a composition one - a Vito, if I remember.
b>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: gkern
Date: 2014-04-25 20:57
I have 2 CDs of Kenny's; the liner notes indicate he used a Conn 16 with a Vandoren 5JB mouthpiece.
Gary K
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
