Alright, the Bass Clarinet has a characteristic tone. This, in and of itself, is a mystery since hardly anybody can teach this correctly. The Bass Clarinet is NOT supposed to sound like a big ole Clarinet. If it sounded like a big ole Clarinet then essentially what you would have is the sound of the left hand keys on an electronic keyboard with the Clarinet patch turned on. Yuck!
Actually, the Bass Clarinet should sound like a strong Ox in the field. A cross between the Bassoon (the double-reediness) and a Soprano Clarinet (the FIRM singing quality). Without the reedy quality (I like to call it "syrup") you've got the wrong bird. I get asked for this all the time "Can we take out the reediness?" Ummm, no! You want me to sound like a completely different instrument? Really? That's weird.
Reediness is inherent in the instrument itself. If you wanted to boil the tone down to one thing it's that. It's GOT to sound reedy. You've got to be able to hear the reed vibrating. It's the difference between a Mack truck and a Ford Pinto. You can hear that Mack Truck coming from a mile away.
Ok, so now you have the strong ox (or the Mack truck, whichever you prefer.) He's just standing in the pasture waiting to pull his weight. He never fails. Ever.
Now then, you have to add to that your unique qualities. Your embouchure, your air flow, your tongue position, the position of the mouthpiece in your mouth, your posture, the shape of the inside of your mouth, the shape of your throat, the expanse of your ribcage. Yeah, yeah, all of it. These things make you unique. They make you sound like you, assuming you are exploiting these traits. If you take alot of mouthpiece in your mouth you get a particular sound, if you keep your teeth high on the mouthpiece you get a particular sound. Creating more expanse in your ribcage gives the sound more girth. Moving these things around will reveal to you all sorts of sounds, many not pretty. The ones you find that are nice can be molded into something you like. The sound you really enjoy. Your sound.
Then there's the other half of your unique qualities. And really I think it comes down to this question:
What other instrument do you want to sound like?
Is it the Cello? The Euphonium? The Contrabass? The Horn? The Tuba? The Viola? Maybe a Tenor voice? Baritone voice? True Bass voice? What?
Make a decision!
Personally, I enjoy the Viola. I kind of feel bad for 'em, having to read in Alto Clef and all. There's something about the raspy woody quality of the instrument that I LOVE, especially a really big Viola. Oversized Violas(17") sound so COOL!!! The sound reminds me of Shostakovich...the 8th Quartet. A piece written in "memory of the victims of fascism and war." I cried the first time I heard it (at a recital in college, and it was played fabulously.) I still can't make it through in tact. It's powerful. Even if you're not into classical music, listen and you will be moved. Personally, I prefer my Borodin Quartet recording, but the Emerson Quartet plays it extremely well.
That's right, the Bass Clarinet is not this boisterous, happy instrument. We fit in during circus marches, but we don't REALLY belong. That's Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Trumpet and Alto Sax land. I mean, you can do that and make it work, but at it's heart the Bass Clarinet is...
a harbinger of gloom, of resolution of wrongs long since past, an old friend you thought long since gone coming out of the ashes of war, the friend who Dmitri Shostakovich asked "In whose hands do you leave me to die?" The Bass Clarinet is the path "In leaves no step had trodden black." (The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost)
This isn't pretty stuff. The instrument isn't pretty. It's gritty. It's harsh. It's intense. It's raw.
The timbre of the instrument is divided. If you are truly allowing to reed to vibrate freely you'll be able to hear two sounds. The pitch and the raspy undertones of the reed. Yes, two pitches. I can whistle two notes at once so this isn't a big deal to me, but if you've never heard or experienced that it might sound really strange. Mongolian throat singers perform in this tradition and do so to great effect. Manipulating the vibrations inside their mouths they can produce multiple pitches. Manipulating the innner shape of your mouth (Yes, you don't have to just use your throat) can produce a very complex tone that will continually reveal different components the more you refine it. Now that's fun!
Man. Such a wonderful blog, but it looks like you've wound it down. That's too bad: Reediness of sound is a one of those semi-taboo subjects it seems and I agree heavily with you.
ReplyDeletePlaying Bass Clarinet is a study in bad and good orchestration. Your part gets paired with interesting combos all over the place. Sometimes you're 4th trombone, or 3rd bassoon, or thicking another sectional sound.
But when you are alone or your own color, you need that reedy edge. It's what makes a bass clarinet a bass clarinet. Your instrument selection and preferences really show that you like that sound.
I have one of the early-2000's buffet basses (when the FINALLY fixed the tuning intervals) and a Palmiraco (used to be a 1960's Selmer C*) mouthpiece. It has an amazing Jeckyll and Hyde character. I can absolutely ghost in and remove all edge off my sound if want to. And there are times ane places for that. But I can flip that around and be an absolutely solid and powerful tone if I need to.
I've found the "reediness" question to be even more of an issue on Contra. I have one of the mid-70's vintage LeBlanc paperclips. (Can't afford a rosewood Selmer yet) The nickel surfacing, open bore, and full size contra mouthpiece makes it very easy to project that reedy edge, even at very soft dynamcics. Indeed, with throat manipulation, you can almost zero the tone out of the pitch and have only rasp of the reed.
I've started asking my professional friends and some trusted musicians their opinion on "reed rasp" versus no. Even on super-soft orchestrations, an area typically where I have tried to back off the reediness, I'm finding that in the audience and in the recording, the reediness is what is needed.
Does that sound like what you have found?
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for the comments. I'm back and I hope you come back as well!
I have only found a few conductors who don't like the reediness, but those conductors are school band directors who are more concerned about getting a superior rating at festival than they are about playing meaningful music.
The Leblanc paperclips are actually better instruments than the rosewood Selmers because the rosewood Selmer Contras don't move with you. It's a very closed horn that you can't manipulate. The Leblanc Contras are "movable" and you can make them do what you want. Plus, they're vintage and you can get them cheaper than those rosewood horns that are overpriced (IMHO).
At the end of the day the "glory" of the Bass Clarinet is the reediness.rasp.
We just have to embrace it.