 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Melanie
Date: 2002-03-02 06:40
I am a music major at a small university, and I have recently been forced to play the bass clarinet in our wind ensemble. I was very hesitant at first, but someone had to do it. Now, I am wondering what I can do to make my playing better. I have pretty good control over the instrument except for the notes between F on the top line of the staff and C above the staff. Notes higher and lower are fine. What could be some causes and solutions to this?
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2002-03-02 13:03
Make sure your instrument doesn't have any leaks. With bass clarinets this can be crucial.
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Author: Sally Gardens
Date: 2002-03-02 13:32
The double register key mechanism (found mainly on professional-quality bass clarinets) has a tendency to be thrown out of whack fairly easily if not handled with care. That in particular will cause clarion register problems.
Since it's a school instrument, it may well be in need of some adjustment. Once you have a well-adjusted instrument, be gentle in handling it. The bass clarinet may look bigger and tougher than its soprano cousin, but it's actually more vulnerable to having keys bent and otherwise thrown out of kilter. And apparently the bass is also more sensitive to the slightest leak than the soprano.
The one thing I know for sure is that the number one reason my Selmer bass kept going into the shop in high school was that tetchy register key mechanism. ;-) But the instrument is rewarding to play, and worth the effort and TLC. Enjoy!
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Author: Clairgirl
Date: 2002-03-02 16:24
Wow! This scenario sounds really familiar... I too was forced to play bass in a band at my college. I didn't like it at all at first but now I think it's great! Like everyone said above, I would first check for leaks. What has helped me the most is practicing harmonics both on Bb and Bass. The "feeling" of playing in the upper register of the bass is really different than on Bb and a smooth transition between the registers on the bass takes practice. I would do 12ths for all the notes giving you trouble. Also F and F# are both hard notes to play on Basses for some reason.
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2002-03-02 16:49
Malanie, Welcome to the "lower depths". You may wish to investigate the Bass Group on Yahoo. Go over to the Sneezy "Home" and scroll down. You will come to a notice for the Bass Group. It's free, fun, and full of interesting people--all of them Bass players and doublers.
See yah there.
Bob A
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Author: Alex
Date: 2002-03-02 20:43
I don't know, I've only been playing the bass clarinet for 6 days of my 10 year-old life, but it's a wonderful insturment.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-03-02 20:52
Bob A's advice is VG, the bass cl IS a different inst, and requires somewhat diff maintenance to keep it playing well, [it can be !] . I just now solved, for the umpteenth time, a problem with my Sel's double register keying, it involved just two small [but mighty !]pieces of cork to keep the closed reg key seated firmly while the other is opened. Works great ! Melanie, your poor response of the F and F# [top of staff?] might be due to the lower-joint "stack" [3]pads not rising enough to "vent" properly. Its a common problem there and elsewhere. Luck, Don
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