 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Djudy
Date: 2023-12-12 14:55
I play bass and alto clarinet in 2 concert bands and while the directors are glad to have me they often don't have the score written for my instrument , either because it is not available or because they haven't obtained it, and I have to fend for myself. We have a concert in 5 days and the director just gave us a piece from last year to add to the program but since I wasn't there yet - no bass clarinet ! In the past I've somehow scraped up the part but I don't have time and the only thing he gave me was Bb tuba written on the bass clef which I can't read off the bat easily and for which there is no rehearsal. I don't even have the directors copy to examine and determine who I'd best "borrow" from.
So any suggestions ? No problem transposing on the treble clef but who? With the alto I'd just take clarinet 2 or 3 but bass is not the same. Help !
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kilo
Date: 2023-12-12 15:19
1. Ask for the part on an online forum. Members occasionally ask for parts on this Bboard and if you ask on a larger forum you may increase your chances. I was able to nab the bass part for "Bugler's Holiday" and a medley of "My Fair Lady" songs this way using the reddit "Concert Band " sub-forum.
2. Play a treble euphonium part or a tenor sax part. Sometimes I'll modify these parts to provide more color or to achieve a more characteristic bass clarinet line.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Djudy
Date: 2023-12-12 15:51
Thank you for those suggestions. If it were the alto I'd go for the euphonium ( we are often paired in the band arrangements) or cl 2 over a sax part, to keep things from getting muddied in the clarinet section. But this is bass and I'm less experienced dealing with this part.
The piece is Chico Mambo by Eric Pourcher 2008 and appears to ba a local production as the edition is from the Rhône-Alpes region of France where I live.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2023-12-12 20:40
Hi Djudy,
Does the conductor have a digital copy of the full score? If he could email it to you then you could load it into musescore and take your pick.
Jennifer
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Djudy
Date: 2023-12-12 21:57
Yes that would seem to me a logical thing to do (for the first piece he did that with I found the conductor's online and luckily my part had not been scrambled so I did copy/paste/resize). But here people seem to be very protective of scores and I have on several occasions had this kind of trouble, like holding the alto chair and being refused a copy of the bass or soprano score for the work. I asked, but it has not been forthcoming so trying to get a workaround. Have to add that I'm new in the group and don't know the director very well yet and am not fulltime on site, although I get to as many rehearsals as possible and pull my weight. So I don't want to hassle just before the concert. Still, it was hard to get hit with a new piece on such short notice. Maybe it's a "compliment" !
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2023-12-12 23:06
That's quite strange. Does that mean that you're playing in the group but they haven't given you a part, and you're getting pushback when you ask to see the other parts with a view to try and write your own?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Johnny Galaga
Date: 2023-12-13 04:34
Christ, this is a director issue. The onus is on the director to GET you your part. Or the music librarian, if you have one. You're the musician. You play the parts. Your time should be spent practicing, not running around like this, especially on short notice. You should absolutely be nagging the director at this point. In fact, there's a point where you just say screw it and walk off the job.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2023-12-13 13:58
Hi Johnny,
That's what I was thinking. I used to do the desktop publishing for a community orchestra where the conductor wrote the parts on the fly for whoever the regular players were at the time. It was an absolutely brilliant job, and I loved it. Helping the players get what they need was 200% my priority, all the time.
If Djudy is seeing this kind of problem then either there is some really weird politics going on, or the person who is organising the sheet music is really struggling and needs extra hands on board urgently.
Jen
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: super20dan
Date: 2023-12-14 01:34
a cronic issue with those of use who play alto in bands. i frequently have to look tru the parts to find an alternative to play. inexperienced librarians are of no help usually as they dont know the alto,s range and abilities. i usually pick 1st alto sax and show them how its done!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Djudy
Date: 2023-12-14 15:16
OK, J-3 and the director just sent me the conductor's multi part score. Now I have to do a copy/paste to get a readable bass clarinet score. I would have prefered not to have to go to these lengths and on such short order as it's not my only concert this weekend and, as Johnny Galaga said, that shouldn't be my job ! To boot, the tuba and bass clarinet have essentially the same lines for this number so I'm not thrilled with the musical arrangement, but that's another story.
Thanks for your help and support. After the holidays I'm going to try to find a way to discuss my position in the program with director to see if it's worth staying on. I like the group and most of the repertoire so far and am happy to have the opportunity to play bass but I'd like to be more than an after thought to the director. Do I get the feeling low clarinets are "misunderstood" ??
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: davidjsc
Date: 2023-12-22 21:52
When I played alto clarinet 20-25 years ago in a local community orchestra, I usually ended up playing a bassoon or tuba part. When there was an actual"alto clarinet" part, it never differred from what some other instrument was doing (so alto part was not missed) - be it mirroring the bass clarinet or bassoon (which we did not have) or tuba.
Converting bass clef parts to alto clarinert is pretty easy, just add three sharps to the key signature, change the clef to treble, adjust for any oddball accidentals, and presto you have an alto clarinet part. Do this enough and you'll end up just being able to read straight from bass clef without having to scribble over an existing part or write out an alto part in treble.
Bass clarinet I don't know a fast method for making a part on the fly, never had to do that as there always was a bass clarinet part.
DSC
~~ Alto Clarinet; Bass Clarinet; B-flat and C Boehm Clarinets; Albert C Clarinet; Oboe ~~
Post Edited (2023-12-22 21:55)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
