 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bb
Date: 2002-04-03 18:20
I'm traveling with my college band for the first time(I just got in, I'm an 8th grader) and we're gonna perform a lot. Can I swab during the breaks??( like when the piece finishes and the coductor starts talking) Is it impolite to do that???
Thanks
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 2002-04-03 18:29
People do it all the time. Just try & be as inobtrusive as you can.
If you want to have some fun, watch the horn players twirl their instruments anytime there's a lull in the action, trying to get the water out of them.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-04-03 23:00
"In the old days"...we would just pull the mouthpiece off and give the rest of the horn a flick towards the clarinet players in the row in front of us. It was the only advantage of playing 3rd clarinet instead of 2nd. Swab to your heart's delight I say.
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Author: Brian
Date: 2002-04-03 23:49
LOL@Bob...glad to know there are other "flickers" out there!
By the way I used to really gross out my mom when I would flick away while practising at home!
Peace!
Brian
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2002-04-04 01:10
I was playing in an orchestra last weekend. I needed to swab out, but since there was a spot with applause occurring I just blew out the upper keys and went on. At the end of the evening I ran the swab through and it got stuck, big time!
I am sure glad I didn't swab out in the middle of the performance, although that is often done. I need to sew a tail onto my swabs so I can more easily free a stuck one.
So be careful out there!
Terry
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Author: Gerald
Date: 2002-04-04 02:20
Perhaps use a trimmed down swab? It won't do as good a job, but it would be very unlikely to get stuck! It can be a good use for an old torn swab.
Gerald
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-04-04 04:33
I don't like it, perhaps its my Catholic School background! (The nun would have had a fit!) As stated, it is done all the time, and is nothing like some of the antics done by brass players with their spit valves. It seems to me that the more "professional" the group, the more likely it is that these things will be done on stage. I really don't like to see cases on stage or warmups done in range of public hearing. (I'm NOT talking about tuning.) Often I'll arrive early to secure my seat and be subjected to 20 minutes of simultaneous solos, most not coming from the programed music and sounding somewhere between polyphony and cacophony! I think the mechanics of playing and the care and feeding of instruments and their players can come between the listeners and their experience of the music. This is similar to the "breaking of the illusion" that theater types talk about. Just my opinion of course...
That said, swab away as it certainally seems to be accepted.
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Author: Mark M
Date: 2002-04-04 04:56
Every performance, my swab is in my pocket along with some spare reeds
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-04-04 11:15
Yes, some Americans are quite sensitive. Good idea on the "tail",however, after many years I finally "discovered" the silk handkerchief version of the swab and can't imagine anyone using anything else. The one I just got from Doc is the greatest.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-04-04 11:17
Sorry,I forgot to mention that the silk handkerchief swab even looks quite suave tucked in my jacket pocket during performances.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-04-04 16:47
Bb -
I personally saw Robert Marcellus swab many times during concerts, including between movements of the Mozart Concerto.
Harry Berv, who (along with his two brothers) played horn in the NBC Symphony, said there was never a picture of the orchestra taken in which at least one horn player wasn't blowing water out of his valves.
Swab, swab and away!
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jim S.
Date: 2002-04-04 16:57
Alvin Swiney's notes on fuzz built-up in toneholes seems to call for nothing but silk swabs.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-04-04 18:53
The analytical side of me got the better and probably distracted from the recent "Americana" performance by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra - Count - 6 swabings, 22 reed adjustments, 5 papers during the 2 hour performance (15 minute intermission) by the principal clarinet person.
The Doctor
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-04-07 10:12
Unbelievable, Omar! It seems the problem is not so much with the clarinet......
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Author: Robert Gifford
Date: 2002-04-22 02:24
I used to not, but since college I have. I make sure though I always use a swab I know won't get stuck (I usually use this nice black silk one I have, it looks nice in my tux pocket). Don't worry its a normal thing, I've seen professional Symphony players do it all the time.
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