Doubles, doubles, doubles

[Groovekiller]

Tomorrow is the last night of an orchestra series I'm playing with Christene Andreas, a very good broadway singer. The music consisted of a myriad of original broadway scores, symphony orchestra arrangements, and custom arrangements for the orchestra.

Problem was many charts had essential 2nd bassoon parts, and the orchestra only contracted one bassoon. I ended up playing a lot of 2nd bassoon parts on bass clarinet, and - get this - baritone sax. The parts went to low concert C a lot and my bass clarinet only descends to low Eb (concert Db).

I had one broadway show tune (Gonna Build a Mountain) with an essential baritone sax part, so I brought an extra neck and mouthpiece to play legit bari sax under the very capable first bassoon player on the tunes with 2 bassoons. It worked. I've never played softer low B's, Bb's and A's on baritone in my life. The bassoon and I were very exposed, whisper soft, and I had to play softer than the lead bassoon.

I used my usual setup (Ponzol mpce + Mark VI bari) for the sax section stuff, and an ancient Buescher baritone mouthpiece with my spare baritone neck for the legit stuff. The buescher mouthpiece has to be pushed on so far that the simplest solution is an extra neck with a different diameter neck cork.
The good news was, I get paid for 4 doubles. bass clarinet plus clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax and baritone sax. We finish tomorrow. A review of the show is here:

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/arts/content/arts/2008/12/02/reviewPops1203.html

 

[Carl H.]

For those low concert C's on an Eb bass clarinet I accidentally found out that certain water bottles with the fluted bottom will bring low Eb down to a reasonable low D at lower dynamic levels when left in the bell. Of course low Eb is not possible with the bottle in, but I have played with this technique a few times with fair success.

 

[SOTSDO]

When I bought my Selmer Model 33 extended range bass back in 1972, I did so simply because I had the money to burn and it was the "top" model that they offered. (It didn't hurt that the particularly horn I picked out of the factory stock was the best playing one of the bunch.)

Once in a while, I'd use it to cover a secondary part in a Broadway show that was originally written for bassoon. However, usually I've used bassoon for bassoon.

One relatively recent exception to this was when I did a local production of the musical that features "Tea For Two" so prominently. It was scored for bassoon/bass clarinet/baritone, but I was apparently in the initial stages of dealing with Sjogren's Syndrome, with badly malfunctioning salivary glands, and I just could not do more than two bars on the bassoon before the reed would dry out completely. In that case, I did the transposition (and only pocketed money for one double).

(The problem with the glands has since (after very extensive testing, including salivary gland scans (!)) been attributed to the medication that I take for diabetes, and has been corrected by twice a day applications of a very expensive pill called Evoxac. It has a retail cost of $4.00 plus a capsule (much less with medical insurance, of course), and (quite literally) i could no longer play without it. Over the years, through taking two capsules each day in the place of three, I've built up a substantial reserve of these that I use up on a rolling basis, so if I'm ever cut off I can continue to play for a l-o-n-g time.)

I've seen a number of shows where the parts were dual scored for bassoon/baritone, even when the bass clarinet is in the same book. Even with a legitimate mouthpiece setup, I just don't think you get the right "feel". (Of course, out beyond the orchestra pit, the effect may be much the same - saxophone playing works funny that way.)

On one of the very first Lawrence Welk television broadcasts, the baritone player has a bassoon on the rack next to his spot. We never can figure out what tune they use it for, though. Maybe it was just there for the visual effect, much like my shiny

 

[metbysax]

For those low concert C's on an Eb bass clarinet I accidentally found out that certain water bottles with the fluted bottom will bring low Eb down to a reasonable low D at lower dynamic levels when left in the bell. Of course low Eb is not possible with the bottle in, but I have played with this technique a few times with fair success.

A 9" paint roller will stuffed in the bell work as well for low D.