 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2005-03-14 21:56
Well, I kinda got switched from soprano to bass for a couple of days. I noticed that when making the transition back to soprano the tone quality is not as good or something. I hated bass, with a passion, for that very reason (because I think it's screwing with my tone quality on soprano). So, thankfully, I'm back to soprano again. I suppose learning to make that transition would be a good quality to have, but it's very annoying. Does the bass clarinet mess up tone quality on soprano? Or am I just blaming bass for my crappy tone?
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-03-14 22:15
Hi Mary,
Don’t be put off by the initial experience with bass. As you continue to practice and play it, your embouchure for bass will develop to the point that it becomes second nature to double. When this happens, you will improve the tone on both instruments.
Your body has a wonderful ability to adapt to new environments and learn new skills, of which playing multiple sizes of clarinets is a valuable one.
No, bass should not ruin your embouchure for soprano in my opinion. The embouchure for any particular instrument will deteriorate through lack of regular and meaningful practice on that instrument.
Good luck.
Willy
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Author: ron b
Date: 2005-03-14 22:21
Blame it on whatever you want, Mary.
Assuming the instrument is in good working order, the rest is up to you. The interference you're experiencing may have something to do with your passionate hatred of the bass. Try taking your aggression out on something less self-defeating.
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-03-14 23:00
I've been playing bass and soprano clarinets back and forth for 30+ years, and neither has messed up the tone of the other -- however, together they have totally ruined my life......but that's another story.
Double away, without fear. The added perspective of playing a different size clarinet can only help you in the long term.
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2005-03-14 23:06
true... It is good to try a variety of things... But wouldn't it be better just to stick with soprano? I mean, you get more accomplished that way, and it's less annoying. I mean, it's normal for people to go back and forth from one instrument to another in high school, but do they do that in college too? I can play bass and all just fine, it just requires more air. But to get the high notes to come out on bass (this is what I heard, so that's what I do) you're supposed to lower your tongue in your mouth, instead of having it up in your mouth. On soprano, you're supposed to always have it up in your mouth. So, there is that difference.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2005-03-14 23:10
make sure you have a decent mouthpiece on the bass, not an old worn out , chipped school owned one.
and that the bass has no pad leaks.
then you'll probably have a better experience with it.
shouldn't mess up your tone on either, presuming you practice both diligently. you will have some trouble for the first 10 minutes or so after switching back, until you get more experience. try long tones for a few minutes after switching back to soprano.
-paul
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Author: clarinets1
Date: 2005-03-14 23:17
mary,
lots of us double on several different horns. a musician can become just as accomplished on the instrument, it just requires more effort on the part of the player.
i personally play clarinet (yes, bass too), alto and tenor sax, and flute. frustration at first is normal and expected, but don't let it take over your mindset.
~~JK
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2005-03-14 23:35
Oh, my experience on bass is just fine... We have a pretty nice bass clarinet at our school... The person who usually plays it takes good care of it, he just wanted to play soprano for a while and that's why I switched... It's just going back to soprano that's getting me... eh, oh well...
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Author: CheezyClarinetist
Date: 2005-03-15 01:40
Switching between instruments can only be good for you, as long as you keep them all up and fresh. I play clarinet, but I also play trumpet for a couple of big bands in the area, and I believe that playing one insturment makes my other one sound just that much better. Switching directly from clarinet takes a moment for my lips to readjust, but then its fine, if not better.
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Author: diz
Date: 2005-03-15 03:48
God ... my first experience going from sop. to bass was wonderful. Had no problems ... mind you the school's (then brand new) bass was a beautiful Selmer ... I was very sad to hand it back when I left school.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-03-15 05:57
I'm playing something right now that I need to switch from bass to soprano in about 5 seconds. It's possible but I noitced the sound on the soprano for about the first 10 seconds after the bass is not as good. After that it's back to normal.
If you have enough rest time between switching it shouldn't be a problem though.
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2005-03-15 12:50
Over the past 45+ years I've assisted dozens of clarinet players in adding bass clarinet proficiency to their "portfolios". (Some of them now playing in major symphony orchestras). Almost invariably these people have told me that learning to properly play the bass clarinet has, in fact, improved their Bb (and A) clarinet playing! I attribute this to their learning to use air support in a more vigourous mode, and also to acquiring a more flexible embouchure (less jaw involvement--more dependence on moving the air through the instrument).
If pslg(da) is finding that her bass clarinet foray is damaging her clarinet playing, then, IMHO, she is doing something fundamentally unsound on one or both instruments!
Listening to Reiner Wehle play spectacularly on both cl and bcl at the Library of Congress a couple weeks ago has only reinforced my attitude on this!
Larry
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Author: DougR
Date: 2005-03-15 15:23
CHANGE EMBOUCHRES FOR EACH HORN!
take in as much mouthpiece on the bass as you can without squeaking, keep a nice round oral cavity, and the embouchre pressure on the mouthpiece should be more all-the-way-around, rather than (as with soprano) resting the mouthpiece on the bottom lip and letting the pressure come from there. ("Less jaw involvement," as mentioned above, is a good way to put it.) That all-the-way-around thing is key--your air column really has to move through the bass as unimpeded as possible, with as much support as possible. Does that make sense?
It works for me, anyway. don't use too-soft a reed on the bass, either--if you can choke the reed with a strong fortissimo, the reed's too soft.
Just remember that they're 2 slightly different embouchres, & don't trash your soprano embouchre by trying to make it work on the bass. Also, I agree that diligent practice on the bass ought to solidify your technique on soprano, simply because the key forces and finger motions require a bit more effort and more conscious focus on the bass (at least, for me).
That's my 2c, anyway... let us know how you end up!
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2005-03-17 00:53
Haha... possibly my problem... I sound decent on each horn, it's just I try to stick to the soprano emboucher all the time... No longer switching back and forth from soprano to bass, but I suppose it's just my paranoia that bass is out to get my soprano emboucher.
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-03-17 02:34
And it's just paranoia. Your embouchure should adjust fairly quickly. I worked on it for a while, now I have no problem switching from contrabass to soprano and vice versa. The strictly-soprano clarinetists, however...
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-03-17 03:12
That happened to me at the beginning. A whole concert season of contra and then I couldn't even squeak a note out. That taught me my lesson for keeping up my instruments.
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Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2005-03-18 00:23
What about the reverse, trying to recover a soprano clarinet embouchure after long periods on lower members of the family? In the 6 high schools in my city, the bass players seem evenly split between those who can go back to soprano easily after playing bass and those who can't. Is there any special thing to keep in mind when trying to recover soprano ability?
Though I do wonder why playing low saxes doesn't seem to hurt the higher ones at all (at least for me). I've been playing exclusive Tenor for the last few months and just brought my Alto back from the closet yesterday and haven't missed a beat. Quite a far cry from my Clarinet experience, where a month or longer without playing soprano takes me back to square one.
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2005-03-18 01:17
>Quite a far cry from my Clarinet experience, where a month or longer >without playing soprano takes me back to square one.
LANCE! hi...
Anyways, that's precisely what I fear if I were to switch to bass on a permanant basis... But that will no longer happen (I don't think), because the guy who wanted to switch to soprano saw I wasn't happy on bass and decided to switch back. This being since clearly he was better on bass, and I was better on soprano...
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