The Clarinet covets her neighbor’s Pancake Key

This is the first time I have ever played on the bassoon, but I don’t think it will be my last.  When I have hundreds of dollars to spend on raw cane, then I will consider picking up the bassoon.  For now, I’m pretty content with spending $25 for a whole box of ready-made reeds.

Our video this week is a little different; it features highlights from my bassoon crash course, and it is less than 4 minutes long! All the more reason for you to take a quick peek.  And in the interview, you will find out why I would need sell my car—and maybe a kidney—if I wanted to play the bassoon.  

Interview

Tashina: When did you first start playing the bassoon?

Mike: I started to play the bassoon in 8^th grade.  So I’ve been playing for about 12 years.  I started on the alto saxophone.   And then in 8^th grade, my band director said “Hey, we need a bassoon player for next semester, will you do it?”  And I said, “Yeah, I sure will!”

Tashina: The bassoon is a “double reed” instrument.  What does that mean?

Mike: Like on a clarinet or a saxophone, if you look at the reed, it’s just a single stick sitting against the mouthpiece.  With the bassoon, you have two sticks that close against each other.  And that’s why they call it the double reed, because you have two pieces of wood that are closing, rather than just one.

Tashina:  Do you make your own reeds?  

Mike: Yes, I do.  I buy all the supplies, and then go through a couple days’ worth of process to put them all together.  You get a raw piece of cane that’s about 6 inches long, and you gouge it, you profile it—which means you take out a bunch of the middle pieces of wood, and you make it thin enough that it will play—you fold it in half, tie it up, stick some wires on it, and clip it up.  Yeah, it’s a labor-intensive process, but it’s pretty fun. 

Tashina: How much do you think you spend a year on reed supplies?

Mike: Cane usually costs between $60 to $100 for a dozen pieces.  It’s a lot of money.  So, I’ll probably spend $300 or $400 a year to make reeds.  It’s quite the investment.

Tashina: The bassoon probably has the most intricate key system of all woodwinds, why is that? Would it be possible to modernize the key system and make it more simplistic?

Mike: You know, I’m not really sure.  This is a part of the Boehm system.  So kinda like the clarinet has the Boehm system.  And this is actually a modern version of an older system.  So I don’t know how much they could simplify it any further. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s pretty good where it’s at. 

Tashina: Why is it so complex, like you don’t see saxophones with that many keys and having one finger playing multiple keys and such?

Mike: I think part of it is just the acoustics of the instrument—some of the physical properties of it.  Between that and the way that the reed interacts with the instrument, if you didn’t have some of the octave vents for the thumbs, certain notes wouldn’t speak very well.  It’s just part of the design of the bore of the instrument on the inside. 

Tashina: Is it possible to play the bassoon standing up, or do you have to be sitting down?

Mike: It’s definitely possible to stand up.  When I bought my bassoon, it came with a neck strap, and it would attach to a ring on the end joint.  A lot of the professionals will install what is called a balance hanger.  And it’s kinda about 6 inches long, and it attaches to that ring on the lower half of the bassoon. And it has several holes in it so you can have a little bit better balance, so it’s not weighing down on your hand as you play.  It’s kind of a heavy instrument, so standing up is a little more cumbersome.

Tashina:  I don’t often hear people speaking ill of the bassoon, many people are quite fond of it. What’s to love?

Mike: I dunno, it’s kind of a funny instrument.  It’s got a beautiful, warm tone to it.  And it’s just very mellow.  It’s generally not a harsh sound, and it’s not one that’s real piercing.  You know how oboe—especially in the high register—can get kind of a piercing tone to it, it’s still beautiful, but it gets a little bit more piercing.  The bassoon doesn’t really do that.  You go up into the high register, and it’s still kind of that same sweet feeling that you get through the rest of it.  And I think that’s probably part of the reason why people like it so much. 

“Pluck it like you mean it” - Playing the Bass

I wasn’t feeling very well this week (which will explain why I sound like a dying troll in this week’s videos), but my dear friend Becky VanSleeuwen bravely agreed to teach me the string bass.  There was a time when I thought my fingers were rather nimble and dexterous—I’m a woodwind, it’s our specialty—then get my hands on an acoustic bass and I find it impossible to play two notes in a row.  All the more admiration I have for Becky!

Listen as Becky and I play the intro to “Dr. Cool Has Arrived” in this week’s video; which is in two parts simply because we had an unexpected cameo appearance by a certain favorite somebody…. And in the interview below, you can learn Becky’s proven method for purchasing a new car.  Also, check out Becky's Blog: "365 Better Todays; Daily Advice for a Better Day, Every Day."

Interview

Tashina: When did you first start playing the bass?

Becky: I started playing the bass when I was 13 years old.  My orchestra teacher didn’t have any bass players that year.  I had been playing the violin for a couple years.  But he didn’t have any bass players, so he said, “Anybody who wants to learn how to play the bass can learn how.”  So me and my two best friends, the three of us all switched over, and just taught ourselves how to play from there.

Tashina: Do you prefer electric or acoustic?

Becky: I can play both, but I really prefer the acoustic bass.  I’m just better trained for it.  I have more muscle memory for my hands and my fingers.  And my hands don’t get as tired, I think because I’m more used to playing it.  But the electric bass is a lot of fun too.  I have no complaints about that.

Tashina: When did you start working on the electric?

Becky: When I was in 9^th grade, I was playing for the district symphony, and they needed an electric bass for one of their songs.  And so my orchestra teacher had one, and he would just let me play around with it.  I just kinda taught myself that too.  It’s pretty similar, so it wasn’t hard to learn.

Tashina: Do you own your own electric bass, acoustic bass, amp, or bar stool?

Becky: I have it all!  I’ve got an upright bass, it’s an Anton Richter—that’s my acoustic.  I’ve got an electric bass, it’s a Johnson brand—his name is Dustin.  And I’ve got a stool that I like to play on, and a little practice amp.  I’ve got it all.

Tashina: That’s a lot of stuff… how do you handle transportation of all your equipment?

Becky: When I was shopping for a car a couple years ago, I had to make sure that I could find one that would fit an upright bass.  So I knew it either had to be a hatchback or an SUV.  So we took the empty bass case around to all the dealerships, my parent and I.  And we would try it in the car before I even said if I liked the car or not.  If the case fit, then I was allowed to test drive the car.  It’s funny, because I actually drive a compact car, it’s a little two-door hatchback, but I can fit everything in it all at the same time.

Tashina: I’ve always thought that if I didn’t play the clarinet, I’d want to play the string bass, because your instrument is incorporated in so many different music groups: orchestras, wind ensembles, jazz bands, etc.  What kinds of ensembles have you participated in?  Which is your favorite?

Becky: Mostly I’ve been in orchestras and symphonies, that’s my favorite to play with. But I’ve also done jazz bands.  I’ve played electric bass for a guitar ensemble in my high school.  And I’ve done a lot of community orchestras and local groups, and then several groups at Snow College, and some here on SUU’s campus.  Everything but a marching band!

Tashina: You are involved in a lot of music stuff, but you’re actually a Communication major.  Why do you like to participate in music?

Becky: I love music.  I love the performance factor—having something to build up to.  There’s a beginning, middle, and an end to it.  I love the emotional outlet that it is for me, and the way that it allows me to be a contributing member of society. But I realized early on that I didn’t want it to be a career path. I enjoy it as a hobby, and I enjoy it as something to do on the side. But there was a time in high school where I was playing for the guitar ensemble and the orchestra, I was taking a Music Theory class and a Music & Culture class, I was playing for the school musical and for the district orchestra, and I realized that with all those things going on every day, that that wasn’t the future that I wanted for myself.  But communications, I never get tired of studying it, and I love it, probably even more than music. 

Tashina: Understandable. And you’re very talented in both; we’re blessed to have you in the Music Department and in the Communication Department.  You’re really an asset.

Becky: Thank you. 

Let me sing you a song...

This week vocalist Kjersti Jones helped me realize that singing requires skills—skills that I do not possess.  Just because I sound like a rock star when I sing the shower and I know the harmony to Build Me Up Buttercup, doesn’t mean I’ll be appearing at the Metropolitan Opera any time soon.  

Our video comes in two parts—first I learn some vocal warm-ups, and in the second video I sing a verse from an American folk song.  And in the interview below, you can learn what that whole vibrato thing is about, and why vocal people are oh so different than instrumental people (sorry, we’re playing up the stereotypes again!). 

Interview

Tashina: When did you first begin participating in vocal performances?

Kjersti: Since I was a little girl, I did the dishes with my grandma and my mom, and we would sing while we were doing the dishes.  I have two younger sisters, and my mom would make us matching dresses, and we’d have to wear white gloves, and we would sing Irving Berlin’s “Sisters.”  And we would sing in little talent shows and things like that. So I’ve been singing with my mom and my sisters ever since I was little. But as far as like big groups and stuff like that, I started choir when I was in 8^th grade, I started with just women’s chorus.   I’ve been in choir ever since then.  So let’s see... 8… 6… 8 years.  So I’ve been in choir for a long time.  And I actually just started doing like solo performances, for the last couple years.  I just started voice lessons a couple years ago.

Tashina: You said you’re involved in solo performance and choral stuff; do you do opera or musical theater, or anything like that?

Kjersti: Yeah, I’m actually in an opera right now.  I’m in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Mikado.”  SUU is doing it.  And we open March 9^th, and we run through the 12^th.  Everyone should come!  It’s a great comedic opera.  It’s lots and lots of fun.  That’s actually my first opera that I’ve been involved in. I’ve done lots of musicals—musical theater and stuff like that.   Music Man, Cinderella, Seussical … so I’ve been involved in bunch of musical theater.  I love it.

Tashina: What are your favorite vocal compositions, of any genre?

Kjersti: As far as vocal lessons go, I would rather sing art songs over arias—I think they’re easier to understand and easier to sing.  But outside of the classical genre, I love folky-type bluegrass stuff. Like guitar, fiddles, mandolins, with the bluegrass singing.  And I think my voice fits that pretty well, especially the lower register stuff.  And I like religious music.  There’s a lot of horrible religious music out there, but there’s a lot of really good stuff too.

Tashina:  What is vibrato? Is it a natural phenomenon?  Is there an on/off switch? 

Kjersti: It is a natural phenomenon.  It’s basically just the vibration of the vocal folds.  If you were to look at a violin when the bow is going across the string, you would see the vibration of the string with the contact of the bow.  That’s the same thing with your vocal folds.  When you sing, they vibrate together, which creates the vibrato.  But there is an on and off switch.  I don’t know how, it’s just like in my head, I know how to do straight tone versus vibrato.  So there is an on and off switch, but I can’t tell you what that is.  You’ll hear lots of different kinds of vibratos, and not all of them are good.  It’s a training thing, it’s a technical thing. Not everyone has vibrato right off, but as their voice grows and matures and as they have more training, their vibrato naturally comes.  So you’ll hear different kinds of vibrato, but as singers what we work for is for a more even vibrato.

Tashina: You are also an accomplished violinist, have you noticed any differences in the general mood or atmosphere of choral rehearsals compared to instrumental rehearsals?

Kjersti: Yes.  There’s a huge difference between choral people and instrumental people. And I can say this, because I’ve been involved in both for years.  Like I was in orchestra before I was in choir.  I’ve been playing the violin for 10 years, almost 11 years.  The first semester I did choir, there’s just such a difference.  Choir people are so talky and chatty, and just want to talk all the time.  And when the conductor stops, there’s automatically, always a bunch of chatter.  As I’ve moved up through college, that’s not as big of a problem anymore. Instrumental rehearsals, I feel, go a lot smoother.  There’s not as much chatting.  Especially in high school, we got more done in orchestra than we would in choir, just because of the different personalities that attract.  I’m glad that I’ve been able to be involved in both.  But there is.  There is a contrasting mood between the dynamics of the people in the groups.

Tashina: Why do singers always got to be singing in different languages?  If what you’re singing about is so important, why don’t you sing in a language that the audience can understand?

Kjersti: I’ve thought a lot about this question, because it’s a good question.  Why in the recitals do you have to go and sit through an Italian aria or a German aria? You have no idea what they’re saying, you don’t care what they’re saying.  And unless they’re a good performer, you have no idea what the song is about—unless they’re acting it out slightly.  Music started in those European countries.  That was their native language, they could understand it.  And so that’s where our classics come from, those countries, so we sing in those languages.  The music is just so much more beautiful in the native language.  Because a lot of these things are translated into English—a lot of these operas can be done in English.  But it doesn’t have the same effect, I don’t think.  So when you go to a big opera, they’ll have above the stage a little screen, and they’ll have what are called “supertitles.”  And they’ll have the translation written out, so you know what they’re saying, and you’ll know what the opera is about. But when you do go to a vocal recital, they’ll give you program notes with the translation, so you know what’s going on. 

 

Tuba Prayer: “Lord, grant me air.”

I think I love the tuba. Maybe it’s because tuba’s a member of the wind instrument family, so clarinet and tuba are like fifth cousins, twice removed. The tuba was very satisfying to play, despite my obvious shortcomings. Brandon Larsen is responsible for placing this massive instrument of total domination in my lap. He was very knowledgeable, and very patient.

This week our video is in two parts: First I conquer the toilet bowl mouthpiece, and in the second video I take on every blessed inch of that tuba. Also, Twitter user @tubachic contributed two questions for this week’s interview.  @tubachic is ‘in the know’ about all the blog happenings, because she follows @TashinaLyn on Twitter.  *hint hint*

Hope you love the tuba as much as I do!

Interview

Tashina: When did you first start playing the tuba?

Brandon: See, I don’t have that typical 6^th grade story. I actually started out on the trombone, and I come from a really small town, and when I got into middle school, they didn’t have a trombone for me to rent.  And so they said, “Well, euphonium is about the same. Just learn the fingerings. You read in the same clef…”  So I started playing that, and when my 9^th grade year came along we didn’t have a tuba, so we were very top-heavy.  My band director challenged the flutes to play the tuba, because it takes about the same amount of air to play the tuba as it does the flute.  It’s just a lot of ‘open air.’  I volunteered, and nobody else volunteered, so he let me have it.  I thought I would just have to take everything down an octave, and I’d be fine.  But the tuba mouthpiece is like a toilet bowl.  It just takes up your whole mouth.  It took a lot of adjusting and getting used to.  After that, I started excelling at the tuba more than I did with any other instrument.  The rest is history! I came to Southern Utah University, got a scholarship, and here I am!

Tashina: Do you own a tuba?

Brandon: No, this tuba here is about $10,000. The school bought it for me, because I was majoring in music. It’s about 4 years old… and dirty, I need to clean it.  My senior recital is coming up too, it needs to be polished.  One day I want my own, and I want it to be all personalized.  You can have them with your name etched into them, and sandblasted, and just beautiful.  But that costs a lot of money, and I’m a poor college student.  So all I own is the mouthpiece.  This mouthpiece was about $120.

Tashina: Does the tuba have a height requirement?

Brandon: No, I’m 6’2”, and Tyician—who plays the tuba as well—is much shorter.  We noticed in brass studio the other day, that I have to put the tuba on my lap for it to reach my mouth, and he has to put it on the chair in order for it to reach his mouth.  So it’s that much difference, and you can make adjustments that way.  Also, they make tubas even smaller.  Student-sized tubas are pretty small, everything is compact, like a euphonium almost—it’s just a little bit bigger than a euphonium.  They make tubas in different sizes, so that different sized players can play them.

Tashina: When playing in ensembles, the tuba doesn't always get the most exciting parts.  What do you (or other tuba players) do to pass the time?

Brandon: Count.  That’s the official answer for any conductors who are reading the blog. I like to fill out 12-tone matrices! But in most ensembles, if I don’t play for 150 measures, then usually they give me a Trombone 3 part to cover or something like that.  So mostly I’m given parts to cover, and I’m switching parts and trying to fill in here, and fill in there, while I’m resting on the tuba part.  So that’s what I do a lot in orchestra.  In band, I rarely rest.  You’d be surprised by how many wind ensemble compositions have exciting tuba parts.  In the last 4 years, Dr. Stickney has picked a lot of stuff that has a tuba solo here or a tuba section soli there, or whatever, so it’s been pretty cool.

Tashina: One of my Twitter followers @tubachic, shared two interview questions for you as well:

What is one of the most uniquely challenging parts of playing the tuba, compared to other instruments?

Brandon: I think that it’s the size of the mouthpiece, and not only the size of the mouthpiece, but how involved your embrouchure is in getting pitch and things.  Not to say that the other instruments aren’t… but the trumpet just uses a small space on the lips, and the trombone and euphonium use a bit more, but with the tuba, you use almost your entire mouth to produce a sound.  There is so much more air that is used just to get a squeak or note out, let alone different dynamics and pitch levels.  I’ve had the opportunity to take brass methods and learn all these different instruments, and I noticed that there is a lot more embrouchure control that you need to have to be able to play the tuba.

Tashina: If you could impress one thing on a beginning tuba student, what would it be?

Brandon: More air. That’s the common tuba answer, and probably what we’re going to talk about throughout your lesson. More air, more air, more air. The thing with the tuba is, it can be an absolutely gorgeous instrument, and you can play solo music, and it can be very beautiful, if you use the right amount of air. And if you don’t, it sounds like you’re trying to strangle a duck… a very big duck.