 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bartmann
Date: 2009-10-29 01:09
When I started playing the clarinet I was a near-sighted geeky kid with endless patience for details. Playing clarinet suited me because its sound blends very nicely with other instruments. Most importantly I loved fussing with reeds and as a youth I achieved a very good tone as a result.
But as I grew older, my sight improved, got an MBA, moved to a more high-powered career I didn't have as much time to dedicate to my clarinet and reeds. My practice routine diminished to weekends only and perhaps an hour per session. I saw this down hill trend I tried my hand at the flute.
Much to my surprise, especially with my crazy work schedule I excelled at the flute and progressed at a much faster rate than the clarinet. The pick up and play qualities of the flute appealed to my lifestyle. A large repertoire full of early music also appealed to me.
Tonight I tried playing the clarinet. I had a rare short half hour window of opportunity. I tried a couple of old reeds but it was obvious that they were beyond their prime. So what did I do? Rather than breaking out my reed clipper and trying to revive these reeds. I put the clarinet away and broke out my flute. I was shocked as I watched myself doing this. I had become too impatient and couldn't be bothered fussing with reeds.
So I spent the remaining 20 minutes playing Telemann on the flute and enjoyed it fully. I'm sure if clarinet were the only instrument I played I would have tried to make the old reeds work while breaking in new ones. But I have the flute as an easier alternative so I simply played it.
Perhaps in the same way we give young kids the job of threading a needle, I've grown to a point where I don't have the patience for the clarinet and its reeds.
Bartmann
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2009-10-29 01:25
And your problem with this is . . .?
Clarinet never suited me, but it was the instrument I was given, and I became pretty good at it. Five years ago, I put it down, picked up the oboe, and have never looked back.
It's OK to move on. But is there something significant about your identity that is wrapped up with the clarinet -- something that you don't want to lose, or about which you feel ambivalent?
Susan
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-10-29 04:51
There is a lot to be said about how an instrument fits into ones schedule or lifestyle. I am very happy palying clarniet because my first 10 years of music were on saxophone. Sax players are almost always doublers on different saxes, so you find yourself lugging around 20~30+ pounds of stuff. Each instrument has a very limited range and they go out of adjustment very very easily since they are made with brass which is rather soft.
After I switched to clarinet, life was more free. Both clarinets (and even an Eb) in their cases still do not weigh as much or take up as much space as one alto sax. The range is also much much wider and this allows more musical possibilities.
The weight was also giving me some serious neck and back problems that I don't miss at all.
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Author: Coomkeen
Date: 2009-10-29 07:56
Yes lifestyles change.
I'm going slowly away from the tenor Sax and towards the soprano clarinet for similar reasons, except now I like the sound of the bass clarinet, which is in the opposite direction.
It's mostly time and circumstance.
I do quite a bit of sailing, and you can't fit a tenor into a small sailing boat.
And a clarinet, or almost any instrument, hates sea water and a salty environment.
So what do I do?
I keep, literally in my inside jacket pocket, an Irish Tin Whistle.
That comes out whenever there's a chance, and it's good for Celtic stuff - jigs, reels and slow ballads, - as well as sea shanties ( just to keep the music in line with the surroundings ).
You can play it in the car ( not while driving ) or on a cliff-top.
Actually it's amazing what you can play on a tin whistle.
Ron
www.coomkeen.com
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Author: Clari
Date: 2009-10-29 08:51
I pick up clarinet again after many years of working. I don't like to deal with reed either so I go synthetic and use legere reeds. I leave my rubber clarinets on the stand so I don't assemble them everytime. It doesn't take much time to pick up and play and put it back.
Maybe you can give syntheic reed a try and see if you will like playing clarinet again. For me, I have no interest in flute and it probably take more time to pick up a new instrument than trying out new type of reed. Reed shouldn't be the hindering factor in your case as there are plenty of solutions out there.
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Author: Bluesparkle
Date: 2009-10-29 11:20
"When I started playing the clarinet I was a near-sighted geeky kid with endless patience for details."
It's interesting to me that you think the typical clarinetist fits in this category. Not all clarinetists are near-sighted geeks, you know. And I, for one, am quite impatient.
Why label yourself as just a "one instrument" person? Perhaps because of my impatience (or is it ADD?) I sing in the choir, play in a handbell quartet, just picked up the bass clarinet, plan to play my Bb in the orchestra that's been hired to play for our church's Christmas presentation, as a child I took 12 years of piano lessons, and yes, got a tin whistle last year and just performed with that a few weeks ago.
So you like flute because it's easy and portable, and perhaps you are of the generation that's of the "instant gratification" mindset. That's fine, and if it gives you joy, then more power to you! But, there's not a thing wrong with taking on something that is more challenging and requires more dedication, regardless of whether or not you wear Coke-bottle glasses .
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-10-29 12:29
>>Why label yourself as just a "one instrument" person? >>
Indeed! Granted, I've gone a bit far in the opposite extreme, but.... I'm not having much success associating basic personality traits with musical decisions in the real world. My husband and I, happily married since 1970, get along well and share a lot of the same personality characteristics, including a strong preference for monogamy, yet he's stuck with the violin and only the violin since age 5, while I've been a musical bigamist and more since approximately the same age.
None of the clarinet players I know would qualify as nerdy, detail-obsessed geeks. At least, I wouldn't describe them that way, although maybe I'm simply choosing more positive-sounding language for essentially the same traits. Then again, I think a good ability to focus and concentrate on details helps any musician on any instrument (including the built-in one, the voice).
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: 2009-10-29 18:33
Flute definitely has that 'pick up and play' quality. That's the one downside I see to playing clarinet. You have to fuss with reeds. I envy brass instruments and even MORE-so flute. Pick a mouthpiece and play it, no reeds, no nothing. And for flute, no mouthpiece even needed? Just pick a flute, and use what it has.
If flute makes you happy, and fits your schedule better, go for it. I'm happy you're playing music and that it's keeping a smile on your face. Regardless of what instrument it is (coming from someone who recently started working on recorder with a friend, and thinks that is a pretty neat, no-fuss instrument!)
Alexi
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