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Author: graham
Date: 2002-12-04 12:31
Ken suggested I report back on my experience with a contrabass.
Well, the concert has happened. The piece was an oboe concerto, and the contrabass' main contribution was some quiet low notes at the beginning, underpinning the soloist. Long notes predominated, with the occasional rasping crescendo. People told me that the sound was quite distinct from the contrabassoon even when we were playing together.
The main issue I had was that my Leblanc paperclip only descended to D whereas the part required it to go to C (as in the very opening note where only myself and solo oboe were playing). It seemed to me that the pitch is undiscernible that low down, in which case it would not matter that the note was a tone sharp (never mind the pitch, just feel the texture etc.). Question was whether the esteemed composer (present for both concert and rehearsal) and esteemed soloist would tell the difference and point it out. Well, if they could tell the difference they were a little too polite, because they didn't point it out. So I played all my Cs, C sharps, and Ds with the same fingering.
Out of a few interesting issues that arose with this instrument I was particularly surprised by the effect of vibration. I have often found with the standard bass that the lower one gets the more likely it is that vision will be blurred when playing the note. I therefore expected this to be far worse on the contrabass because I assumed simply that the slower the vibration the more it would cause the player to vibrate in sympathy. I did not assume that I had a specific resonant frequency which happened to match the lower notes of a bass. But that seems to be what it was, because I had the same effect at the actual pitch of the same notes (fingered an octave higher), but when I descended into the bottom octave of the contrabass, the vibration on vision went away, irrespective of how loud the note was. Strange effect.
It was nice to play it, and as I probably won't play one again, it was a worthwhile experience.
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Author: William Hughes
Date: 2002-12-04 12:48
graham wrote:
"So I played all my Cs, C sharps, and Ds with the same fingering."
Yet another benefit of playing the low clarinets.....fewer fingering decisions.
Thanks for the very interesting report.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-12-04 13:57
Graham -
Thanks for the report. You're right about the indefinite pitch of the low notes. I have trouble hearing the difference between the bottom D, C# and C on my Leblanc, even with the large mouthpiece.
However, my tuner can tell the difference. Acoustically, I would play the C# and C an octave up, so that you support the overtone series even if it's not audible to you.
I'm not sure whether you're a member of the Contrabass board. If so, you should send your report there, too.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: javier garcia
Date: 2002-12-04 14:38
Very interesting report. I have the head's vibration problem with my bass, the lowest the tone, the strongest the vibration, so with low Eb is stronger. With low G there is no vibration.
Maybe we (human beings) are sympathics with some notes on this range, nor upwards or downwards as you say with the low notes in the contrabass.
Is there a bassoonist to share his - her experiences about?
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-12-04 20:38
Javier -
Bassoonists have the right idea -- double lip. I use it full time, but I can't even try to play single lip on contra. If I do, the world starts vibrating.
e e d
B s R g r s
t a ,
Ken Shaw
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Author: Don Gross
Date: 2002-12-08 01:46
Graham,
I just happened to be checking the BB and noted your post. What level of ensemble were you playing with; pro, college wind ensemble, high school concert band, other?
Thanks!
Don Gross
La Canada, California
Contrabass Clarinet: Claremont Symphonic Winds, Caltech/Occcidental College Concert band
Bass Clarinet: Cal State Los Angeles Wind Ensemble
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