Ask a clarinet geek.

[Astreja]

Band camp?

Been to the International Music Camp in the US/Canada Peace Gardens once, about 3 years ago.  Loved the music, but I got severely achy from rushing all over the hilly terrain to get to the sessions on time.  (I have fibromyalgia and a bit of osteoarthritis, hence some extremely cranky knees.)

[Rev. Rye]

Can you play?

Not yet, alas. I've done a bit of Mozart but not that concerto.

So, did you do the Quintet or some of the orchestral works as part of an orchestra?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdnqCgCApt4

Have you ever considered tuning to 432 Hz? I ask because I, as a guitarist, have tried it and have found I preferred it that way. I know a lot of the arguments many of the 432 freaks use (that it was the universal standard before Goebbels decided to use it to fuck with peoples' heads) are bollocks, but it sounds good to me, and that's what matters. And, apparently, an slightly larger clarinet barrel can help with that.

Do you think Bach's music could potentially transfer well to the Clarinet (not the keyboard works, of course, maybe replacing one of the more arcane oboe parts with a clarinet, e.g. turning Ich Habe Genug into a clarinet quintet with singer)?

Do you ever work in a smaller popular idiom, something like Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five or the Benny Goodman Small Groups, or, perhaps a little more rock-like? It's not very common, but I think it could work with some pieces, like in this version of "Comfortably Numb."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yaRz01mACk


And one more question, you ever tried this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMb9r0Kq8Ec

[Astreja]

One of my sisters still has hers.

What is an absolutely sure way of making it forever unplayable, and yet impossible to prove I fucked it up ?

*Ahem* I think your best bet would be to convince her to sell it on eBay.  If you get too close to the clarinet yourself you'll probably stumble over the Event Horizon and get impaled on a spit-encrusted reed, which could prove fatal.

[brewer]

What do you think of a baritone? My kid is entering her fourth year playing. Before that, she took violin for three years.

I like it in men. Kinda creeps me out in women, they might be able to take me and break me.

OH, you mean instrument. NVRMD!

[Astreja]

So, did you do the Quintet or some of the orchestral works as part of an orchestra?

Just a few orchestral excerpts while studying for an exam.  I've played the Divertimento and a few community band adaptations of things like "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."

Have you ever considered tuning to 432 Hz? I ask because I, as a guitarist, have tried it and have found I preferred it that way.

Interesting thought, but I tend to stick with 440 Hz so that I don't have to mentally recalibrate when the band tunes up.

Do you think Bach's music could potentially transfer well to the Clarinet (not the keyboard works, of course, maybe replacing one of the more arcane oboe parts with a clarinet, e.g. turning Ich Habe Genug into a clarinet quintet with singer)?

I think it could be done.  I've seen a few Bach transcriptions, usually transferring orchestral violin lines to the clarinet section.  Some are good, some mediocre.  I think it's critical to play the lines with a baroque sensibility, taking the staccato markings with a hefty grain of salt.

Do you ever work in a smaller popular idiom, something like Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five or the Benny Goodman Small Groups, or, perhaps a little more rock-like? It's not very common, but I think it could work with some pieces, like in this version of "Comfortably Numb."

Occasionally I've been in a smaller group, usually in connection with some sort of party and copious amounts of alcohol.  It's definitely something I'd like to do more often (and not because of the booze, either).

And one more question, you ever tried this?

No, but only because I currently don't have a working digital recording studio or sequencing hardware/software setup.  Love the way all those parts fit together.

[Astreja]

What do you think of a baritone? My kid is entering her fourth year playing. Before that, she took violin for three years.

I have very limited experience with brass (rented a trumpet once and a French horn on another occasion, but never took lessons for either one).  I do like the sound of the middle-range brass instruments, though (French horn, baritone and euphonium).

Interestingly, I also took violin for 3 years, starting as an adult beginner and getting as far as Grade 3 Royal Conservatory of Music -- and that's how I ended up playing clarinet instead:

Back around February 2004, I stopped by a music store on the way home from a violin lesson.  There was an instrument clearance table, and a clarinet for $79.95.  After trying to figure it out on My own for a while I found a teacher that summer and have been studying with him ever since (and have Grade 6 RCM, with plans to eventually take the Grade 8 exam).

I no longer have the bargain-table clarinet; I upgraded first to a Yamaha YCL-250 student model and then added a Yamaha CSV, keeping the 250 for outdoor gigs, and gave the original to a thrift store.