Contrabass Digest

To subscribe or unsubscribe, email gdgreen@contrabass.com

 
 

1999-12-22

 
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 20:13:23 -0500 (EST)
From: Carole Nowicke <cnowicke@indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com

On Tue, 21 Dec 1999, Grant Green wrote:
>
> I just discovered that delivery of my ophicleide (an 1850, 10 key
> Halary) was held up at US Customs, because it requires *FDA
> clearance*.  What I want to know is how it was classified:
> nutritious, intoxicating, therapeutic, or medical device?
 

Sounds like my ophicleide's long-lost sibling!  Congratulations.

I think FDA would want to make sure you weren't smuggling any arugula.
>
Carole Nowicke
cnowicke@indiana.edu  <http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~cnowicke>

---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 22:58:11 -0400
From: "Robert S. Howe" <arehow@vgernet.net>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Do any of you guys out there actually PLAY the ophicleide?  My 2 ophis
are a CJ Sax from about 1828, now in restoration; and an Association
Generale des Ouvriers Reunis, Parisian, from after 1905.  It is in
splendid playing condition and blows well at A440.  It is pitched in C,
many other Ophis are in Bb.  I am preparing for a performance in April
of the second tuba (actually intended for Bb ophi) part in the Berlioz
Fantastic Symphony.  My problem is getting out the notes below G or so,
these are all pedal notes but are considered a part of the regular
playing range.  Any advice for a reed player confronted with the brass
mouthpiece?  I use a euphonium mpc, BTW.  And also, don't asume the
fingerings are easy for me, the keyworks are such as to be very
confusing for a clarinet/Saxophone/oboe player.

Robert Howe
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 23:03:57 -0500 (EST)
From: Carole Nowicke <cnowicke@indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
On Tue, 21 Dec 1999, Robert S. Howe wrote:

> Do any of you guys out there actually PLAY the ophicleide?  My 2 ophis

Yeap.  Might only be one gig a year, but I play it.  Most recently last
October with Dr.  Henry Meredith's "Queen's Quickstep and Quadrille
Society Orchestra"  at a ball at the Lincoln Museum in Ft. Wayne,Indiana.
I really like the sound with the "19th century dance band" much better
than playing tuba with a small group including keyed bugle.

> playing range.  Any advice for a reed player confronted with the brass
> mouthpiece?  I use a euphonium mpc, BTW.  And also, don't asume the

Get an ophicleide mouthpiece copied or maybe tinker with something like
the new Christian Lindberg Trombone mouthpiece (looks like a Dr.Young...).
Ophicleides tend to speak much better with a conical "razor rim"
mouthpieces than with a modern cup mouthpiece.

> fingerings are easy for me, the keyworks are such as to be very
> confusing for a clarinet/Saxophone/oboe player.

Oh, they don't make any sense at all!

Carole Nowicke
cnowicke@indiana.edu  <http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~cnowicke>

---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 23:37:48 -0400
From: "Robert S. Howe" <arehow@vgernet.net>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Carole Nowicke wrote:

> Get an ophicleide mouthpiece copied or maybe tinker with something like
> the new Christian Lindberg Trombone mouthpiece (looks like a Dr.Young...).
> Ophicleides tend to speak much better with a conical "razor rim"
> mouthpieces than with a modern cup mouthpiece.

Curious.  The Sax ophi came with an original WOODEN mpc, clearly period
and represented by the seller as belonging to the specific instrument.
It is marked * SAX/FN DU ROI/BEL (Sax, Fournissier du Roi de Belge, ie,
Supplier to the King of Belgium).  THe Ophi itself has the same
inscription (written out in full) and a serial number, so the mpc is
clearly intended for this ophi or one like it.  The mpc has a very deep,
hemipherical cup with a tiny throat opening and a thin razor rim.  The
Assoc Generale ophi, which is 75 years newer, has a modern "ophi" mpc,
which is conical as you describe but has a broad rim.  The previous
owner had it made to order, and I cannot vouch for its authenticity.
HOWEVER, I do have a similar mpc to what you describe, which came with a
Belgian L-trombone that I bought at Sotheby's, I will try this (and
would do so now, were the children not sleeping).  The Sax mpc is too
small for the AG ophi's leadpipe, and I would anyway not blow on a
wooden mpc for more than a few seconds for fear of damaging it.

Who makes "ophi" mpcs?

Thanks,

Robert Howe
---------------------------------------------------------

From: Colin.HARRIS@dfee.gov.uk
Subject: RE: comments on some old strings
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 08:59:46 -0000
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
A unsuccessful attempt to replace oboes and bassoons in the military band
with something even more nasal and raucous!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Grant Green [mailto:gdgreen@contrabass.com]
Sent: 21 December 1999 21:58
To: contrabass@mail.contrabass.com
Subject: Re: comments on some old strings
 

CONTRABASS@contrabass.com
=========================
*

>What is a sarrusophone?
>
>Abi Tenenbaum

(a)  A cross between a bassoon and a saxophone;
(b)  An early competitor of the saxophone, developed by French
competitors of Adolphe Sax, having essentially the same fingering as
a saxophone but designed to be played with a double reed;
(c)  The topic of approximately 47% of posts on the contrabass list;
(d)  A metal, conical-bore, double-reed instrument invented in the
1850's by Gautrot and Sarrus;
(e)  The bane of my wife ;-)
(f)  All of the above.

The correct answer is, of course, (f).  See
http://www.contrabass.com/pages/sarrus.html for a bit more detail,
sound clips, pictures, etc.

Enjoy,

Grant

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green            gdgreen@contrabass.com
                     http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----------------------
end contrabass list
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:22:03 GMT
From: mkilpatr@arm.com (Michael Kilpatrick)
Subject: Strange clarinet for sale
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Folks,
 

why would someone make a clarinet out of metal? How rare is such
a thing. Someone is selling one on ebay without even knowing
what it is!

Have a look at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=224510816
 

and please tell me what it is!

Michael
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 11:35:51 -0800
Subject: Metal Klarinet on Ebay
From: mgrogg@juno.com
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Yes, there is such a thing as a metal klarinet.  There were a bazzilion
of them made from 18xx until around World War 2.  They were much cheaper
than real klarinets made of wood.  Plastic  made for a better cheap
klarinet after the war and metal pretty much died out.  Thiry years ago,
every Salvation Army and Goodwill store had piles of them for a dollar or
two apiece, and they would not sell at that price.

If you look around, you can sometimes find really old ones in High pitch
and with Albert system keywork.  A real find would be an Eb soprano, it
would be even more obnoxious than a soprano Sax.  Another interesting
find is a high pitch instrument that has been "converted" to low pitch by
glueing a piece of rope the length of the bore.  It does lower the pitch
to 440, but does nothing for intonation or sound.

And you are right, the person does not know what they had.  It works both
ways though,   I recently picked up a Soprano Sax from someone who had a
metal klarinet listed.

Michael Grogg
Clearwater, Florida

___________________________________________________________________
Why pay more to get Web access?
Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW!
Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:45:28 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Metal Klarinet on Ebay
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
>If you look around, you can sometimes find really old ones in High pitch
>and with Albert system keywork.  A real find would be an Eb soprano, it
>would be even more obnoxious than a soprano Sax.

I've seen metal Eb soprano, alto, and bass clarinets offered on ebay,
last Summer.  Metal oboes, too.  So far, no metal bassoons...

Grant

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green            gdgreen@contrabass.com
                     http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 10:43:38 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
>Do any of you guys out there actually PLAY the ophicleide?  My 2 ophis

I *plan* to...

Which brings me to the next question: can anyone recommend a good
ophicleide etude book?

Grant

BTW, the latest update is that it has now cleared customs....

GDG

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green            gdgreen@contrabass.com
                     http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 14:06:37 -0400
From: "Robert S. Howe" <arehow@vgernet.net>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Grant Green wrote:
>....can anyone recommend a good
> ophicleide etude book?
>
I use my son's trombone music, the parts from the Fantastic Symphony,
and bass parts to hymns.  The latest edition of Grove's (New Grove's)
has a fingering chart, I can send it to you if you wish.  Better yet, in
the summary below, I give the chart for a 10 key ophi. The first
fingering is for the octave beginning two spaces below the bass clef;
the second fingering, for the octave beginning second line; the third,
for the octave beginning just above the bass staff.  If your ophi is
perchance in Bb rather than C, these will sound a tone lower.

Keys are labelled from the bell down towards the mouthpiece.  Often the
pitch tone or response of a note can be helped by opening other keys
closer to the bell.  For example, F, (5 & 6) plays best for my ophi as 2
3 5 & 6. Note that key 1 is up when at rest, the others are closed when
not pressed.  Thus, blown with nothing pressed, an ophi plays the pedal
note "C".  The lowest octave of notes are all pedal tones, which are
considered a normal part of the range.

B 1;1 ; 1 or 5
C 0;0;0 or 56
C# 2;2;2
D 23;23;23 or 10 or 8
Eb 234;234;234 or 1 or 7
E 5;5;5 or 0 or 9
F 56;56;56 or 2 or 10
F# 6;1 or 6; 1 or 23 or 6
G 8; 0 or 8; 0 or 8 or 234
G# 7 (overlaps 8); 2 or 7; 2 or 7 or 5
A 9; 9 or 23; 23 56 or 9
Bb 10; 234 or 10; 234, 10 or 1

(Lowest F# is very poor, Berlioz comments on this in his orchestration
text and writes the note only for Bb ophi, as a G#)

Enjoy,

Robert Howe
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 17:13:09 -0500
From: bulshevik <bulshevik@home.com>
Subject: Re: Metal Klarinet on Ebay
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Not only were metal clarinets manufactured for their cheapness, but also
for their practicality.  My father's first clarinet was a metal one;
they were the student model and more "disposable" for marching in
November in New England.  Until the advent of the plastic bundy, they
were quite the thing!

Abi Tenenbaum

mgrogg@juno.com wrote:
>
> CONTRABASS@contrabass.com
> =========================
> *
>
> Yes, there is such a thing as a metal klarinet.  There were a bazzilion
> of them made from 18xx until around World War 2.  They were much cheaper
> than real klarinets made of wood.  Plastic  made for a better cheap
> klarinet after the war and metal pretty much died out.  Thiry years ago,
> every Salvation Army and Goodwill store had piles of them for a dollar or
> two apiece, and they would not sell at that price.
>
> If you look around, you can sometimes find really old ones in High pitch
> and with Albert system keywork.  A real find would be an Eb soprano, it
> would be even more obnoxious than a soprano Sax.  Another interesting
> find is a high pitch instrument that has been "converted" to low pitch by
> glueing a piece of rope the length of the bore.  It does lower the pitch
> to 440, but does nothing for intonation or sound.
>
> And you are right, the person does not know what they had.  It works both
> ways though,   I recently picked up a Soprano Sax from someone who had a
> metal klarinet listed.
>
> Michael Grogg
> Clearwater, Florida
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> Why pay more to get Web access?
> Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW!
> Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
> ----------------------
> end contrabass list
---------------------------------------------------------

From: lawrencejohns@webtv.net (lawrence johns)
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 17:39:43 -0500 (EST)
Subject: The Eb Contraalto Clarinet
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
Ok you clarinet people. Here's your chance.When did they start making
the Eb Contraalto clarinet? I have the book The Clarinet and Saxophone
book
written in 1975 by Berger,and there
is no picture of that instrument in the book.There is a pic of all of
the other types of clarinets from the Eb soprano clarinet to the Bb
contrabass-but no contraalto? Just wondering.Also, in relation to the
saxophone, which sax
has the equivalent range of this nice instrument? Clarify this
clarinet-okay
                   Larriman
        Baritone sax,Bass sax
                Bass Clarinet

-Lawrence "Larry" E. Johns-

---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 14:44:36 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Ophicleide's Progress...
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
>BTW, the latest update is that it has now cleared customs....

It's here :-)

Fortunately, the rest of my office has already gone home...

Grant

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green            gdgreen@contrabass.com
                     http://www.contrabass.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 14:58:16 -0700
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: The Eb Contralto Clarinet
Reply-To: contrabass@contrabass.com
>Ok you clarinet people. Here's your chance.When did they start
>making the Eb Contraalto clarinet? I have the book The Clarinet and
>Saxophone book written in 1975 by Berger,and there is no picture of
>that instrument in the book.

I don't know when the first one was made, but I'm *certain* it was before 1975.

>Also, in relation to the saxophone, which sax  has the equivalent
>range of this nice instrument? Clarify this clarinet-okay

The sax with the closest range (at least, closest to the standard
"low Eb" contralto) is the bass sax.  Bass sax, range down to concert
Ab; contralto clarinet, range down one more step to concert Gb.  If
the contralto has an extended range (to low C), its lowest pitch is
the concert Eb below that, which is only one step up from the Eb
contrabass sax (lowest pitch concert Db, also the lowest pitch of the
non-extended Bb contrabass clarinet).

Enjoy!

Grant

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green            gdgreen@contrabass.com
                     http://www.contrabass.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


 

 
Next Digest ->
Previous Digest <-
Index
Top