 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ClarinettyBetty
Date: 2017-03-03 04:49
Hi all,
I wrote a blog post about my woodwind doubling beginnings and I am curious how many other doublers are out there. Why did you start learning a new instrument? Do you have any cool resources you'd like to share?
I love Bret Pimentel's blogs, but I don't know very many others.
Here's my blog post if you'd like to read it:
https://gentrymusic.wordpress.com/gentrymusic/
--Gentry
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Eb: 1972 Buffet BC20
Bb: Selmer Paris Presence
A: Selmer Paris Presence
Bass: 1977 LeBlanc
https://gentrywoodwinds.com
Post Edited (2017-03-05 21:45)
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Author: Filettofish
Date: 2017-03-03 07:48
As someone who already does some doubling and aspires to improve on all my secondary instruments, I've found both Merlin Williams' and Ed Joffe's Youtube series on woodwind doubling to be very informative. Merlin has long been (and still is?) a contributor on this site and Sax on the Web, and his videos offer some unique musical insights - "tricks of the trade" unique to every instrument, as well as helpful FAQ videos. Ed Joffe's channel is excellent as well, and he has interviewed many very well respected musicians, favoring those who double. He and those who appear on his show offer valuable opinions on woodwind doubling as a career and an artistic medium for the instrumentalist, as well as performance advice. I'd highly recommend both series if you (or anybody else here on the Bboard) is interested in further exploring the world of multiple woodwind performance.
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Author: wkleung
Date: 2017-03-03 16:59
1. Oboe
I started when I was 12. Every student in my school was required to learn an instrument, and oboe was love at first hearing for me. Still my primary instrument. I own about 11 oboes now.
2. Bassoon
Started teaching myself the bassoon at 15. My school orchestra's only good bassoon player was graduating and I wanted to save the orchestra by stepping up. I am now a proud owner of a 4000 series Heckel and a Buffet.
3. Recorder
Took it up on the side at around 15.
4. Clarinet
Last year a double reed mafia mob shut down my fledging career as a music critic, and there simply aren't enough double reed students to sustain my living, so I took up the clarinet a couple of months ago hoping to get more students in the future. Plus I have always wanted to play the Brahms sonatas and the Finzi Bagatelles.
Post Edited (2017-03-03 17:14)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-03-03 17:17
My first venture into doubling was playing in Big Bands where clarinet and flute are required doubles for all sax players. So as a bari sax player I also need an alto sax, a Bb clarinet and flute as well as a bass clarinet, alto flute and piccolo to be fully covered for all eventualities. Sometimes I've even used an oboe to add a bit of extra tonal colour.
Then when I started doing theatre pit work I usually get called upon to play the reed parts including oboe and cor anglais as there aren't many players that double on both single and double reeds.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ClarinettyBetty
Date: 2017-03-03 23:49
English horn is the only woodwind I haven't played or gotten a hold of yet. I don't think there's such a thing as an "inexpensive" one, so it's on the back burner for me right now.
Maybe if I play more gigs with it I'll invest in one, which will thrill my husband.
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Eb: 1972 Buffet BC20
Bb: Selmer Paris Presence
A: Selmer Paris Presence
Bass: 1977 LeBlanc
https://gentrywoodwinds.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-03-04 00:42
The main reason I took up playing oboe was so I could play cor - it's a far more forgiving and rewarding instrument than oboe.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ClarinettyBetty
Date: 2017-03-04 04:39
I love the tone. In our ensemble I sit next to an oboe/EH player and get the full effect. If you ever come across a good deal, especially on an oldy but goody, hit me up.
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Eb: 1972 Buffet BC20
Bb: Selmer Paris Presence
A: Selmer Paris Presence
Bass: 1977 LeBlanc
https://gentrywoodwinds.com
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Author: annevv
Date: 2017-03-04 20:45
My first woodwind (after years of piano) was clarinet. I still love and play the clarinet extensively. My next ventures were tenor saxophone, trombone, oboe/EH and bass clarinet (kind of full circle because of the playing opportunities that came up). I also had a brief session with a shawm (renaissance double reed instrument) and tenor recorder for the pit band of a Shakespearean play. Currently I focus on clarinet, bass clarinet and oboe, and am also learning organ (I think I'm a better organ player for my understanding of things like "legato tongue" and other articulations that are needed to phrase music with the sustaining note ability of the organ). I truly believe that all and any music a person does feeds back into the learning loop, no matter what instrument they play.
As far as EH goes, it's also my preference over oboe (I borrow an EH from my oboe teacher when her session with the symphony is over for the season). As a clarinet player, the EH lets you use more of all the wonderful air supply and support we have, is more forgiving in general and has the most wonderful beautiful warm tone quality. I just wish there was more music written for it!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-03-04 21:51
Orchestrally, the cor anglais gets its fair share of the big lonely solos - it's not the strongest instrument volume-wise and can easily be lost in full on tutti writing. And because of that, composers generally give it plenty of space when scoring for it, or use it to bulk up the violas and cellos (just as the oboe is often used to add to the violin lines). Like the oboe, each note has its own special tone quality.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: super20bu6
Date: 2017-03-05 08:04
Started on piano at age 7.....Saxophone at 9 (beginning of 5th grade).
Started Bassoon in 9th grade and studied privately for 9 years. So Sax and Bassoon are my main woodwinds. Started clarinet (self taught) in 9th grade....then took a woodwinds course in college adding flute and oboe. Most of my pit orchestra work is on low reeds......Everything from Tenor and Bari Sax, to Bass Clarinet, Eb Contra Alto, Bassoon and Contrabassoon. I got a call to do a pit a few years back on Oboe and English Horn. I was lucky enough to find a decent Oboe (Patricola) and a Howarth English Horn. I've since upgraded the Oboe to a Marigaux...an older one....but love the sound it has.
Most of my pit work is in the local area....just for fun...it's not how I make my living. My office job supports my music habit...thankfully.
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2017-03-05 21:01
>Author: Filettofish
>Date: 2017-03-03 07:48
>
>As someone who already does some doubling and aspires to improve on all my >secondary instruments, I've found both Merlin Williams' and Ed Joffe's Youtube >series on woodwind doubling to be very informative. Merlin has long been (and >still is?) a contributor on this site and Sax on the Web, and his videos offer >some unique musical insights - "tricks of the trade" unique to every instrument, >as well as helpful FAQ videos.
Thanks for the compliments! Yes, I still pop in here frequently, though I don't tend to post as much - my time tends to get spent working on videos for my channel.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: concertmaster3
Date: 2017-03-06 18:41
I actually started out as a violinist in 5th grade, and eventually learned all of the string instruments through middle school. Cello in 6th grade because everyone else was starting from brand new, so I picked a new instrument to learn with them. Viola because someone taught me alto clef in 7th grade and bass somehow got picked up in 7th grade too.
I got to high school with a lack-luster orchestra, so I went to the band director after I got my braces off with the intent on learning clarinet. Of course, there were no more clarinets in the middle of the year to be checked out, so I said "oboe?". He literally ran and got me one (not figuratively!). I had heard a recording of a bad oboist at music camp and thought "I could do better!" I then picked up flute and clarinet because I wanted to march in the band, and then sax because I wanted to play flute in jazz band. Bassoon just happened because I said "Why not?"
Went to college and actually majored in English horn performance (rather than oboe), and my teacher encouraged me to keep up on the other instruments, while the other teachers, and the school in general, tried to keep me from learning other instruments. From an orchestral performer, I could anticipate where most instruments would lie in pitch on a certain note.
I started playing in shows (at first on violin and then on reeds) in college too, and that's when I learned that woodwind doubling was a thing! I now play in several theater shows a year, and with several orchestras on different instruments. I'm currently working on my doctorate (I'm ABD) in oboe performance with a Multiple Woodwinds Cognate. Most people would consider oboe my main instrument..I just consider what ever instrument is currently making me money the main one!
All that I need to buy now are extremely rare doubles...oboe d'amore, bass flute, bass sax and maybe a contrabassoon at some point!
Ron Ford
Woodwind Specialist
Performer/Teacher/Arranger
http://www.RonFordMusic.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-03-06 22:01
I was discouraged of playing another woodwind instrument as my second study at college of all places - I chose clarinet as my first study instrument only because I didn't want to play any of the exam syllabus music for sax as it was pretty uninspiring and mainly arrangements and Baroque flute sonatas (which I'd have just played on flute instead). So I chose double bass as my second study and never touched it again after I left college.
Quite honestly why playing more than one type of woodwind instrument should be discouraged is pretty stupid if you want to do doubling work. Very short-sighted on the part of any school or college or any teacher if it's something you want to do.
Choose your path in life and don't let people decide what they think is best for you if your heart isn't in it as it'll just be a waste of your time dong something you don't enjoy. While it was interesting to learn double bass, I never wanted to be a bass player.
I don't know if there are such courses or diplomas in woodwind doubling in the UK - it's usually left up to the player to learn each instrument to a good standard and even get a performing diploma on each one in turn over however long that takes if that's what they want to do. Considering how much pit band work requires doubling on nearly all woodwinds, there should be some sort of course to prepare potential pit band players for this kind of work.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2017-03-07 14:19)
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2017-03-07 00:20
For most of my lifetime as a player, I've been a clarinet partisan, and have actively promoted early/trad/roots style of jazz clarinet playing (sometimes over and above sax playing). For many years I consciously avoided any doubling...but as I've gotten deeper into the roots music repertoire, I've doubled on soprano sax and recently purchased a vintage C-melody sax (currently being refurbished). Prior to focusing solely on jazz, I played bass clarinet in classical orchestras as well.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: SarahC
Date: 2017-03-09 09:19
For me.. I think it is the excitement of a new instrument...
Started on piano. And saved my pocket money for years to buy a flute.
Many years on the flute and then I took up the recorder.. To understand the history of the flute more than anything else.. But then I was in love...
Then I went to enrol in the FRSM.. Till I realised it was so ridiculously expensive... So picked up the clarinet I had sitting around the house instead...
Then my sister lent me her oboe...
More of a hobby... As I don't play anywhere at all... (I have young children... Strapped to the house really...)
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Author: sax panther
Date: 2017-03-09 16:18
When I was 10 and my school started offering music lessons with peripatetic teachers, I really wanted to learn saxophone. My Dad said it was too expensive but he'd get me a clarinet instead as they were half the price. I wasn't convinced...but then heard my future teacher playing the pink panther on the clarinet!
After about 6 years of learning clarinet, I managed to get my hands on an alto saxophone, although clarinet has always been my main instrument. Throughout school and university, I played clarinet in orchestras, chamber groups and wind bands, and saxophone in big bands/jazz bands and funk bands.
After education...I've gradually got my hands on the other sized saxes and a bass clarinet, and am picking up some fairly frequent doubling gigs in pit bands (seems like there aren't too many bari sax owners around my area!), although I'm slightly limited by not playing flute. As well as playing Bb clarinet in a wind band I also play in a cumbia band (clarinet, alto and bari sax) plus a new orleans style brass band (tenor sax).
and If we're talking reed instruments...I also own a set of bagpipes, but have never put the time in to learn how to get a decent sound out of them!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-03-09 16:37
I inherited my great uncle's set of Highland pipes that haven't been touched since I last saw them back in 1984 when I last visited my granddad and uncle up in Wishaw. My mum found them in a cupboard back in late '81 when I was there previously and just before we moved out to Alberta at the end of that year.
I've fully restored them with a new bag, cover, cords, reeds, rehemped the joints and everything else needed to make them fully playable (as well as bought a modern Campbell chanter to play at 453Hz/480Hz) and haven't managed to play them much myself (managed "Scotland The Brave" and "She Moved Through The Fair"), but have let some pipers try them out and they all gave them the thumbs up in terms of how they play and the restoration work I've done.
From what I've been told by a pipes specialist, they were made by MacRae which were a respected maker - mostly in ebony and a couple of stocks are blackwood. They were mace in the 1920s from what I gather and last played by my great uncle back in the '50s.
There are a couple of pipe bands down my way, but I'd rather do solo pipe work than be in a pipe band as I don't like playing outdoors in all weather as they tend to do. One day maybe. Finding somewhere to practice them without annoying anyone will be the difficult part as they only play at the one loud volume level.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: sax panther
Date: 2017-03-09 18:56
yep, part of my slow progress is due to sympathy for the neighbours (and my cat)! The only thing worse than a complete beginner oboe player is a complete beginner bagpiper.
Plenty of demand for a solo piper though - you can make a killing on Burns Night.
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Author: shmuelyosef
Date: 2017-03-10 03:26
Starting at age 5...60 years of doubling:
Piano*-->Trumpet-->French Horn-->Accordion*-->Baritone Horn and Mellophone-->Guitar-->Bass guitar-->Saxophones* (in order alto-tenor-soprano-baritone)-->Flute*-->Alto Flute*-->Piccolo*-->Latin Percussion*-->Drums*-->WX5*-->Melodica*-->Irish flutes-->Clarinet*-->Bass Clarinet*
*Indicates I still play actively, my business card says woodwinds and keyboards...just celebrated 60 years of playing the piano, and my favorite piano (Mason&Hamlin Model A) is 105 years old and I have played it for 30 years. My neighbors comment that they miss the piano if I don't play for a few days...they never complain about missing the accordion...
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Author: runner
Date: 2017-03-10 04:43
I started clarinet the summer before my sophomore year in high school. I progressed rapidly and majored in music ed. I learned flute (basics) in methods class (also oboe). No one encouraged me on sax. During my first few years as band director I improved on flute. I learned sax on a bari sax my school owned.
Soon I bought a used alto and a bass clarinet in an auction.
I wanted to play on Broadway. After a performance of "No.No.Nannette I followed the bassoon player onto a city bus. I complimented him on his solo, much to his astonishment. I told him my dream. He told me to be able to play all the woodwinds. He said that there were 200 clarinet/sax players walking the street because they don't play flute/picc and the double reeds.
I bought a new bassoon and studied with Ronald Phillips of the Cleveand orchestra.
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