 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: wjk
Date: 2002-06-01 02:43
Having listened to Eric Dolphy and Don Byron, I've become interested in trying the bass clarinet. So far, I have only played Bb clarinet. Will the learning curve be steep? Any advice re models of bass clarinet/mouthpieces or books/references that might be useful? THANKS!
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2002-06-01 03:23
We see this addressed many a time in the past, if you run a search you'll turn up some very valuable information.
From my experience (which was rather sudden because I jumped immediately from Bb to Contra), as long as you have the lung capacity - which isn't that hard to develop - the learning curve will be much shallower than you think. A few alternate altissimo fingerings (See http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/ for a good reference source) and minor embouchure changes (which you will no doubt recieve advice on here ;] ) and you'll be set!
Oh, make sure that mo matter what you do, you have a good setup.
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Author: Mike Harrelson
Date: 2002-06-01 03:32
There is a lot of info right here on this board that a search would provide.
Also try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bass-clarinet/.
The "learning curve" is not too bad depending on how good you are/want to be. It takes a while to get used to the larger mouthpiece, the "little clarinet" players usually want to clamp down too much at first (especially on the higher notes). But a little time and effort is well rewarded.
It is a fun instrument to play. And as many have said before, if you want to make money playing clarinet, it needs to be in your bag of tricks.
Go for it!
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Author: William
Date: 2002-06-01 14:04
A good mouthpiece will make a big difference in the transition to bass. I highly recommend (from personal experiance) a Selmer C* bass clarinet mouthpiece from Walter Grabner, a fine bass clarinetist (formerly with the Toledo Symphony) who customizes the Selmer for optimum performance. Walter is a Sneezy sponser, is accessable and easy to work with and charges reasonable fees for his work. He also repairs and restores instruments and has a line of Bb mouthpieces that I intend to try soon. Lives in Highland Park IL, http://www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: R Simpson
Date: 2002-06-02 01:54
The Bass Clarinet setup that I would reccomend is a Buffet 1193 (low C) or a Buffet 1180 or 1183 (loe Eb). With a Selmer C* mpc, and Rovner Ligature.
I'm a sophmore in HS and my school uses 1180's. They work fine for the HS level, but for a college/pro player, i would reccomend a 1183 or 1193.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-06-02 13:31
Let me also say Good Words for the Selmers, my 32/33 is hard to beat, I do envy Ed Morse's [special?] model 37 tho! I have recently made acquaintance with 2 GG [Gino Gioffi?] glass mps [prob. Pomaricos] both slightly refaced, and like them better than my Sel C* [and similar Bundy 3] . To each his own!! Don
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Author: RS
Date: 2002-06-02 18:50
I have a Selmer 37 (low C) that's a great horn. I use a very open (.102" tip) Charles Bay mouthpiece with a medium Fibracell reed. I can make my bass bark like a bari sax.
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