 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jez
Date: 2014-01-19 23:48
I came across this recently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nBmSlXG-JY
I never new that Harpo played clarinet. There's not enough to appreciate his talents, but he clearly new what he was doing. Good trick with the bubbles!
jez
Post Edited (2014-01-19 23:49)
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2014-01-20 07:44
Wonderful interpretation by Harpo. Makes you smile!
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: William
Date: 2014-01-20 19:48
And I grew up listening to Benny, Artie and Chuck...........oh well, better late than never.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2014-01-21 00:56
The Marx Brothers were amazing in many ways. For example, Zeppo Marx invented a device (the Marman clamp) which is a staple of the spacecraft world.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2014-01-21 02:47
Harpo plays clarinet in the first Marx Brothers movie from 1929, The Cocoanuts.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2014-01-21 20:34
I love the YouTube clip -- and Harpo really did play the clarinet. He played saxophone, too, in "Monkey Business." But in this YouTube clip, I'm pretty sure he's not playing at all, even when he's not blowing bubbles. Watch the fingers. That's someone off-camera on the soundtrack.
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: Arnoldstang
Date: 2014-01-21 18:20
Fingers seem to be moving appropriately maybe not synced perfectly.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2014-01-22 01:27
I agree with you that he seems to be fingering the notes (he did know how to play the clarinet), and you're right that on these re-mastered old clips, the audio may not be exactly in sync with the picture even in a genuinely live performance. But lip-syncing soundtracks was commonplace by then and what I'm seeing on this particular clip is that sometimes Harpo looks slightly ahead of the sound and sometimes he looks slightly behind it. That tells me he's miming to a pre-recorded track -- although you're right in another way, too, because he was capable of recording that track himself. He didn't need anybody to do a Milli Vanilli for him. But I doubt whether it's possible to rig a clarinet as a bubble-blower, put out as many bubbles as he seems to be doing and still play a pretty wide range of notes on it. Where's the soapy liquid coming from?
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: rdc
Date: 2014-01-22 03:01
There was an article years ago in The Clarinet entitled "Harpo Marx and his B-flat 'Soaprano' Clarinet." (Vol. 18, No. 2)
The soap container was in the bell, which was larger than normal and constructed of sheet metal. A tube ran down the back of the clarinet into the soap container, the top end of which rested near the mouthpiece.
I haven't read the article recently, but I seem to remember that there was a switch or valve that he could activate to direct air through the tube into the soap container.
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Author: rdc
Date: 2014-01-22 03:11
I just looked at the video clip again. If you look closely, you can see the larger bell and the tube that ran up beside the mouthpiece.
It looks like Harpo just repositioned the mouthpiece in his mouth to take in the tube when he wanted to blow bubbles.
The article mentions that Harpo was one of the few American performers to tour the USSR during the Cold War years. The Russians asked for his bubble-blowing clarinet routine.
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