From: "Jay and Adrienne Easton"
Subject: Re: [CB] contrabass clarinets
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 17:16:16 -0800
> Does anyone take private lessons on contrabass
clarinets? If so, who
> provided them? Clarinet teachers? Bass clarinet
teachers? Or actual
> contrabass clarinet specialists? Just wondering if
such thing exists.
I have had several contrabass clarinet students, although they
were all bass clarinettists/clarinettists as well. I myself am
self-taught on the contra. There are very few professional contrabass
clarinettists, and probably all of us also play other woodwinds and
never took specific lessons on contra. Others on this list might have
some good advice though- in particular Terje Lerstad and Peter Schmid
are two of the finest contrabass clarinettists on the planet. Also,
check out
http://contrabassclarinet.org/
and the klarinet archives at
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/index.html
for more info.
>So my question is: is learning the contra horns on your own
frowned upon?
>Does it hurt your credibility if you decided to play to play
in a more
> professional setting?
I think anyone who needs a contrabass clarinettist is going to
be thrilled to find someone who plays the instrument well and owns
their own instrument. I doubt they would care either way if you're
self-taught or if you studied with a specialist, as long as you play in
tune and in time with a good sound and good musicality.
Maybe a more direct question is: If I wanted to play in my city's
> symphony orchestra as an on-call contrabass clarinettist,
what kind of
> background/training do I need in order to qualify me to
"join the rank"?
The real problem here isn't your own background, it's the
orchestral repertoire: There are almost no major pieces with contrabass
clarinet that orchestras play with any regularity. If the orchestra is
premiering a new piece or giving a performance of Schoenberg, Adams,
Ligeti, or Varese, then contra might be called for, but most likely
they would have one of their regular clarinet or bass clarinet players
cover the part (especially since some of these pieces have split parts
with one player playing contra as well as soprano or bass clarinet.)
But who knows- If you feel like you play well enough to perform
with a professional orchestra, it can't hurt to call the local symphony
office and give their personnel manager your name and number. Another
idea is to see if the regular clarinettists in the orchestra teach, and
take some lessons with them so they know that you're available, and so
they can learn who you are and what your abilities and interestes are.
After all, "it's not who you know, it's who knows you."
Good luck, Willy, and happy new year to everyone! Keep it deep.
All the best,
Jay Easton
---------------------------------------------------------
From: "Garza"
Subject: [CB] Happy New Year
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 13:11:40 -0800
Hello everyone,
I just did two concerts with the Violent
Femmes, one on the 29th and one on the 31st. The concert on the
29th was with slide sax, straight tenor, and contrabass saxes.
The one on the 31st actually started at 12:05, so it was today :o), but
I played Mezzo-Soprano sax. When's the last time you heard of a
rock Mezzo-Soprano sax player... ;o)
Happy New Year!
~Blaise~
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 15:20:24 -0600
From: jim
Subject: Re: [CB] Happy New Year
> The concert on the 29th was with slide sax,
Is the slide sax a mere novelty, or does it have something to
say, so to speak?
Jim
---------------------------------------------------------
From: "Garza"
Subject: Re: [CB] Happy New Year
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 13:29:20 -0800
The Slide Sax is more for the Novelty Feature... but it does
sound good doubling a Marimba. I played it on the song Gone Daddy
Gone.
~Blaise~
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 13:36:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Marcus
Subject: Re: [CB] Happy New Year
--- Garza wrote:
> When's the last time you heard
> of a rock Mezzo-Soprano sax player... ;o)
Right after I heard about a rock tubax player... ;o)
Steve Marcus
=====
Steve Marcus
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 22:41:06 +0100
Subject: Re: [CB] Happy New Year
From: Klaus Bjerre
>> The concert on the 29th was with slide sax,
>
> Is the slide sax a mere novelty, or does it have something
to say, so to
> speak?
Wasn't the slide sax the instrument, which Adolphe invented,
when someone had dropped a banana skin on the shop floor?
And for the intellectuals among you I will quote this
conversation among musicologists on a most prestigious institute
somewhere in the enlightened part of this world:
Who wrote "Yes, we have no bananas"?
Mozart wrote it.
But bananas weren't known in Vienna during Mozart's lifetime!
Exactly! That was why he wrote that tune!
A happy new year to all of you!
Let 2005 take no inspiration from its recent predecessors.
Let the era of evil idiots, elected or not, be ended just
for the sake of humanity!
Klaus
***End of Contrabass Digest***