I had an 8 AM gig last Saturday
. I played a couple of pieces with a
mixed clarinet quartet for the Community Arts Board that sponsors the
community band I play in. I had really wanted to work through a troublesome
passage in one number, but ran out of time (and energy) the night before.
So I got up at 5:30 Saturday morning (ouch!), with a vague notion of
finding someplace to practice before 8. However, the saner members of my
family were fast asleep. And, muted as a bass clarinet might be in a band full
of brass instruments, it can be pretty loud in a sleeping household. So,
how about getting to the venue early? Nope, it was going to be opened by a
Board member just before the gig.
What to do? I decided to set up my horn, sans reed, and run through the
fingerings. For an added touch of realism, I attached the mouthpiece,
ligature, and neck, and put the mouthpiece where it belongs. Like Pavlov's
dog, my tongue and embouchure and lungs and diaphragm, etc., responded to
the bell, and began to work in concert with my fingers. And, in the quiet
of the house, I could hear unvoiced notes coming out of the horn, that
sounded pretty much like the tune I was playing!
This was particularly true in the lower register (my favorite place to
play!). Of course, it was a one-dimensional run-through, because I wasn't
working on articulation, volume, tone clarity, etc. But the whispered tune
added realism to my finger exercises, and I got more out of the session
than I thought I would.
So, never mind the muted trumpet, or the headphones on the electronic
keyboard, or the sock in the bell. Air bass clarinet rules!
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