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Contrabass list Wed, 1 Apr 1998 Volume 1 : Number 34
In this issue:
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 18:34:58 EST
From:
JbJazzman <JbJazzman@aol.com>
Subject: Re: list V1
#33
In a message dated 98-03-31 17:15:15 EST, you write:
<< Clark W. Fobes, another mouthpiece guy, recently wrote to me:
Send me the old Leblanc BBb mouthpiece. I can put a wonderful
facing on that that you can use Van Doren #3 reeds on. I like
the rubber in the old mouthpieces and the interior. The new
blanks are OK, but are now American made copies. Refacing is
$75 + $4 shipping.I might do this. (Any opinions?) >>
I play a silverplated LeBlanc "paper clip", identical to the one Grant has/had that he showed pictures of on his web site. It comes apart in the middle and fits in a case little bigger than a trumpet case. I had tried to make the original issue LeBlanc mouthpiece work, even having Jey Clark in California reface it and open it up. It STILL was junk! Ultimate solution, a brand new Selmer C** Model 205 BBb mouthpiece with the appropriate Rovner ligature. An expensive solution but the selmer piece has thinner side rails which seem to help alot with control for me(My primary horns being Bass sax and Bari sax)
---Jeff Brody (Buffalo, NY)
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 23:43:30 EST
From:
DGross1226 <DGross1226@aol.com>
Subject: Re:
Contrabass Mouthpieces
In a message dated 98-03-31 17:15:15 EST, you write:
<< Clark W. Fobes, another mouthpiece guy, recently wrote to me:
Send me the old Leblanc BBb mouthpiece. I can put a wonderful
facing on that that you can use Van Doren #3 reeds on. I like
the rubber in the old mouthpieces and the interior. The new
blanks are OK, but are now American made copies. Refacing is
$75 + $4 shipping.>>
After just spending more than $400 for two of Clark's barrels and a custom mouthpiece for my Bb and A soprano horns, I can heartily recommend his work. However, when I bought my low C hairpin Leblanc from Charles Fail more than a year ago, it came with a student VITO mouthpiece. I called Tom Ridenour at Leblanc who said that he would be glad to reface my VITO mpc which he did. Absolutely amazing. My contra now plays almost as effortlessly as my Selmer Paris bass clarinet. You can contact Tom at: rclarinet@aol.com
Don Gross
La Canada, California
p.s. Clark Fobes also likes the VITO as a starting point for refacing.
p.p.s. The advantage of the VITO (and the Woodwind mpcs) is that you can use the new (and relatively inexpensive) RICO contrabass/contra-alto reeds. I've found that only the (expensive) Vandoren's will fully cover the opening on the old Leblanc mouthpieces.
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 23:43:20 EST
From:
DGross1226 <DGross1226@aol.com>
Subject: Re:
Altissimo on the Contrabass
In a message dated 98-03-31 17:15:15 EST, you write:
<< I think the main difference between altissimo in the bass and the contrabass is the lack of that LH1 pinhole vent. >>
Grant,
IMHO you've been blowing low C at 28HZ for too long! It's done something to your brain. Why in the hell do you want to even attempt the altissimo on the contra? It makes about as much sense as putting a 30' garden hose extension on your eefer so that you can play in the bass clarinet range.
Cheers!
Don Gross
La Canada, California
p.s. Steve Roberts in Los Angeles will drill a pinhole vent in your contra should you really want it. I watched him add a vent hole, plus solder a small "half hole" LH1 key pad extention to a vintage (1920s or so) bass clarinet to facilitate the altissimo.
Date: Wed, 01 Apr 1998 13:20:37 -0800
From: Grant
Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: ContraFest
Video!
Hi,
I'm forwarding the message below, which was sent to the wrong address: (Please note that the current address is " list@contrabass.com ")
From: KUUP84A@prodigy.com (MR MARK A TRINKO)
Date:
Wed, 1 Apr 1998 01:20:21, -0500
Subject: Fwd:
contrabassoon music
Please read below.
The Contra video is being finalized now. When I get the master, I will make the copies and send them to those who paid. If you have not yet sent your $25 then do it now to:
Las Vegas Sundowners Lions Club
724 Straight St
Las
Vegas, NV 89110
------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
> Date: Tuesday, 31-Mar-98 10:42 PM
> From: Daniel Dorff \ Internet: (ddorff@presser.com)
> To: Mark Trinko \ PRODIGY: (KUUP84A)
> Subject: contrabassoon music
> Hi Mark,
> I never heard more from anyone about the video of Monica's masterclasses or
> performance of my pieces. I'm ready to pay when it's ready to be sold..> Meanwhile, I've signed off the contrabass-l list, and I never could get
> messages through or to Grant anyway. Grant tried to contact me about
> transcribing In A Deep Funk and my e-mails back to him always came back to me> undeliverable. Can you tell him I tried to e-mail him and let's try again.
> Also, on a similar note, can you post the following to your contrabassoon cc:
> list and Grant's list?
> ***
> On April 18, contrabassoonists Susan Nigro and Burl Lane (a/k/a The Two
> Contras) will premiere Daniel Dorff's "Sonatina D'Amore" for Two Contrabassoons
> on a WFMT live broadcast. The 3-movement 8-minute sonatina was commissioned by> The Two Contras for their upcoming CD of contra duets. Sheet music for
> "Sonatina D'Amore" will be published by Presser later this year, and the duos
> are notably easier than Dorff's previous contrabassoon music. The composer can
> be reached for further information at ddorff@presser.com> ***
> Thanks Mark!
> ____________________________
> Daniel Dorff
> DDorff@presser.com
> Composer-in-residence, Haddonfield Symphony
> http://www.presser.com/dorff.html
Date: Wed, 01 Apr 1998 13:35:26 -0800
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Altissimo on the Contrabass
At 11:43 PM 3/31/98 EST, Don wrote:
><< I think the main difference between altissimo in the bass and the
>contrabass is the lack of that LH1 pinhole vent. >>>Grant,
>IMHO you've been blowing low C at 28HZ for too long! It's done something to
>your brain.
Well, I won't deny that... ;-)
>Why in the hell do you want to even attempt the altissimo on the
>contra? It makes about as much sense as putting a 30' garden hose extension
>on your eefer so that you can play in the bass clarinet range.
Because its there? Actually, its mainly because I often end up playing parts other than "Bb contrabass" on the horn. If there isn't a true contrabass part, I'll typically play (in order of preference) Eb contralto, contrabassoon, Bb bass sax, bass clarinet, string bass or tuba parts (nothing against the tuba: I just know that my sound will completely disappear into the two tubas behind me if I'm doubling their part). To read a contralto part on the contrabass, I have to transpose up a fourth: if the contralto part goes up to high C, I have to play altissimo F to match it. Doesn't happen often, but I have seen such a part in the last year. Bass clarinet parts I usually play as written (i.e., sounding an octave lower), but sometimes the part just doesn't work doubled at the octave. In such cases, I take it up an octave and play a true unison with the basses, which again requires altissimo for anything written above third space C (which happens frequently on bass clarinet parts).
Contrabassoon parts can range pretty high also: I think I'll need altissimo to finish some of the movements in "In a Deep Funk"...
Grant
BTW, 30' of hose on the end of an eefer would put you in the range of a double octocontrabass clarinet (in C). The Bb contra has a 9' bore (approximately): the octocontra would be about 18'.
>Cheers!
>Don Gross
>La Canada, California>p.s. Steve Roberts in Los Angeles will drill a pinhole vent in your contra
>should you really want it. I watched him add a vent hole, plus solder a small
>"half hole" LH1 key pad extention to a vintage (1920s or so) bass clarinet to
>facilitate the altissimo.
Now here's an interesting idea! Any idea what he might charge for modifying a contra?
GDG
End of list V1 #34
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