 The Ethnic Clarinet
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Author: ChrisC
Date: 2003-10-08 04:30
Hi--I'm not exactly looking for a concrete response here, but I would like to be pointed in the right direction by those of you have experience playing Bulgarian music (i.e., the typical wedding band repertoire, horos and rachenitsas and the more-than-occasional occasional kyuchek). I'm currently playing a Vandoren M15 that was recommended by my (classical) instructor, with Vandoren traditional #3 reeds, and that's working very well for the small amount of legit music that I play as well as, quite surprisingly, klezmer, where I would have assumed I would need a much more open mouthpiece. Bulgarian music, which is consuming an inordinate amount of my time and energy is posing much more of a challenge--I have a hard time mustering up the stamina to play those fast, repetitive phrases, and I seem to be feeling more resistance than is probably necessary. I also have a B45 and a supply of 2 1/2 reeds, which I used prior to acquiring the M15, and I will definitely experiment to see which setup works better ( I was using the B45 with much harder reeds at Balkan Camp, and it suited me well enough, but I really wasn't playing all that much). I've since gotten pretty serious about picking up a working repertoire of Bulgarian and Macedonian tunes, though, and I'm afraid that my current set up is making the music harder to play than it should be.
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated by this newly minted Balkan nut.
--Chris
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-10-08 04:57
Hi Chris,
Glad the "bug" bit ya! Which Balkan camp were you at this summer? I couldn't make it to either due to financial/divorce issues.
At any rate, Papazov plays a Vandy 5JB with (I think) #2 reeds. Not sure what brand...probably either Blue Box Vandy's...
All of the other Bulgarian players that I have met use the 5JB's. The guy I studied with in Plovdiv 2 years ago played one with Rico PLASTICOVER reeds...1.5 even. The folks who play this style tend to stick with the JB's and very soft reeds.
The goal is that penetrating sound with an integral vibrato that may not be heard as well during the fast bits. When they play a slow melody though it's everywhere.
I don't know how much easier the music itself will be to play with a different setup. It'll definitely be easier to get the "right" tone color, but I'm not sure that a different 'piece/reed combo will make the lightning-fast ornaments any easier!
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Katrina
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Author: ChrisC
Date: 2003-10-08 05:44
Thanks for the speedy response, Katrina!
I was at the East Coast Balkan Camp at Camp Hi-Rock in Massachusetts, where Catherine Foster taught the sax/clarinet class. I distinctly remember Catherine playing a 5JB with Blue Box 2 1/2's, I think, and of one other student who had a good deal of experience with Balkan music playing a 5JB as well, so it looks like that's the way to go, so I'll look into that, though my B45 might approximate the 5JB fairly closely, since it was professionally refaced and is probably more open than a B45 straight off the assembly line.
The soft reeds/open mouthpiece combination makes a good deal of sense to me, since the problems I've been experiencing have a great deal to do with simply finding it too much of an effort to get air through the mouthpiece, especially after playing a few measures of a fast kopanitsa ( is there such thing as a slow one?), which would definitely be alleviated with a less resistant setup. I don't expect any reed/mouthpiece combo to help my fingers move any faster ( though that would be nice)! I find that my tone at this point is also quite pinched, though I figure at least part of that problem is at my end.
Interesting anecdote re: reed strength--Catherine mentioned that the gypsy sax and clarinet players she met in Serbia (Zlatne Uste returned there after more than a decade last summer) used extremely hard reeds--4's, I think--and they actually rejected the reeds she brought as gifts because they were too soft! Appaently, reeds are hard to come by in that part of the world, especially for Rom communities that don't necessarily have access to the luxury of mail order. Considering the amount of pitch-bending that is present in the South Serbian Rom clarinet style (listen to the guy in the Boban Markovic Orkestar), I am absolutely shocked that they do this with such stiff reeds!
Anyway, sorry for the digression and thanks again for the info, I'll be sure to keep you and any other interested parties updated on my progress in figuring this music out. In the meantime, I'll be learning more tunes, trying to track down more CD's from which to learn even more tunes, eagerly anticipating seeing Yuri Yunakov and Ivo Papasov for the first time in a couple weeks, and making a complete fool of myself on the dance floor of any folk dance event that I stumble across.
--Chris
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-10-08 16:31
Chris,
I would have met you at Hi-Rock had I had any extra money this summer...it was a shame I had to miss it, but maybe next year!
At any rate, I've taken to playing on my 20-year old Borbeck 13 with Legere 3.25's. These seem to cover me for the rather diverse styles _I'm_ called upon to play. Since a gig for me is likely to contain both ruchenitsi AND Mozart (weird, huh?) this setup works fine for me.
When I grab a lesson with Ivo at the beginning of Nov when they're here, I'll use my JB along with my Selmer Full Boehm...just to try to approach what he does.
If you can, get a lesson with him! I met him last year, and he's really really cool! And don't worry about the dance floor...learning the basic forms of the dance is important (IMO) but not an absolute prerequisite to playing the tunes well. And besides, most recreational folk dance groups are pretty friendly and tolerant of beginners!
Where are you, BTW?
Katrina
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Author: ChrisC
Date: 2003-10-08 20:25
At the moment I'm at Hampshire College in Amherst MA (final year as a music major), but I'm originally from New York City and that's where I first became exposed to the Balkan music and dance scene via Zlatne Uste and where I'll be seeing Yuri and Ivo. After college, who knows where I'll end up or what I'll end up doing. I don't even know if Balkan Camp is a possibility for me next summer, but I plan to keep in touch with the Balkan scene wherever life leads me. I absolutely agree with you regarding the friendliness of folk dancers, but I still tend to be very self-conscious, since I've actually never really danced (or wanted to have anything to do with dance) before I discovered Balkan dancing.
BTW, I've decided that the 2 1/2 reed/B45 combination is more conducive to Bulgarian tunes, whereas the #3 reed/M15 setup serves me best for both classical and klezmer. I'm thinking of trying some #2 reeds as well, and of checking out a 5JB next time I'm back in New York to see if that offers a signficant improvement. I'm not a terribly experienced clarinetist (I've only been concentrating on it over the saxophone for the past year or so) and I only started to become familiar with Balkan music over the past six months, but I've never felt a stronger desire to play any other kind of music, so I'm working on it as much as possible, and enjoying the experience immemsely.
--Chris
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Author: reed_squawk
Date: 2003-10-24 15:55
hmmm...after reading this post yesterday, last night I broke out my 5jb, which had been shelved for some time after I (desiring a more lyrical tone ala Rostaing) got my V B40, and also broke out a thinner reed (been using V12 3's on the B40).
WOW! I could really make the thing HONK! But, it seemed to sound more like an Alto sax, where Papsov still has the deep woody cl sound...I'm of couse sure it has nothing to due with the fact that he's -great-, and I -suck-
I did notice that where the Bb and B, C notes have been stuffy (B & C) or buzzy (the Bb) using my B40, they rang loud and clear with the 5jb and the thinner reed...strange...
The main problem I ran into, was trying to go to the higher notes...seemed like I would 'pinch' the thin reed too much, causing it to stop vibrating alltogether...I guess it is a whole diff. approach to embochure these guys use for these thinner reeds???
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