Author: jim S.
Date: 2005-03-22 15:11
A reply that I was asked to post by a friend:
"I'm 46 and have played clarinet for 36 years. I've played alto clarinet for
the last ten years, both in a concert band and in a clarinet choir.
Everyone loves to knock the alto clarinet, and I agree, it's the Rodney
Dangerfield of the clarinet section. But it does things that no other
clarinet can do.
The biggie here is tonal blend. The alto clarinet has the ability to be
sensed but not heard in the clarinet choir. What I mean is that unless
there's an exposed passage, you can't really hear the alto clarinet (unless
intonation is poor) but when it's missing, the choir does not sound
sufficiently blended. Alto clarinet is the "leveling agent" that ties
together the soprano and bass voices. In part this is due to the unique
nature of the alto clarinet, which is that its voice is more uniform from
high to low registers than any other clarinets (Stubbins makes a point of
this in his famous book, "The Art of Clarinetistry").
Not all alto clarinets are alike. The bore sizes seem to vary more than
soprano clarinets. I play on a LeBlanc from the early 50s that has a
fairly large bore. It takes more air but it blends more readily than a
smaller bore instrument. I have an older LeBlanc (probably from the 20s)
that has a smaller bore, which gives it a more solistic sound that punches
through choir. This is also true of some Selmer alto clarinets I have
tried -- the Selmers are very fine horns but to my fingers, they are less
comfortable to play than the LeBlancs.
I have played Vitos and Bundys and I don't much care for them, not so much
due to the sound but more because the keywork is awkward and very
uncomfortable.
Also, you need a good mouthpiece. Nothing fancy, a good off-the-shelf setup
is a Vandoren 5RV and a Vandoren #3 reed with some adjusting. You'll get a
better sound if you use a softer reed than you'd normally use for soprano
clarinet. I start with Vandoren 3s and then scrape the heart (and sometimes
the sides) of the reed until I get the response I like. I tried softer
reeds to start with but the tip closes up.
I played on plastic alto sax reeds (Fibracell) for a few years but went back
to cane. A good Vandoren has a better sound, particularly in very soft
passages.
One word of caution. The alto clarinet is not a solo instrument. It
doesn't "cut through the mix" like soprano clarinets, though a small-bore
alto clarinet can get you going in that direction. And it can take quite a
few months to really get the hang of playing the instrument -- like any of
the harmony clarinets, a good sound is highly mouthpiece and reed dependent
and takes more skill to master. You will absolutely need to learn to scrape
your reeds as well. None seems to work out of the box.
Once you've heard a good clarinet choir with alto clarinet, you will never
scoff at the instrument again. And when you play one in a concert band,
you can tell within seconds if the composer or arranger is any good -- no
decent arranger gives you a warmed-over alto sax part.
Finally, consider this... since nobody loves the alto, you can pick up
decent altos at deep discounts. $400 might get you a very nice used
LeBlanc if you look around (your mileage may vary). That means you can
skip the Bundys and go right to the LeBlancs (or Selmer, if that floats your
boat).
-dave d."
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
