 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lawrence
Date: 2001-12-08 18:02
I've been lurking around Ebay looking for an inexpensive alto clarinet and see a lot of Bundy's with open holes instead of all plateau keys. Do the open holes give better tone or response than closed holes? I'm concerned that the Bundy's will give me problems with my big fingers but if they play better than, say, Vito's, I might try one. Any suggestions?
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-12-08 18:32
I would suspect that for an Alto to have tone holes small enough to be covered by the fingers it would have a pretty anemic sound. But then again I've never seen or played an Alto of any make or design that didn't have an anemic sound. That's why I prefer the Bass.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-12-09 00:33
Gee, I have an old Conn grenadilla alto that doesn't sound anemic (and if I could only play it better, it would probably sound pretty darn good!)
Anyway, when I read this post, I reached for my alto, just to consciously see and feel the tone-holes. I think if they were of the open variety I would have a difficult time covering them, both because of their diameter and their wider spacing, even though I have large hands.
If you live in or near a large city, before you buy one on e-bay, try this:
Make the rounds of any or all small music shops with or without repair people on board (preferably with repair people on board) and best of all places that may not even be a store, as such, but just do repairs and sell instruments as a side-line.
Alto clarinets are not in general high demand, and haven't been for a while.
When I set out to buy one, I found three of those small shops and/or repair places that had one (or more) in the back room collecting dust and wanted to just blow them out the door.
After getting them each down in price, it finally came down to who had the best instrument available. He was not the cheapest price, but was close to the cheapest one and I wound up with a decent enough instrument, in relatively good playing condition for $100.00.
Yes, it has to be overhauled, but I'm waiting for just the right time, because I want to have it re-plated in gold when the overhaul is done.
Just look at it very carefully to ensure there are no splits inside the bore, if it's wood.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-12-09 00:59
A friend of mine who is a frequent contributor to the saxophone bulletin board Sax On The Web has an old full Boehm Conn that he says is very strong sounding and free blowing. Maybe Conns are the exception. I played a supposedly pro model Leblanc a while back and it was definitely lamp material. Pretty much soured me on altos. But if I ever came across a real player I would be interested.
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Author: Michael Kincaid
Date: 2001-12-09 03:13
Lawrence, my alto is a Selmer Bundy and over the past year of playing it weekly in a band
I've found it to play well. On the left hand, the middle finger is an open hole and on the
right hand, the index and middle finger are open holes: I don't have any trouble covering the holes.
I have never played a full plateau keyed alto. I have noticed that the three weakest notes on the
alto are B, C and D just over the break.
At ClarinetFest in New Orleans I took my alto to play in the Clarinet Choir--it turned out that
there were 5 of us. The man picked to play first chair alto clarinet also plays in the military band and was
performing with that group at the Fest too. I wish I could remember his name because he
was fantastic. The military had bought him a professional line Buffet--it's a beautiful alto and
he could really make the horn sing. The director of the group had picked a piece with an alto clarinet
solo in it and this guy played it beautifully.
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Author: jenna
Date: 2001-12-09 05:13
Both of my Selmer Bundy altos are open hole. I've got relatively small fiingers/hands, and I generally have no trouble. I like to think of myself as a decent alto player, too. I'm more confident in my alto playing than my bass.
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Author: Mike Hancock
Date: 2001-12-09 15:23
Here's my experience ($0.02 worth).....
I have been working to "tame" a Selmer CL370 Alto for about a year. I have observed that reeds and mouthpiece make a big difference. One significant improvement came from a mouthpiece refaced by Dave Spiegelthal. The second improvement came from a session with an instrument technician to "adjust" the intonation of several notes...... the 12ths are still a little wide, but not to the point of objection. The biggest problem was a very flat throat Bb and very sharp B above it. With these fixed, I am satisfied that this horn is very acceptable to me. The mouthpiece facing done for me is relatively closed and I am using Vandoren #3 or #3.5 reeds.
Mike Hancock
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Author: Lawrence
Date: 2001-12-09 16:47
Let me try to clarify my concern. My fingertips are very wide so covering the holes won't be a problem. Interference between my middle and ring fingers and the banana key in between is the culprit - not enough room for everything. On soprano clarinet this gives me fits. If, on the alto, there is appreciably more space between the keys then it will probably work for me. I have a plateau model Normandy (soprano) and it is somewhat more forgiving of finger position but some of the notes are stuffy. I guess Peter's right. Just find one and try it out.
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Author: jenna
Date: 2001-12-09 18:06
Try the alternate throat Bb fingering (A key and the second from the top of the 4 side keys on the upper joint that you hit with your right hand - one day I will learn better terminology, sorry). It's still a little off, but it's much, much clearer. In my experiences, at least.
Lawrence - Give alto a try. =) Even if you just find someone (a friend, music store) that has one you can try. I don't really forsee huge problems with the banana keys, if you can manage the soprano decently enough.
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Author: Lawrence
Date: 2001-12-10 17:53
Thanks Jenna,
That fingering is much better. I always appreciate your encouragement.
Lawrence
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Author: jenna
Date: 2001-12-10 21:56
I am one of the few champions of the red headed clarinet stepchild. I love when I win smoeone to the dark side. If you play alto regularly, I guarantee you'll be one of a few regular players. Lots of people have and can play alto well, but the choose to stick to soprano or bass. I am yet to meet another (semi-exclusive) alto clarinet player.
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Author: Eugene
Date: 2001-12-11 18:03
I'm an alto player to and love the sound and have been playing about a year on it.I"ve been playing alot of etudes and exercices from all the klose books and since I got my new mouthpeice it is much easier to blow and make the altisimo speak.However I still get bad intonation up there and when I play legato up high it sqwaks sometimes if I tonge it it doesn"t.Sometimes it feels like I"m applying to much pressure to get the note in tune and it bends alot or the reed will sqeek at some higher frequency maybe I just haven"t developed the touch yet for half holeing anysuggestions would be appreciated
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-12-11 22:17
Eugene - Re: half-holing, on alto [or bass] for me has been seldom needed, but I either slide , or "roll" my finger on my Selmer-Paris. Being somewhat smaller in bore than other altos, it has a "better" tone quality and provides adequate key/ring spacing tor my medium-sized fingers. Stay with it, Don
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Author: Eugene
Date: 2001-12-12 21:50
We recorded CHildrens march last night was not happy about the "Whatchman Of The Night thou. A second Basson player showed up hence my alto part in it was deepsixed could have brought my clar. but nobody told me.
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Author: Eugene
Date: 2001-12-19 04:15
Me again apparently after I left the firsy half of the recording sessionthe watchman of the night peice was all to sharp to use on the cd so in the next session I got to bring my clar.and we redid it hence I"m on all the tracks.The peices are Childrens March ,Watchman of the Night ,Grousemountain Lullaby and National Emblem wew will be cutting additional tracks for the cd in the spring.
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