 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: yup
Date: 2001-09-30 04:25
Hello. I play in marching band and I was wondering if anyone out there has any tips for making my clarinet play louder (tone isn't really a problem here). Are there certain mouthpieces, ligatures, reeds, or even specific clarinets that help with volume? Thanks a bunch!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mw
Date: 2001-09-30 14:39
Try a Vandoren B45 and like Jon said, lots of air. mw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-09-30 15:39
Yup -
I played in marching bands in high school, college and the West Point Band. I also heard each of them from the sidelines. Believe me, there's no way a clarinet can match brass and drums for volume. I listened hard for clarinets, but couldn't hear them at all. Maybe I could hear a piccolo note or two, but otherwise it was all brass and drums.
In a halftime show or a parade, you just play and march. No mouthpiece or reed will make much difference. Concentrate on playing clean and under control, and do your best to make more sound. As long as you play clarinet, you have to live with the fact that other instruments can drown you out.
I don't think a different clarinet will make much difference. A Vandoren B45 or even a B46 mouthpiece will let you play louder, but it will also get you used to making a coarse, blatty, uncentered sound. The cure is worse than the disease, and even then you won't be heard.
Concentrate on playing well, not loud.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2001-09-30 16:19
A large bore clarinet if you can find one cheap. A wide open mouthpiece with a soft reed (Clark Fobes also recommends a long facing with the open mouthpiece). A DEG accubore aluminum barrel (the original funky looking model).
Someone (possibly Runyon?) used to make stick-on mouthpiece baffles called "Power Tone" for the saxophone. I don't see them advertised anymore. There is some discussion of them in the clarinet archives and the possibility of using them on a clarinet. (search on "baffle stick" without the quotes). You can experiment to make your own version (downsized for a clarinet mouthpieece) with the sticky wax used for attaching posters to walls. Take a small piece (about the equivalent of quarter of a stick of gum), round it and press it against the baffle of the mouthpiece (the top of the inside above the reed). Experiment with size, shape and position until you find the best combination (or decide to give up).
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Wes
Date: 2001-09-30 16:23
Woodwind players cannot expect to compete with brass for volume. Some clarinet players play the saxophone in marching bands in order to contribute to the sound more. Good luck.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Filipe T.
Date: 2001-09-30 21:25
hey jack!!!!!
they sell the power tone in the woodwind and brasswind, (wwandbw.com). its about $7 or $8. I would not recomend you to buy it!!!!!!!!!! when I bought it, I got a REALLY airy sound, the airy sound was louder than the clarinet!!Plus, it's messy, when I removed it from my mouthpiece some glue would still be there( it's still there). DON"T BUY THE POWER TONE!!!!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: dan powell
Date: 2001-09-30 23:42
THE key to using the power tone baffels is to place them farther down the throat of the mpc. to close to the tip will get a airy sound. a better solution is to buy the rico royal metalite clarinet mpc. only 29$ or less some places. this is the world s loudest clarinet mpc. barring none!!! can be used with a rico plasticover reed to further enhance projection. i use mine (with great success) for soloing over a very loud 18peice big band. end of story
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ron b
Date: 2001-10-01 07:56
Howdy, YUP -
Do I detect a note of jealousy in your post?
Do I also detect that you're talking about high school or jr. college band?
The only way for a clarinet or flute to be heard in an 'average' marching band is to decrease the numbers of brass players or increase the numbers of clarinet and flute players. That just won't happen and you already know it. Everyone loves shiney brass horns. Admit it - they're showy instruments, thrillingly suited to parading. Clarinets and flutes are visually important, not musically important. Their job is to fill out the ranks for an impressive marching formation. I've played Albert system clarinets in a wide variety of outfits since way back when. Believe me, the horn's bore won't make any difference in a big marching band situation. No need to torture yourself over it. Just play normally, saving yourself for concert performances where you can shine and dazzle 'em when it's your turn show off.
- ron b -
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Simone
Date: 2001-10-01 10:15
Maybe you take too much of your lip inside (which I do) and your reed can't vibrate enough.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jim Lee
Date: 2001-10-01 13:58
This is from a 62 year old clarinetist who was a high school band director for 21 years, do not expect to contribute much to the sound of the marching band. If you director wants to hear the WWs he will arrange to have you featured and have the brass and percussion play softly if at all. There is a pracitcal level of sound at which you can play a clarinet and beyond that is "noise". Enjoy the autum air and the fellowhip of your class mates and wait for concert season to really make some music.
(please note that I enjoy marching bands I just know the loundness limit of the clarinet)
Jim
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2001-10-01 16:19
The way to play much louder is to take up saxophone. There is only a bit of jest in this comment. As some have already stated, the clarinet can only play just so loud. Do not force! You will do more harm than good to your playing. Work for a full, centered tone. If anything carries it is the core of a good sound.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Fred
Date: 2001-10-01 16:44
I agree with Ed's last post. As a matter of fact, I strongly recommend it. Learning to double will open up opportunities that would never materialize later on, and what better place to sound like a new sax player than in a marching band?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2001-10-02 12:22
Try playing some music instead! Looking for such extreme volumes from a clarinet is a waste of time. If you are obsessed with blowing loud buy yourself a trumpet!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mike Milo
Date: 2001-10-02 15:37
Here's a tip... if you're playing on Vandoreen reeds (which you should be ^_^), here's an easy way to make yourself heard. For marching band, order and break in a reed about .5 to 1 sizes larger than your current reed. Once it's broken in sufficiently, use a fabric ligature and scoot the reed up to JUST, and I mean like HAIRLINE, above the mouthpiece tip. This will allow you to put a LOT of air through the horn, and will make your tone more clarinet-like. At least, it did for me. Also, be sure to CLEAN YOUR HORN regularly... I cannot stress the difference in playing between a clean clarinet and one that has not been properly cared for in situations such as marching band. Don't buy into the theory that the clarinet's will never be heard... play musically ALL the time! I recently had the privilage to visit YSU and hear their band. Even to the untrained ear, the upper woodwinds added brightness to the sound and could be heard CLEARLY during any soli they might have. Never underestimate the power of the clarinets to change a marching band's sound. Also, do not use "they can't hear you" as an excuse to play poorly... NEVER allow yourself to play poorly! You'll thank yourself for it later - TRUST ME! If a clarinet plays a WRONG note, it stands out more than 100 right notes to ANYONE with an ear. I guess what I'm saying is, people CAN hear the clarinets, if all of them play to the best of their abilities in all musical situations. That's not being wishfull; that's striving for perfection.
They save the best for last...
-Mike Milo <'//><
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Suzanne
Date: 2001-10-02 17:30
Hey! I know lots of people who play B45's with a beautiful, centered, UN-"blatty" sound!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: eilidh
Date: 2001-10-03 22:25
better still............take up the eflat clarinet then you will always be heard
teehee
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: willie
Date: 2001-10-04 03:56
Small strips of old panty hose stuffed into the lead pipes of those trumpets will help a lot too! But truthfully, the band director should use dynamics even on the field.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
