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The Ethnic Clarinet The C4 standard

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Re: Community klezmer band

Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2005-07-08 21:24

I don't know that bass sax is "rare", but it's certainly not common. I know that the sound is bigger and brassier than what you can get out of a bass clarinet. You can hear bass sax playing by Andy Stein or Vince Giordano with The Guys All-Star Shoe Band on Prairie Home Companion on your public radio station, in case you haven't heard any. Though the biggest horn I play is a C-melody, I have a suspicion that big saxes are easier to play than big clarinets. This, because when I play my C-melody, I find all I really need to do is round my mouth, not pinch, keep a steady but not firm embouchure, and maintain a steady airflow through the tenor mp. I've tried blowing a bass clarinet now and then and that just doesn't seem to work. Seems the embouchure is half clarinet, half sax, much more particular. OTOH, if you already play bass clarinet fairly well, you've got a head start so you may want to stay with that. A bass sax certainly won't come cheap.

Steve Epstein

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