Beginning bass clarinet: playing above the break

Evertonian

Hello:
I have been learning clarinet as an adult hobby for the last year or so and just in the last month have started learning bass clarinet, which was my ultimate plan all along. My ambition is simply to be good enough at some point to play in the local community band. I have an old Vito resonite bass with Fobes Debut mouthpiece and have been using Vandoren #2 reeds. With these I get very nice sounds in the chalumeau range and okay sounds across the break. But once I get up to high B and C in the clarion, too often the "bottom falls out" of my sound, as if I had released the register key, and I find it hard to sustain those notes, never mind anything higher. When I use a #2.5 reed, it is easier to sustain those higher notes and get into the altissimo, but the overall quality of the sound throughout the range of the horn suffers--it feels more resistant and the sound is too "breathy" or "woolly", if that makes sense.

SO my question is, given the instrument and mouthpiece combo that I am using, would it be better to stick with the #2 reeds and work on the "voicing" to get those higher notes? Or would it be better to persist with the #2.5 and work on the voicing to improve the overall sound in all registers? I realise of course that hitting those higher notes is not the first priority for a beginner, but I really just want advice about which reed would be better to work with at this stage.

Thanks very much for any help or advice you can give!
 
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Hard to say from afar. But nearly all new, and many experienced, bass clarinet players do not take in enough mouthpiece. So try that with the 2.5 reed to see if the sound quality improves. You may feel like you are loosing some control but stick with it for a while and the control should improve.

You can also consider trimming up the 2 reeds slightly and/or scraping/sanding the 2.5 reeds to get something in between.
 
Thanks, Gandalfe. Sadly, I live in Ohio, so can't take you up on the kind offer! I do have a teacher, but he is a generalist, a very talented one, but not a reed specialist. I will try to get in touch with the bass player in the band that I want to play with and maybe she can help.
 
From "The Teacher's Guide to the Alto, Bass, and Contrabass Clarinets" by Dr. Donald E. McCathren Duquesne University

Mouthpiece Pitches for the Harmony Clarinets in the Band

Alto Clarinet-----Ab concert
Bass Clarinet-----F concert
Eb Contrabass---Eb concert
Bb Contrabass---C concert

If your #2 reed produces an F Concert on the mouthpiece alone your embouchure is at the correct setting. If that doesn't solve the problem then try using faster, colder air as you go up the scale to the C above the staff. It is always a "tradeoff" between the softer reeds being more responsive in the lower register and the firmer reeds sounding better in the high. With that excellent mouthpiece, I would suspect that using a lot more air with a good 2 1/2 reed would give you the tone you want in the low register and the control you are looking for up high. Playing the upper register of the bass clarinet is all about voicing the notes inside your mouth and throat and using a fast enough airstream.
 
jbt,

Do you have any publisher info on that book? I did a search, but the only thing I found for Dr. McCathren was some method books he co-authored with Rose & Cyrille. Nothing on Amazon either - not even used.
 
Thank you, jbt. Most helpful again. I have been working more with the 2.5 and it is coming along, albeit very gradually.
 
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