 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Phil Smallwood
Date: 2001-07-08 22:35
I'm wondering what others in my position do. I'm in a community band since it's summer many concerts are outside. Do you take your "good" instrument outside or do you buy a resonite student model or intermediate grenadilla model for these outside concerts? Of course you would use your current mouthpiece/ligature setup on the other instrument, but what's the best solution. Thanks.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2001-07-08 22:54
I think the best solution is the Buffet Greenline, a professional instrument that is suited to outdoor performances. I was surprised when I just did a price check on wwandbw, and it's at $1,599. Maybe cheaper with some shopping around.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-07-08 23:34
If the weather is pleasant and expected to stay that way, I take my good instrument. Otherwise, I take a plastic Vito.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-07-09 01:15
I always took my Buffet, but I think I was wrong to do so. Ebay exposes you to a lot of very inexpensive alternatives, including great deals on high end intermediate plastic/resonite clarinets. They often go for a song. If you are even moderately serious about your playing, you need a back-up horn regardless.
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Author: willie
Date: 2001-07-09 02:45
We have played many out door concerts,but most were in the evening and nice out. The extra humidity down here on the coast, I guess, is in our favor so far as wooden woodwinds. The one concert we sweat (literaly) is the July 4th. Last year it was well over a hundred, dry, and no wind. My wife has an expencive little wooden piccolo that she always worries about during these concerts. The instruments seemed to make it OK, but half way through the concert, our conductor succombed to the heat and was hauled away in the meat wagen .
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2001-07-09 03:44
Wouldn't it make sense to just oil the horn the day before or the morning of a scorcher performance?
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Author: William
Date: 2001-07-09 14:01
I always use my good clarinets--orchestra, jazz combo or band--if the weather is descent. Except for my college alumni marching band (once a year, thank God) for which I opt for my LeBlanc Noblet indestructable metal monster clarinet and a Bari sop sax reed with which I can compete with the brass end of the band.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-09 16:40
Phil, I have an order in for the greenline R-13 right now. I'm going to use it for outdoor concerts. However, I've always used my main instrument because I am so fussy about key action, etc. and play 1st and solo and want the best possible advantage at all times.
If you're careful with the instrument and don't allow it to sit in the car for long periods of time in hot weather, or any other such stuff--they can take some heat without much problem. For an hour concert in the park, your instrument would be ok. Just don't put it in the refrigerator for an hour when you get home!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-07-09 16:54
Will be interested in your impressions, Brenda, I have wondered about recommending GL's to "advancing" students, maybe I should invest also and protect my L7! I try to minimize temp. swings on my good Selmers [bass and alto] and fear sunlight-exposure in cars as well as concerts , in and out. Sometimes use a plastic or less-good wood, depending on type of performance. Don
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-09 17:26
If you look up the thread about Greenline R-13s, there was a discussion about it about a week or so ago. There were lots of pros and cons about it. It seems it may be pretty hard to find a really good one. But, I'll let you know. It may be a couple of weeks or so before I get mine.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-09 19:41
Living in OK, we have extremes in temperature. Most Symphony's have a 65 degree rule. Violins (& others) instruments are very concerned & that is understandable. I have never heard of any problems being outside with high temperature.
Don, I don't worry so much about the sunlight (although I understand it for your with rubber), Instead, I worry about the EXTREME HEAT in the car causing the glue on pads to come undone! Heat can get incredibly high to 165 degrees I have been told. "Never leave your pets in a parked car, even if the windows are open. Ten minutes could be too long on a hot day. By then, the temperature inside the car could reach 160º." I don't leave pets or clarinets in the car!
Bill, that $1599 for the Greenline soiunds like a GREAT price. (either that or we really are in a depression!) I still wonder how one Greenline might be setup differently than another? Perhaps one could have been made from a differentg mold, no joke intended. i would want try to try quite a few to find the right one, or to prove to myself it didn't matter!
Best,
mw
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-07-09 20:06
I wonder if it also depends on whether or not whether you are outside under a bandshell (as I will be in a concert on the 29th) or not. In the second case, I would definitely use a plastic instrument.
In the first case, using my good instrument is a maybe, which more depends on where I'm sitting, which way the light is coming in, and what the weather is like. Otherwise I'll borrow a plastic horn. (I rarely do outdoor concerts)
Meri
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-07-09 21:49
In the West Point Band, we used Bundys for parades and honor guards, which often were in cold, hot, rainy and dusty conditions, sometimes in the same day. Oboists and bassoonists played clarinets for parades. If they tried to turned it down, they were told they had to lug a 20 lb. bell-lyre and learn to play that, or maybe piccolo and lose the high-frequency hearing in your right ear, or maybe baritone sax, if you can imagine marching with one on a neckstrap. They came around fast.
For outdoor concerts, we used our own Buffet R-13s. If you were a worrying type, the band had a bunch of its own R-13s ou could use. There were all sorts of instruments that weren't available in outdoor models. The oboists used their Lorees and Laubins, and the bassoonists used their Heckels for outdoor concerts. Fortunately, most concerts were in the evening, when the heat wasn't too high.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-10 11:42
Phil, another thought on the plastic clarinet idea--our local schools used to recommend the Leblanc Vito V40 for school kids because it's one of the better plastics around. It's pricey--I think about $800.00 on the Brook Mays website. You can get them cheaper if you shop around. But, band directors tell me they play really nicely for a plastic. I haven't played one, but perhaps I'll go down to my friend's store and play one. He had one in the back the other day when I was playing R-13s.
Anyone else tried one of these?
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-07-10 12:22
I've got a V40, Brenda. It needs a little work to be shipshape, but I've played it a few times in rehearsals and I think it's going to be just fine. It does have undercut tone holes, so a bit of effort was made to produce something better than an entry level horn. It's not a pro horn, but it's not a plastic whistle either.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-07-10 15:11
Incidently . . . I got my V40 for $40 in a pawn shop because the tenon corks were falling off (sound familiar, Gordon? Composite cork strikes again.) and the barrel was missing. Picked up a matching barrel for it locally and now have $55 in the horn (that's tax, title, and license). The V40 even has a simulated wood grain and looks more like a "real" clarinet than the mirror finish resonites.
There are some bargains to be had in plastic clarinets . . . if you want one . . .
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-07-10 20:57
The extreme heat of a vehicle in summer or extreme cold in winter is an issue any time that you take your instrument anywhere. It is not limited to outdoor gigs. Although this is something we must all guard against, it's not really relevant to whether to use one's good instrument at an outdoor gig.
An ordinary hot outdoor day really should be no problem. Remember that the air you blow through your instrument is pretty warm itself. And for those of you who, like me, do not have air conditioning in your homes, what's the difference between playing indoors or outdoors? It might actually be a more comfortable temperature outside!
I'm all for protecting our quality instruments, but let's not get paranoid. If it's comfortable for you, it's fine for the horn. Community bands that I've played in simply cancel the concert if the weather is poor.
Of course it can be different for school, military, and professional ensembles as they may be required to play in adverse conditions. But a decent plastic with a good mouthpiece should do.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-10 21:51
Well, in Texas where I live the weather is always poor! We have 110 degree F. days all the time during the summer. Evenings "cool" down to the 90s. But, as long as the instrument isn't left in a hot car and can be protected from extended times in direct sunlight, it will probably be ok.
I always keep my instrument with me when I'm going to or coming from a concert. Even take it into the restaurant with me. Never, never leave it in the car for over about 5 min. in winter or summer.
And, for outdoor concerts where there is no shade, try an umbrella or a large, thin handkerchief to drape over the instrument and block the most intense rays. Works for me. I don't care what it looks like--got mega bucks to protect--not to mention mega time invested in finding and adjusting and Brannenizing.
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