[Ross]

Hey everybody,

My high school is doing the musical "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" this year, and I am playing the Reed 5 book. It calls for baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, and kazoo (yay!). I play bari in jazz band and bassoon in wind ensemble, but have never played bass clarinet. (I played clarinet here and there when it strikes my fancy since 5th grade, so I already have one at my house.)

Anyway, today I got a school-owned Vito Reso-Tone bass clarinet, the only model they have (although they have 16 or 17 of them:? ). Along with it came a variety of mouthpieces:

1. Marked "Educator B5" and then the word "WOODWIND" in a circle under it.
2. Yamaha with no markings except the brand name.
3. Unmarked except for a very faded "C M" at the bottom.
4. Brillhart Ebolin 8*
5. Another unmarked Yamaha
6. Almost too faded to read, but I think it's a Woodwind and Company, either
a 9 or a 6, and I can make out "Vito II" towards the bottom (maybe the
one that came with the instrument?).

I tried all of these today with the only reed they had at school, a La Voz medium soft. And boy, did I have a rough time. The notes around middle-of-the-staff Bb, A, etc sounded okay, but once I moved a few up or down it was either making a warbling sound or was flat out sqeaking.

I realize these are pretty shady descriptions of the mouthpieces but I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions as to which one I should start out on as far as ease/sounding halfway decent goes. I'm going to the store later tonight to get a bunch of reeds of all different flavors, so maybe that will make a difference.

Thanks,
Ross

 

[Gandalfe]

Can you get a tech to check out the horn? Besides that, the only way I can play a bass clarinet without dedicating years of practice was by purchasing a Walter Grabner bass clarinet mouthpiece. They are very pricy but as soon as I got one I could play from the F above the staff to the low C (on my instrument) beautifully.

Every bass clarinetists I've let try the mouthpiece (actually that's only four) has either purchased the piece or grouse about how I can play higher (and lower) than them with about a year on the instrument. Two instructors wrote down the name of the piece and maker for their students.

It is a very impressive mouthpiece which I've found to be a necessary expense for the bass clarinet, one of the most mouthpiece-dependent instruments that I have tried to play. Oh, and before I learned to play the bass clarinet I'd transpose the bass clarinet parts (mostly into the lower range) for a tenor sax. But man is it work playing as soft as a bass clarinet is called upon to be in most of the music for them. Good chops workout though.

Good luck.

 

[jbtsax]

The Woodwind Educator would be my pick from your list. They are a very good mouthpiece in their price range. Many of our local schools have good success with this mouthpiece in their band programs.

John

 

[bandmommy]

Yeah, the Educator, or either one of the Yamahas' would be good. That med. soft reed is about the equivalent of a 2. Try a 2.5 and 3 on ALL of the mouthpieces. The one that you think looks the worst may be the best sounding for that old Vito.
Squeeks and warbles usually mean leaks. Have it sent in for a check up.
And hey,, Break a leg!

 

[Ross]

Thanks for all the responses.

Gandalfe: As much as I would like to get one of those nice mouthpieces, I don't think it would be very practical for me right now. Who knows when the next time I will be playing BC after this musical, as I am on bassoon in wind ensemble. Maybe once I am off to college I'll bite the bullet and get one.

bandmommy: The horn has been in the shop for check-up and cleaning along with all the other school horns over the summer, so in theory it is leak free. I will give one of the other ones a try, but I think the warbling is a user error, not the horn.

 

[Roger Aldridge]

Ross,

As much as I'd say there is no quick fix when it comes to reaching a comfort level on the bass clarinet -- that one needs a period of time with lots of serious shedding and perhaps lessons with a good bass clarinet teacher -- the closest that I've come to a "silver bullet" fix was getting a Grabner LB bass clarinet mouthpiece (similar to Gandalfe's experience). The Grabner mouthpiece transformed my bass clarinet playing from the very first note. Certain problems I had been having on bass were magically resolved. It's true! Every cent I spent on the Grabner LB was worth it.

That said (and realizing that you may not be in a position to buy a new bass clarinet mouthpiece), I agree with Bandmommy's advice about using a slightly stiffer reed and then trying all of the mouthpieces. You might get lucky and find one that works for you.

If all else fails, you could transpose the bass clarinet part on bari sax (up a 5th). But, we hope the bass clarinet gods smile on you and it works out.

Good Luck!

Roger

 

[Gandalfe]

The horn has been in the shop for check-up and cleaning along with all the other school horns over the summer, so in theory it is leak free. I will give one of the other ones a try, but I think the warbling is a user error, not the horn.

I hope I don't offend any techs here, but I'm guessing that school horns rarely get a thorough calibration and certainly not based on any one student's needs. Do you have a fav tech that you could sit with and go over the mechanisms with for obvious quick fixes? Any decent tech will be more attentive with the student there unless the student is rude and abusive. Otherwise, it's all about time with the instrument.

 

[littlemanbighorn]

Also, while the horn may have been set up by a tech, do we know who the tech is? While there are many wonderful techs out there, there are also many hacks and good techs rushing to finish off a big pile of school horns before the school year starts. Definitely try some of the other horns. Also, was it shipped or possibly otherwise mishandled? These things can put a horn(especially a BC) out of whack.

 

[jbtsax]

I just read the original post carefully. (Note to self: Need to do that more often before answering.)

Try backing the small screw on the Ab key that sits atop the A key a half turn. When you press the A key there should be a slight movement before it contacts the Ab key. What you describe is symptomatic of the Ab key being held slightly open by this adjusting screw. That might be all that is wrong.

John

 

[dirty]

Or don't worry too much about the equipment and keep trying to play it... I played clarinet exclusively for 5 years before I tried a bass clarinet, and it was pretty rough the first day. My pride wounded, I of course blamed the equipment. Over the next few months, the equipment magically got all better!

If the school says it's just been in the shop, that doesn't mean it's perfect, but it suggests that it works. Give it a shot.

 

[Ross]

Well, I went out and bought some 2.5 and some 3 reeds and tried both sizes on each mouthpiece, and they all sounded about 100 times better than with the medium soft. The warbling and squeaking is gone for the most part now and what little is left I imagine will go away over time. In any case, I think I'll keep rotating through them until I find one that really stands out.