 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Markael
Date: 2005-08-26 18:34
He should try sticking his head in a toilet and flushing.
Just kidding. (halfway)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-08-26 18:36
"... Perel made the jump from clarinet to bassoon early, lamenting that “the clarinet was too easy.” ..."
/read/ "...There's too much competition on clarinet, bassoon, violin, etc... so I'll play an instrument with a better chance of full time employment..."
...GBK
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-26 18:38
Is there such a thing as full time employment for contra players?
They only play half the notes everyone else does!
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Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2005-08-26 18:39
Not for me! (I wish that I was complaining that is was too easy!).
Maybe I should offer to loan him my fine "Simba" instument. Perhaps that will increase the difficulty to a suitable level for him...(assuming that he does not run away screaming...).
Ah Clem
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-08-26 19:26
Chris P wrote:
> Is there such a thing as full time employment for contra players?
> They only play half the notes everyone else does!
It's still 200% more than the timpanist ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif) ...GBK
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-26 19:45
Talk about money for old rope!
But as long as they do a good job.
I don't think I'll attempt to be a contra player as I'm innumerate!
I have enough trouble counting 6 bars and three beats rest, but I can still place syncopated shot notes within a bar.
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2005-08-26 20:48
I think he must be talking about carrying it to the gig.
Either that, or he switched before they got to the part where you cross the break.
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2005-08-26 23:06
If I can play it, how hard can it be?
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-08-26 23:14
I guess he must just be an extraordinarily gifted musician to necessitate the challenge of contrabassoon over the "easy" clarinet. Or maybe just extraordinarily pompous (or would that be pompass?)
Bah. At any rate, apparently being humble is still quite a challenge to him.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2005-08-26 23:48
I just watched the DVD set of MONK, Season 1, which includes the episode, "MR. Monk Meets the Red-Headed Stranger." That's the one guest-starring Willie Nelson. Tony Shaloub, as Monk, plays the clarinet (not too well) in this episode. In a featurette included in the DVD set, Shaloub made the comment that although he didn't know how to play the clarinet, he'd wanted to make the scenes look as credible as possible by doing his own clarinet playing instead of synching to a recording. The series hired him a clarinet tutor. His conclusion, in a tone of humility and bemused respect: "That's a hard instrument!"
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-08-26 23:55
Lelia Loban wrote:
> Shaloub made the comment
> that although he didn't know how to play the clarinet, he'd
> wanted to make the scenes look as credible as possible by doing
> his own clarinet playing instead of synching to a recording.
> The series hired him a clarinet tutor. His conclusion, in a
> tone of humility and bemused respect: "That's a hard
> instrument!"
>
I have to say, I give him mad props (for you oldsters out there who aren't 'hip' with today's 'jive', that means a lot of respect ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif) ) for doing his OWN clarinet playing and making it credible. I can't tell you how often it irks me when they dub over music while the person is OBVIOUSLY playing the instrument incorrectly. Sometimes the actor/actress continues moving the fingers while simultaneously holding a long note or something. Just irks me and so, even though I don't know this "Shaloub" person, I respect him for trying to it correctly.
Alexi
PS - Incidentally, I hope the directors/writers don't write a scene involving him playing contrabassoon in this series. Cause if he thought the CLARINET was hard . . . . . !!!
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2005-08-26 23:56)
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2005-08-27 02:14
I remember that Monk episode. Didn't he say he would finally get a chance to play his new rosewood clarinet? That thing looked like it was made from the same kind of "rosewood" as my old bowling ball.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Rick Williams
Date: 2005-08-27 11:47
Anyone know the clarinetists at the NSO?....g The first rehearsal this fall might be interesting.
On the other hand I've given enough interviews with reporters to take with a very large grain of salt anything I read. You can hand a reporter a written statement and they will still get the facts wrong. BTW, reporters are the one available group for lawyers to tell jokes about.
Best
RW
Best
Rick
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2005-08-27 12:10
Ralph G wrote,
>>I remember that Monk episode. Didn't he say he would finally get a chance to play his new rosewood clarinet? That thing looked like it was made from the same kind of "rosewood" as my old bowling ball.
>>
LOL! Yeah, I thought it looked like fossil fuel-related "rosewood look" product. It's interesting that the series chose clarinet as the instrument for someone with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.... I've seen an insider rumor that they wanted to choose oboe, to show Monk obsessing over his reeds, but the more piercing sound of an oboe would have created too many audio / miking problems.
Alexi wrote,
>>I can't tell you how often it irks me when they dub over music while the person is OBVIOUSLY playing the instrument incorrectly. Sometimes the actor/actress continues moving the fingers while simultaneously holding a long note or something. Just irks me and so, even though I don't know this "Shaloub" person, I respect him for trying to it correctly.
>>
Same here. I could hardly stand the fake saxophone playing on the mercifully short-lived series, "Flash," or was it, "Flashman"--? It was an alleged detective story (based on a comic book) about a character, supposedly a professional musician, who could fast-forward himself without a remote control. The teleplays were beyond stupid, and the saxophone "playing" looked so unintentionally funny that it was a distraction. The actor, who clearly had no clue, would stand there with his fingers waggling randomly, and would take his mouth off the mouthpiece while the soundtrack played on--that sort of thing. "Get me rewrite!"
The very high quality acting is a big draw for me in the "Monk" series. Tony Shaloub is a fabulous character actor. I particularly like him in the movie, "Men In Black," where he plays an illegal alien gun-runner. (He's the one with the head that grows back.) "MONK" has done a good job of finding ways in which OCD can be an advantage for a detective, and a pretty good job of writing the detective hero in such a way that the audience is encouraged to laugh with him, instead of at him. Shaloub's consistently outstanding performance makes that theme work, although I remain a little bit uncomfortable with the whole idea of using a serious mental illness as the premise for a comedy. My main beef is: I wish the writers would trust the audience enough make the mystery plots more complex. But the clarinet adds another of the many elements that keep me following this series.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: ZCClarinet
Date: 2005-08-28 02:14
Sadly, I did the same thing, only to bassoon
And I shall defend the action!
I middle school, my only outlet for performance was, other than rare recitals held by my teacher, the middle school band. Which, due to the program, played easy music. Very easy music. I switched to bassoon because I was bored. I of course still play clarinet (and have since dropped the bassoon to focus on that), but those years of band class became a whole new world of interest as I learned a completely new, and (as far as our middle school was concerned) rather unique instrument. So it was in no way the instrument, but the repertoire I was required to play.
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Author: ginny
Date: 2005-08-28 02:45
I suspect that the clarinetist turned bassonists turned contrabassonist was merely seeking a smaller pond to be a big fish in.
It is difficult to play any almost instrument at a professional level much less one that supports a solo career, in almost any style. I am sure there are some exceptions, surely orchestral clarinet is not one of them.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-08-28 13:10
I'm sure everybody knows the old joke about contrabasoon players but here it is again.
In the middle of the rehearsal the conductor stopped and said to the contrabasoon: "Are you sure you played the right notes? Play low A for a second." The contrabasoon player plays a low A. The conductor says: "Wait a second, play a low Bb". The contrabasoon player plays low Bb. The conductor says to him: "You know what, nevermind, play whatever you want...."
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-08-29 20:12
vitoclarinet wrote:
> ^
> I don't see how that's funny
Have you ever heard the low notes on a contrabasson?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-29 20:57
I reckon more people have felt the low notes rather than heard them.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-08-29 21:01
Favorite contra passage is start of Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand.
I was crazy enough to try playing at when I was a young kid (on piano).
But I cheated and used both hands........ it was a whole lot easier then 
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-08-29 21:49
I played the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand in the West Point Band. The contrabassoon couldn't be gotten into playable condition soon enough to play the cadenza, so I got to do it on the BBb contra.
The chief arranger set out to make totally unplayable arrangements (he also did Jon Juan and the Brahms 4th), but we got through it.
Actually, my favorite contrabassoon solo is in Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. And there's one great blast in Haydn's Creation, where the singer, describing the animals, speaks of "the heavy beast."
Ken Shaw
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Author: Ken Mills
Date: 2005-08-29 22:52
Dear Ken Shaw; The lower register on the clarinet has the same notes in the fingering system as the full bassoon, so a clarinet player can go to it as easily as the flute or sax. So lots of various musicians started on the clarinet because it is an easy and cheap way to go anywhere next. However, the messages underneath you should realize that European colonialism was very hard on somebody, those colonial people, but many beautiful instruments came out of the machine age with the resources from there. Look at those eight foot and 16 foot bassoons, yikes. Life is still tough for the colonial people right now, however. Don't be a feckless strolling clarinet player. Shout out about it then take a well deserved musical activity like Leonard Bernstein. Separate fields, yes, but look at where your instrument came from. Ken
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-08-30 13:07
To Chris P
Oops, I hit the wrong key and prematurely sent the previous response. Mea culpa.
Speaking of feeling low notes,......
When I was in college, I played double bass and stood (sat) in front of the tuba player who liked to go subsonic just to make the basses rattle. We were on a raised platform and there was a whole lot of shaking, rattling and rolling going on there.
Best regards,
Mary Vinquist
(for all of those who wonder, Mrs. Ken)
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The Clarinet Pages
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