Untitled Document
     
Advertisement Click to advertise with us!
     

Tenor to clarinet swap

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
Staff member
Administrator
My hardest swap out is from tenor sax to clarinet (and back too). It can take me about 8 measures to get the embouchure set for the new instrument. Anyone have any pointers to do a better job of this?

I'm working to play my first clarinet solo in a big band setting in July. I've selected Moonlight Serenade and I'm working exclusively on this with one my teachers. I thought I'd selected a rather easy solo, but I was just kidding myself. The lead tenor will cover the solo if I don't so I have a fail safe.

If I really get brave, I'll post a recording later this month.
 
Pull the thing in closer to your body so you don't think of it as a sax. Get on top of the mic. None of the rest of the band will believe the dynamics printed in their parts so you have to take things up about 4 notches from where it should be. Don't overblow - this is easy to do when they are all pushing the dynamics! Stick to the mic and hope the sound guy is awake.

It (you know what I mean) is only a couple beats, don't focus too much on it or how it went. Play the lines not the notes (!within reason!).
 
Sorry. Can't help you there, Gandalfe. I don't remember ever having a problem with switching embochures between the horns. The only problem I'd have is if someone wanted me to play a straight soprano: I play those like a clarinet and the sound isn't that good.

The only suggestion I have that might help is to try out some synthetic reeds. And before you use them in concert. Of course ;).
 
Carl, the runs aren't the problem and I'm twice as loud as my wife the clarinetist has ever been. But finding that lovely Eddie Daniels clarinet sound or anything even close to it escapes me. Gotta try that mike thang though.

The only suggestion I have that might help is to try out some synthetic reeds. And before you use them in concert. Of course ;).
It's always been Plasticover all the way for me when I'm doubling on the black stick o' death. Otherwise I squeak for the first few minutes.
 
Well, y'know, you could always go for a Jack Daniels clarinet sound. That's pretty easy to achieve :p.
 
Carl, the runs aren't the problem and I'm twice as loud as my wife the clarinetist has ever been. But finding that lovely Eddie Daniels clarinet sound or anything even close to it escapes me. Gotta try that mike thang though.

It's always been Plasticover all the way for me when I'm doubling on the black stick o' death. Otherwise I squeak for the first few minutes.

I doubt you'll ever get a decent clarinet sound with Plasticover reeds. I certainly can't.
 
I only used Plasticovers for one gig I played where I had to switch between bari sax, Bb soprano clarinet, Bb bass clarinet and, IIRC, Eb alto sax. The reason I used Plasticovers was because I used them in practice, before, and found them to be a nice compromise between real cane and full synthetic. Additionally, some of the times when I was swapping instruments, I had only a measure or so to do that and I didn't want the reeds to dry out.

No problems for the gig, but a day later all the reeds were warped.

Now, I do know that my closest music shop sells plain Rico bari reeds for $2.50 apiece. I dunno if I'd want to shell out more for a reed that might be warped the next day.

In any event, I didn't have tone or chirping problems with the Plasticovers. The only other thing might be that they were a little bit softer than I wanted. As always, YMMV.
 
If you have issues with setting your embouchure then the only thing that will really help is practice. Practice swapping between the two.
Write yourself a quick cheat sheet while practicing and look at it to know what you need to do .. [1] firm up lower lip, [2] clarinet angle, etc

and keep doing this back and forth and get the swap engrained in memory.

as for reeds, I use those Legere Quebecs synthetics as even though I prefer cane there simply isn't time to warm up the cane to work properly in alot of swaps. Either that or go softer in which then you are going to affect your intonation and tone a bit anyways and may overblow and close the softer cane. So I stick with a harder synthetic versus a softer cane reed for swapping scenarios.
 
Back
Top Bottom