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Author: Amy
Date: 1999-02-04 20:53
I've just been told I'm going to play bass clarinet in our university wind ensemble. Having never picked up the instrument before, I don't know what kind of reeds to buy. My private lesson teacher/band director told me to get 2 or 2.5 strength reeds. Other than that I don't know much else, except to stay away from Rico. Can anyone offer me any suggestions? Thank you.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 1999-02-04 22:41
Amy wrote:
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I've just been told I'm going to play bass clarinet in our university wind ensemble. Having never picked up the instrument before, I don't know what kind of reeds to buy. My private lesson teacher/band director told me to get 2 or 2.5 strength reeds. Other than that I don't know much else, except to stay away from Rico. Can anyone offer me any suggestions? Thank you.
Amy -
I took a couple of lessons from Josef Horak, "the Paganini of the bass clarinet." An amazing player. He said that there's not much overlap between the good reedmakers for Bb and bass. He didn't like Vandoren bass clarinet reeds at all and used mostly Vic Olivieri reeds. However, I've played mostly Vandoren, which I like. Plastic reeds work better on the low instruments than the high ones. It would certainly be worth it to try the Legere, when they start making them for bass. The better Ricos (i.e., not the ones in the brown box) are worth trying, too.
Bass clarinet reeds have a lot more space in which to warp. Put the reed on superfine sandpaper or a fine file and polish the bottom absolutely flat. You need to check this often. Also, if an impression develops on the bottom of the window of the mouthpiece, you need to take that down until you can't feel any change when you run your finger over it.
It's important to get a good mouthpiece that only you use. The Selmer C** is a good place to start.
Bass clarinets leak like mad. It's very important to take the instrument to a repair shop when you get it and have them make it tight as a drum. Then, use plenty of cork grease and handle it like a baby. Be particularly careful putting it together and taking it apart. You should hold it so you touch no keys at all, even if you have to get someone to help you.
You will be surprised at how tired you get during the first few weeks. Bass uses different embouchure muscles and needs a *lot* more breath support.
You might want to post a message on the Klarinet board. There are lots of keen players who are eager to help. Roger Garrett is particularly good.
Best regards. Bass is great fun, and you can make some remarkably loud noises on it.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Al
Date: 1999-02-04 23:36
Point of information:
Did you know that in addition to Rico and Rico Royal, Rico makes La Voz, Symmetricut,Fred L. Hemke, Mitchell Lurie and the new Grand Concert reeds?
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Author: Dave Spiegelthal
Date: 1999-02-05 14:43
Amy,
I've been playing a lot of bass clarinet over the last 25 years, and here's my advice (humbly submitted):
(a) First, remember that tenor sax reeds are generally exactly the same size as bass clarinet reeds, so if you can't find what you want in "bass clarinet", you can probably get it in "tenor sax".
(b) My favorites are: Zonda (tenor sax), Marca (bass clar. or tenor sax, doesn't matter), Olivieri (tenor sax), Vandoren (tenor sax or bass clar., doesn't matter), and the new Legere synthetic reeds.
(c) What mouthpiece are you using, or is that still to be decided? A good mouthpiece is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL on bass clarinet. I (and others) all have our favorites there, too, but that's another topic.
Good luck! Keep us posted.
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Author: Amy
Date: 1999-02-05 18:17
I'm using my teacher's Charles Bay mouthpiece. For now I am using Rico Royal Reeds, strength 2. So far I'm having problems with the instrument, because I can't get some of the notes out. And it takes a lot of air. And the instrument is almost as big as I am.
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Author: Al
Date: 1999-02-05 19:05
You're probably OK on the Bay mouthpiece if it's an MO/M.
With the #2 reed things should work. In addition to needing so much air, does the high register come out decently? If you get a lot of squeaks plus difficulty blowing, you probably have leaks as Ken mentioned in a previous post.
Can you pick off several pitches in the upper register without difficulty?
It's possible that the reed and mouthpiece setup is a bit too open for you. Be sure you're not taking too little mouthpiece. Experiment. Best wishes!
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Author: Angel
Date: 1999-02-06 02:36
I have learned that if you are generally blowing a lot of air to try the HITE. And for reeds I use the Vandoren Bass ones and Tener Sax La Voz. I would never start out on a 2. I'm sorry. If you happen to go with La Voz only go down so little from what you are playing on for Clarinet. I was playing on a size 5 Mitchelle Laurie reed for Clarinet so I went to MedHard on La Voz and didn't use Vandoren until this year because I couldn't work up to it. I use a 3. It's werid. Plus I use a JEWEL mouthpiece because I can't afford the hite because I just bought this new mouth piece but it works really well for me and gives me a dark tone. Later. Have fun.
Karen
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 1999-02-06 18:42
Having just started working on bass clarinet last year, I can tell you that starting on too soft a reed can be a really big mistake. I figured that my face wouldn't be able to hold up to a harder reed, so I played tissue paper at first; but I couldn't reach high notes and my face didn't develop at all, because there was no resistance. My best suggestion would be to start at around a 3 or 3 1/2 in Vandoren; that seemed to work well for me. Other suggestions I have, just about playing in general, are that you do have to take more mouthpiece into your mouth, so take a while to get used to that, and that you shouldn't play with as tight an embouchure as you would use on Bb. Have fun: I really enjoy the bass clarinet, and you'll find that there are a lot of people who jump for joy to find someone with experience on it.
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-02-08 03:36
If you're just going to be playing bass on the side, a box of 2.5 Rico Royals is perfectly fine. I do a fair amount of bass playing and i do just fine with Ricos...although i use Vandorens when it's in a concert situation...
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Author: Paul Wusow
Date: 1999-02-15 05:57
Keep in mind, the more closed your mouthpiece facing is, the harder the reed... Selmer C* (71/1000) uses a heavier reed... A Bay (80/1000) uses a softer reed.
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-02-16 23:27
Paul Wusow wrote:
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Keep in mind, the more closed your mouthpiece facing is, the harder the reed... Selmer C* (71/1000) uses a heavier reed... A Bay (80/1000) uses a softer reed.
The Selmer C*'s i played neded 2.5's (unrefaced) or 3's (Sayre reface). And my Sayre mouthpiece uses 3's.
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