 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-10 21:55
Well, this upcoming marching season I'm marching clarinet again. Tuba messes up my bass clarinet embouchure pretty bad. I'm looking for a better clarinet than my Yamaha YCL-250 student clarinet. Anyone know of a model of clarinet thats great for marching? I was looking into a Ridenour, but I hear the keywork is kinda bad on it.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2010-05-10 22:01
Nothing wrong with the Ridenour keywork, but why would you waste a nice instrument on marching band? Use the cheapest clarinet you have. Nobody can hear you anyway. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif) Stick with the Yamaha, a cheap mouthpiece and throwaway reeds. Save the good stuff for concert season. Using a real clarinet for marching band borders on sacrilege.
Another possibility: borrow a cheap alto or tenor sax.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
Post Edited (2010-05-10 22:04)
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-10 22:06
Not a fan of the tenor sax, at all. And we have too many altos as it is.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2010-05-10 22:16
Go to Ebay and buy the cheapest metal clarinet in playable condition.
If you have to endure marching band, at least do it with something less common. You still won't be heard but you will inspire some interesting dialogue.
At the end of the season, put the clarinet back on Ebay and recoup your $39.95.
...GBK
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2010-05-10 22:17
Buffet Greenline.
Not cheap, but it'll survive all sorts of bad weather particularly with Valentino pads.
........................Paul Aviles
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Author: haberc
Date: 2010-05-10 23:26
Buffet B12
Yamaha 20
Ridenour 147
Vito 3 (if your lucky)
Selmer 300
Any and all could be great for marching band. All can be had on Ebay
for a fair price. Only buy from someone who offers no questions asked full refund.
haberc@earthlink.net
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2010-05-10 23:29
Jupiter 631 fantastic plastic. With a good mouthpiece and suitable reed you can get a good full bodied sound with this cheapie , but as is mentioned above, no one's gonna hear ya anyway.
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Author: cxgreen48
Date: 2010-05-10 23:48
I don't really think you're gonna get MUCH better than a Yamaha 250. As long as it's in good working condition, I'd keep on using it.
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Author: William
Date: 2010-05-11 00:04
Any Selmer Bundy Resonite clarinet will do just fine for marching band. If you want to have a chance to be actually heard, you might consider a Bundy effer. In either case, a plastic reed and a cheap mouthpiece is recomended as quality of sound is not important on the 50 yard line. Or learn to play piccolo, which will also help you develop the flute as a double.
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-11 00:04
I already cut through the sax's anyway, projection isn't an issue. I meant a sturdy clarinet that wont shatter if accidentally dropped. I thank all the intelligent answers.
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-11 00:14
I was looking at Bundy's and they look pretty good. However, I do have my eye on a Vito 7214P, because of the plateau keys. I find these more comfortable, being a bass clarinet player. Would this affect my sound/tone at all?
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-11 00:19
I do have my eye on a Vito 7214P, because of the plateau keys. I find these more comfortable, being a bass clarinet player. Would this affect my sound/tone at all?
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Author: pewd
Date: 2010-05-11 05:06
With all due respect, I dissent;
some of the advice above ignores the realities of modern marching bands and is ill advised, and is based on long held prejudices on the part of the posters.
This works well for most of my students:
Marching clarinet: Vito 7242 (plastic)
http://shop.weinermusic.com/VITO-STUDENT-Bb-CLARINET-CLASSIC-NICKELPLATED-7242/productinfo/IV7242/
edit:
Upgrading from an (existing, used in middle school) E-11 to an R-13, and using the E-11 for marching (when moving up to 9th grade) is another sound alternative.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
Post Edited (2010-05-11 05:08)
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Author: William
Date: 2010-05-11 17:31
I still think my Bundy Eb or piccolo suggestion had merit. I'll bet if you marched a couple of ranks of effers, they would be heard--just like you can always hear a couple of good pics over all the brass & percussion. Another possibility that a lot of "modern" marching bands are overlooking these days would be the glockenspiel. We even used to have a summertime competative band march regularily at the South Milwaukee Spectical of Music that featured a rank of bagpipes. And the contribution to the total sound of the field presentation was astounding. IMHO, Bb clarinets just are not capable of competing with the type of sound modern marching bands work for and to worry about the quality of one's clarinet, reed or mouthpiece is a total waste of time. Find a cheap plastic clarinet--I recommend Bundy's but even a CSO will do just fine--and keep in step while you pretend to play. That's all you need to do.
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2010-05-11 17:48
You already have a decent clarinet that is a good choice for marching band. If you are a decent clarinet player you can make that sound just as good as any other clarinet on the field.
I would suggest you keep a bottle of key oil handy and oil the keywork at least once a month......just a drop on each hinge point.....so that the perspiration from your hands and any rain you march in doesn't rust the mechanism.
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-11 20:55
Ive decided what I want. Thanks everyone who posted good answers.
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-11 21:05
Ha, pretend to play. Tell that to my directors. And ive been wanting to march an Eb for a long time, they arent fond of the idea.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-11 22:24
Plateau clarinets will be ideal when you can't feel your fingers when it's cold - at least you can still close the fingerplates fully unlike tonehole chimneys that may not be fully covered when numbness sets in.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: jparrette
Date: 2010-05-12 02:48
Your Yamaha 250 is perfect. I've been in the West Point Band for 23 years, and we march with Yamaha YCL-20's and Buffet B-10's.
That being said, use a mouthpiece setup as close to your regular one as possible. I march with a Backun ORT, worth more than the clarinet, but it feels like what I'm used to.
John Parrette
CLARION MUSICAL SERVICES
john@clarionmusical.com
914-805-3388
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2010-05-12 02:54
John, you've been at West Point for 23 years? Planning on graduating any time soon???....LOL
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2010-05-12 14:28
I still maintain that the best marching clarinet is a Bundy tenor sax with a loud mouthpiece. Out-blare the brass, yeah! Clarinets add next to nothing to the aural impact of a marching band, IMHO.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-05-12 18:20
A loud tenor sax needs more air than a loud clarinet. Can be important for marching, especially uphill. Thus, a conscious clarinetist can better be heard than a fainted sax player.
(Too bad the latter will attract all the attention when that time has come. )
--
Ben
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2010-05-12 19:28
Ben, it's only in Switzerland that bands march uphill. Here in the US, all of the sports fields are flat. ![[toast]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley15.gif)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-05-12 20:01
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> Ben, it's only in Switzerland that bands march uphill. Here in
> the US, all of the sports fields are flat.
Oh. The only venue I haven't marched so far is a sports field. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
Here it's street marching mostly.
--
Ben
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2010-05-12 20:17
In the US the streets are so crowded with vehicular traffic that any marching band foolish enough to venture onto a street would be decimated with extreme alacrity. Regardless of clarinet brand.
Sports fields are the only safe venues for marching bands here. And even then.......
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-05-12 20:33
Of course our streets are closed while we perform. Plus there are several blocks with a general ban of motorised traffic. Just mind the trams...
--
Ben
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2010-05-12 20:48
John--
I must have heard you play quite a bit when I was in High School in the late '80s! My first clarinet teacher was Harold Easley, who at that time was concertmaster for the West Point Band.
You guys performed many great programs, and I'll never forget several concerts at Trophy Point in the summers and Ike Hall in the winters.
Wish I could get back there more often...nothing like driving over Storm King to hear you guys play!
All the best,
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-05-13 16:13
Don't you just hate it when people ask questions, we give them advice and then they don't tell you what the have decided to do.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Kontra
Date: 2010-05-13 22:42
Actually, I did say what I was going to do, awhile ago. Going with a durable Bundy.
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Author: karlbonner82
Date: 2010-05-14 11:29
This is an interesting topic. If I knew I was going to play outdoors a lot, I'd probably want to invest in a top-notch resin or Ebonite species. In the marching band, sound quality is not nearly as important though. I'd definitely go cheap if that was the only major function where I didn't want to use wood.
Basically, the more you plan to play outdoors in situations where you can be readily heard, the better your non-wood clarinet has to be. Marching band only? Cheap plastic. Marching band, street corners, travel AND (insert fourth major outdoor function here)? Premium plastic/rubber, with an excellent mouthpiece and reeds to get the most out of the tone color.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-05-14 14:52
"Actually, I did say what I was going to do, awhile ago. Going with a durable Bundy."
I don't see that anywhere....but good luck with the Bundy
Bob Draznik
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