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Re: Starting to play again

Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2018-10-24 19:53

Hi Cath, welcome to the ranks of the later-year returning clarinet players.

I took it up again two years ago after being away from it for 35 yrs. I'm still dealing with endurance issues with the embouchure and breath, but it's getting better. It just takes time and patience. Playing with a community band was critically important for me. One thing I found was that there is so much more information readily available about clarinets and equipment than was the case when I was a younger man. This bulletin board and other web resources are a gold mine to catch up on developments and new information. Didn't have this when I was playing before, but I refer to them constantly now and it really has enriched my experience. The mouthpiece my teacher in college gave me turned out to be going in the wrong direction because neither he nor I understood the nonstandard large bore on my clarinet (which I just recently discovered through this bulletin board and learning about clarinet bores). It was really killing my enthusiasm. Got that problem straightened out with a couple of more modern mouthpieces I learned about online and am now loving my old clarinet (which I had professionally restored by a really excellent tech). Discovered Legere reeds and their general (qualified) acceptability, which helped me sidestep the sturm und drang of reed selection and just play again while I caught up on newer cane reeds and how to work with them. It truely is a whole new world out there, even when working with vintage clarinets.

Just a warning that it can get expensive if you find yourself really bitten by the bug. I've gone from two mouthpieces to about 20 before I finally landed on the gems (and discovered that that mouthpiece my college teacher gave me is a gem, but just on a different clarinet). I've collected boxes of different styles and brands of reeds before finding one that I really like. Still, it's turned out to be a great way to spend my retirement. Hope you find it as rewarding as I have.

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Starting to play again new

Cath

2017-02-12 00:32