Community Bands around Perth

June 30, 2009 at 3:17 pm (Uncategorized)

When a student finishes high school and does not want to pursue clarinet through tertiary education but wants to keep up the instrument, what can they do?

Around Perth, there are a number of community bands where people of all ages join and make music. Here are a list of some of the community bands in perth:

There are also Symphony Orchestras:

Please check the website for membership requirements as some ensembles requre auditions and certian levels of playing in order to join.

Permalink Leave a Comment

Clarinet Supplies

June 30, 2009 at 2:19 pm (Uncategorized)

in addition to buying the clarinet, there are supplies you will need in order to play, enhance and maintain the instrument.

Here are the must have items for the clarinet

REEDS

Beginners start on size 1.5.The higher the number, the thicker the reed will be and also harder to blow through

Recommended brands for beginners: Rico, Rico Royale,Reeds Australia, Razz.

CLARINET PULL THROUGH

This is a pieces of cloth (there are pull throughs made with different materials such as cotton, chamois, silk…) with a shoelace like string sewn on diagonally and a weight on the other end inside of the lace .

I do not recommend pull throughs where the weight is not covered (e.g hecro brand) as the metal will scratch the inside of the clarinet.

CORK GREASE

Cork grease is used to grease the cork on the end of each joint. This makes it easier to put together and take apart the clarinet. If the clarinet does not have enough grease, you may end up bending keys trying to pull the clarinet apart. Cork grease can come in a lip balm stick form or in a small tube.

It is not recommended to use vaseline. Vaseline contains petroleum and can degrade the cork.

MUSIC STAND

Music stand is important for a musician’s posture. If a music book is placed on a place such as a table, reading the book will prevent proper posture for the clarinet playing and also strain some part of the body causing some sort of injury.

CLARINET BOOK

What clarinet book to buy depends on what the clarinet teacher reccomends. Here are some books that I get the students to use in lessons:

  • NEW Tune a Day
  • Learn, Sing and Play the Clarinet
  • Mark Walton books
  • ABRACADABRA
  • Roundabout

What I choose depends on the student, level, age, size of group so I do not stick with one book for every student.

OPTIONAL

These items are not as important as the top ones but still recommended.

NECK STRAP

If you find the clarinet heavy to play, I highly recommend buying a clarinet neck strap. It is similar to the saxophone neck strap but the attachment is different. There are different types of neck straps (hooks and leather with slits in them) and they attach to the thumb rest on the back of the clarinet.

Playing the clarinet without a neck strap can cause incorrect posture, and also muscular & joint pains (there are short term and long term effects). I will be creating a new page which will elaborate on this matter sometime in the near future.

CLARINET STAND

Even though the clarinet can stand up by itself, it is also easily able to fall over and break something on the clarinet. Clarinet stands help prevent this happening.

TEETH SAVERS

This is a sticker that goes onto the beak of the mouthpieces that is made out of a thin clear or thick black rubber. it is to prevent teeth slipping down the mouthpiece, prevent vibrations on the teeth while playing and also to protect the mouthpiece from teeth marks.

METRONOME

A metronome is a mechanical device that gives off a beating sound at various speeds. The numbers on a metronome indicate how many beats per min (BPM). 60BPM means 60 beats per min (like a clock) 120BPM means it is beating 2 x faster. It helps the player play in time, help count, speed up pieces or even help small ensembles play at the same speed and time.

TUNER

A tuner is also a mechanical device but tells you if something is sung or played flat (sounds lower than what it is suppose to be) or sharp (sounds higher than what it is suppose to be). Sounds are made by vibrations called frequencies and each pitch has to be sung or played at a given frequency if wanting to play in-tune. A tuner can pick up the frequency of a pitch through a mic and tell you if the pitch is flat or sharp. As musicians, it is important to be trained to use our ears to be able to hear this by ourselves. A tuner is a tool to help this given that they are showed how to use one properly.

This is important when the student starts playing in ensembles.

ITEMS THAT ARE NOT NEEDED

There are items in the shops for the clarinet that you do not really need.

KEY OIL

Key oil is to oil the screws that keep the keys together. This involves taking the screws out, which I do not recommend you do yourself. When you get the clarinet repaired every 6 or 12 months, the repairer will do this for you anyway.

BORE OIL

Bore oil is used to oil the inside of a wooden clarinet to prevent it going dry and cracking. Beginner clarinets are made of plastic and do not need oiling.

PAD SAVERS

is a metal stick with cotton on it (stick out  like wool on a pom pom ball). They rest inside of the 2 large joints of the clarinet to dry the pads when not in use. The problem with this is the fibers come off the stick and stick onto the moist pads doing more damage than good. Drying the clarinet with the pull through a few times will suffice.

Permalink Leave a Comment