Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-05-17 19:24
Ken is right about the Selmer contra-altos. I have a Buescher contra (identical to Bundy, which has the same bore and keywork as the rosewood Selmer contra but is made of plastic). I'm playing it a good wind ensemble, mainly reading bass clef tuba and string bass parts just as Ken said, by pretending they're in treble clef and adding three sharps. It's a pain, but I'm getting better at it. (Note: String bass parts played on the contra usually also need to be dropped an octave lower, using the above method). Occasionally I actually get an Eb contra part, or an Eb bari sax part, and these can be read directly in treble clef, of course. I've even gotten a few Eb alto clarinet parts, which I try to play up an octave whenever possible (which can be a problem given the contra's lack of a half-hole register vent, making the production of altissimo notes iffy at best).
My mouthpiece is a Bundy 3 which I extensively refaced, and I use a Rovner bass clarinet ligature opened up so far that the screw almost falls out, but it does work fine. My reeds are a mixture of contrabass clarinet reeds (narrowed a bit) and baritone sax reeds (which are exactly the right size for this particular mouthpiece). And as Ken said, it sounds like a bass clarinet, only lower. I had to open the tip way up to avoid the buzzing/slapping sound Ken alludes to, and I paid particular attention to making a sharp transition from the flat table to the curved facing, to limit "closing up" which is especially troublesome on instruments using large reeds (because these reeds are really thinner than they should be, since they're made from the same-diameter cane tubes as smaller reeds, despite the greater thickness needed for a wider and longer reed).
To make my horn play better in tune and less stuffy, I've enlarged (and moved up slightly) the tone holes affecting the throat G, G#, and A, as well as the second-from-the-top side trill key which is used for the alternate throat Bb fingering. Given that the Bundy/Buescher was marketed (and priced) as a student-grade instrument, it plays remarkably well (after these minor modifications). The key design, being essentially the same as the professional rosewood Selmer) is actually pretty good, much better than the bass and soprano Bundys I've tried. Finally, just as on bass clarinet, I hate the 'straight into the mouth" angle of the neck, so I'm going to re-angle it just as I do on my bass clarinets. Then I will be happy with this horn!
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The Clarinet BBoard
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