 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-09-17 13:01
Would y'all be able to recommend a few mp for bass clarinet for playing outdoors? We have several more outdoor concerts through October and I'm not getting the sound projection I need for outdoor playing. I'm looking for projection and presently play on a fairly soft reed (rico royal 2.5) and really don't expect to go much higher on the reed though I'm playing around with some Hemke tenor sax reeds a friend gave me. I'm using a rovner dark lig on a stock mp that came with the bass. My local music shop refuses to order in on spec. 3 or so different mps for me to try, so I need to go via the net and use the card (ouch!).
If anyone likes a mp that does well for both indoor and outdoor playing, I'd be interested in hearing about that also. But, I'm kindof figuring that I'm gonna need two mps - one for each situation. TIA
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-09-17 14:43
Beth, what kind or horn are you playing on and what kind of mouthpiece right now? In my experience, some horns are just quiet (LeBlanc comes to mind) and you need a wide open mouthpiece to get volume. Then there are larger bore horns like the Selmers (and Buffets?) that tend to have lots of projection to start with. Personally, I like my Bay for a big . However, my current horn (a "mighty" Kohlert acquired from Dave Spiegelthal) is rather exceptionally loud and I have gotten several good comments on its projection in outdoor settings.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-09-17 14:45
Beth,
Are you sure you're not projecting outdoors? The acoustics are so different, that everyone probably thinks he/she is not projecting outside --- if your projection is good indoors, then you should be OK using the same setup outside. Besides, the audience can't hear anything but brass and percussion anyway outdoors, so why fight it?
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Author: drew
Date: 2001-09-17 15:44
Beth,
Just a thought, but have you tried using a metal ligature? I have found that fabric ligatures can "muffle" the sound somewhat, especially the higher frequencies. Most clarinetists have at least one metal ligature floating arond in the back of their "clarinet stuff" drawer.....
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-09-17 17:50
I agree with all 3 responses, my addition is that with my Selmer 33, the Selmer C* is my favorite, followed closely by a cheaper Bundy 3, both of which permit large volume when needed as well as soft playing. Try several mp's and measure bore sizes [for matching] if possible. Often on older large cls and saxes, you may find the original mp to be better matched to the horn than the highly-appealing "after-markets". Luck, Don
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-09-17 18:30
Ok, here's what I know about the instrument I'm using (borrowing from school), it's a Selmer, and all I know is that it's a student grade instrument. It's brand new, I'm the first person to play it and let's see...the mp says "geo. m. Bundy 3". I know the great outdoors sucks up sound, but the reason I'm concerned is that last Sat. we played an outdoor concert and only had 1/3 of the brass section there and half the sax section. I had a solo (which, thankgoodness for once I didn't screw up on) and the number was recorded by the local radio station. Well, this morning, I woke-up to the number being played on the radio and I couldn't even hear my solo - naw, I'm not vain - but it has me concerned about as I said above sound projection. I had planned on up-grading the mp anyway and this recent experience got me thinking that I should have a different mp for outdoors since that's where the band plays the majority of the time in spring/summer/fall.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-09-17 18:52
Beth - You are right about out-of-doors playing "sucking" up the sound. Our community band plays outside frequently and at times I have a hard time hearing myself, particularly over much brass. Bass cls just dont project well unless you are playing in the "chalemeau" [lower] register where they are the greatest. Often if I have an important part "up with the 2nd and 3rd cls", I drop it an octave to be heard. Otherwise there is no real solution other than to get closer to the microphone!! Keep on trying, Don
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-09-17 19:54
A larger tip mouthpiece would help. With my .100" tip Bay I can play almost as loud as a bari sax.
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-09-17 21:29
Well, that's the thing, this "solo" was in the chalemeau register (familiar with the oldie but goodie "The Teddy Bear Picnic"?) which this bass handles just fine. I've found anytime I have to hit the register key to forget it - sounds awful. So I do routinely drop an octave when my part goes "up there". When bass clari parts aren't found, I've canabilized my clari 3 folder, also played tenor sax and baritone TC parts - I'm just all over. Well, since I can't buy a bass clari of my own right now <sniff>, I'll dig out the metal lig that came with it and see if I can track down the selmer c* and bay mps to try.
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Author: dan powell
Date: 2001-09-17 21:41
i also play in a community orchestra that plays outside also .i have never had any problem being heard . hears my setup vandoreen b46(largest tip they sell) ,bari plastic reed soft ,rovner lig all this on a leblanc 400 bass. this set up is the loudest you can put together. trust me on this.the director even has to shush me at times. a plastic bass will probably be even louder than my wood leblanc. this set up is not hard to play but you will need time to adjust to the plastic reed . the rovner helps the plastic reed to vibrate better and you will get even more sound with a metal lig but the rovner makes it play so much better its worth the trade off. many other jazz bass clarinet players also use the bari reed .also one will last about a year!
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Author: Nick Conner
Date: 2001-09-17 22:22
One of my bari sax playing acquintences showed me a FIBERGLASS reed one day. While I"m sure the sound produced by it isn't agreeable to the ear by any means (I mean, it's fiberglass where wood normally functions), I'm sure you can generate a LOT of sound with them. I'm not sure where he got it.
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Author: Ted Donaldson
Date: 2001-09-17 22:58
I must reccomend my current mouthpiece. Walter Grabners CXBS mouthpiece is THE BEST in my opinion. It is a selmer C* refaced with a beautiful tone! high d comes out with a breath! it has extremely well projection, and if that doesn't do it, nothing will!
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Author: dan powell
Date: 2001-09-18 23:18
the sound of the bari is very good .i used it for years and nobody even the director could tell the difference.
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