 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: kes
Date: 2002-10-08 03:22
Being a clarinet is great and all, but what is terrible is that often in orchestras (like the one I'm in), we get seated in front of the brass. Auuuhghh! Not only are they usually immature (at least in highschool), but brass is very hard on the ears. The evil low brass decieded to pick on me the other day in rehersal and stuck empty capri sun pouches in my clarient case! *sigh* Oy vey. But I still love playing the clarinet and think it is the best instrument that was ever invented (as many would probably agree). I'm sitting pretty with my new clarinet up in the first clarinet section now! Hope you are all having as much fun playing your clarinets as I am!
-kes
P.S...Oh... during tuning the other day, a violin player called the oboes "clarinet thingees"! GAAAH!!! She need to get her strings away from her brain!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kes
Date: 2002-10-08 03:24
Oh...and another P.S. Still looking for more teens to join my yahoo group for teen clarinetists! Get tips, make friends and more. I really enjoy it...
The address is : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kekadu/
Thanks!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken
Date: 2002-10-08 04:14
It's absolute murder having to endure a trumpet section. Orchestra players aren't quite as bad as they generally have a better concept of tone, darker and more centered sound that's less penetrating. But those blatty, bright, spreading laser tone band trumpet players should be arrested for assault. Dang, I've been to quieter "Kiss" concerts in my life. Empty drink pouches, you got off easy. Our Principal trumpet player once on tour was out to get me for some reason. He went to a local pet shop, bought a mouse and stuck it inside my empty case when I wasn't looking. After the concert, when I opened it to put my horn away I jumped back about 10 feet, almost came straight out of my shoes and unleashed a scream the envy of Janet Leigh in "Psycho". I got him back good though. I waited about 3 months until his guard was down, when he carelessly left his horn on his chair unattended I dumped a can of Chicken of the Sea Tuna (in heavy oil) down his bell and gleefully watched him literally blow chunks all over his music stand on the first note. Score!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-10-08 04:44
It beats marching in front of the trombones in parade formation. What a pain in the neck! (or back or...)
The worst noise I've endured lately? I worked the food line as a volunteer at a community fundraiser. The "entertainment" was a band by the name of "Drop Dead Sex" (I can't comment on the sex, but it HAD to be better than their music.) They were of the megawatt school of musical performance. They were 40 feet in front of me and a large gasoline generator was 10 feet behind me. They completely drowned out the generator! When they finially took a break I decided that not only was the generator much quieter, it was much more musical! In all seriousness, if I had known I would have brought ear plugs.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Willie
Date: 2002-10-08 05:15
We once dipped all the brass mouthpieces in some super concentrated lime syrup in the morning. When band started about 3pm, you should have seen the various puckers on the faces of the brass sections as it started disolving.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2002-10-08 13:59
Sitting in front of the brass is bad enough for your hearing, but also never sit to the right of the piccolo or on either side of the Eb clarinetist. Say, Wwwhattttt?????
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tim k
Date: 2002-10-08 14:57
Ya can't win. I restarted last year after long layoff, playing tenor sax in a community band. Of course the trumpets are right behind me. This year I joined a second band to get my clarinet chops back. I was reasonably certain I wouldn't sit in front of the trumpets. Right! But the timpani are 12 inches behind my left ear. Two nights a week of aural assault.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob
Date: 2002-10-08 15:52
Long term hearing impairment...start wearing earplugs now
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-10-08 16:12
Back when I was in the West Point Band (at a time when people were joining it to avoid the draft), the non-career players were always in the last row of the band, right in front of the drum and bugle corps, aptly named the Hellcats. Bugles are blatty and blasty under the best of circumstances, and West Point parades, with career guys who weren't good enough to play trumpets trying to make it up on bugles, were just about the worst. Not to mention drummers and piccolo players. At least they didn't use fifes. I quickly learned to use ear plugs, even though I couldn't play clarinet with them in. It didn't much matter. The clarinets were completely inaudible, even within the band, let alone in the reviewing stand.
Deaf regards.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: d dow
Date: 2002-10-09 00:23
Just did an entire week of Beethoven 3 sitting directly in front of the trumpets...we also played a contemporary piece with alot of brass so at the moment my head is still recovering. I usually use ear plugs, but the slow movement takes some pretty sublte blending so I didn't use them because of the ridiculousness of taking them out. Sometimes they record the orchestra so depending on where we are, so I try not to do anything that isn't too distracting.
The concert band I am in seems to be far louder so I resort to ear plugs and find that it doesn't bother me too much. It seems music nowadays is quite a bit louder. i must admit i think digital sound is also quite a bit harsher and may cause alot of hearing problems in the younger generation...
What ya say?
Sincerely
D Dow
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jazsavant
Date: 2002-10-09 03:27
It's bad enough listening to the trumpets right behind you-it's worse when they empty their spit valves onto your shoes.(there's an experience I'd like to forget.) ah, well, at least it beats sitting in front of the drummers, or worse, the french horns. Talk about some horrible noises....
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Willie
Date: 2002-10-09 05:14
I know what William is talking about with pics. In one community band we play in, I'm seated directly to the right of my wife and her @&%# pic. A pic is just as loud as standing just behind a Boeing 727 during takeoff.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: d dow
Date: 2002-10-09 13:52
One scientific study has shown that being exposed to the sound of the pic for even short periods of time inclose proximity can cause hearing problems....
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: RA
Date: 2002-10-10 03:18
I don't play in a band, nor an orchestra. However, I do work in a bakery and we have the proofer,oven, meat slicer, fryer and everything else in the store going on at the same time. I also work in church nursery one day a week and the noisse inthere is awful b/c we don't have any carpet. My eardrums are so bad now, adn I am only 20 but they are so sensitive. I guess I'll proably start wearing earplugs when I practice. I paly out but my ears hurt so much....
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: diz
Date: 2002-10-10 06:26
Kes - In all my years of professional and semi-professional playing - I've learned one thing:
trumpet players and trombonists (in general) never grow up and never learn the word soft
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken
Date: 2002-10-10 23:16
When questioned on the overall dynamic level of the brass conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra I believe it was Ricardo Muti who said while rolling his eyes, "You don't even LOOK at the brass section encouragingly!".
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jan
Date: 2002-10-15 03:07
ABout tpts/tbns never being able to grow up...i dont think thats true at all, with a good teacher they should be able to gain sensitivity to the musicality thats needed. especially orchestral players...being a clarinet/trumpet doubler myself i get a bit of both and there are plenty of talented tpt players out there, maybe the professional circles you ran with didn't find any good players...but the clarinetist side of me sympathizes plenty
jan
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
