Hey all, I’m a recent lurker turned member.
My primary instrument is trombone. As a kid, I went through a period of borrowing unused band instruments and teaching myself how to play them using Yamaha books. My first secondary instrument was bass clarinet (I did not learn on Bb), followed by flute, piccolo, tuba, trumpet, bassoon, and violin (strings and I do not do well together!).
My senior year at Yale our wind ensemble was doing an exchange concert with UPenn. One of the pieces was a modern composition that had an essential contra bass clarinet part. Nobody in the clarinet section could get more than a note or two out of the instrument without squeaking. I was able to make it sing almost immediately, and so for that semester my trombone was relegated to my dorm room closet. I had an absolute blast playing that beast.
Fast forward twenty years of not playing any instruments, and two years ago I dusted off the trombone. Then I bought a Noblet bass clarinet off eBay. I pacticed the bass (boy was I rusty!) and started playing it in my community groups. The magic was back!
After a few missed eBay opportunities I found a paperclip contra, played it for a cycle and now she’s at South Florida Horns getting completely overhauled (compete with a gold bell which is kind of extra, but then so am I). I also played a Royal Global Max at TMEA last year and fell in love; I’m now grateful to have one that was given the Studio overhaul treatment by L&P.
The most exciting and unexpected development is that I’m finally using my theory and composition degree. I’m a crap composer, but it turns out I love and am decent at arranging parts for contra and adapting standard bass parts for extended range bass, including incorporating non-covered parts like bassoon 2, string bass, alto clarinet, etc.
I’m excited to geek out with y’all!
My primary instrument is trombone. As a kid, I went through a period of borrowing unused band instruments and teaching myself how to play them using Yamaha books. My first secondary instrument was bass clarinet (I did not learn on Bb), followed by flute, piccolo, tuba, trumpet, bassoon, and violin (strings and I do not do well together!).
My senior year at Yale our wind ensemble was doing an exchange concert with UPenn. One of the pieces was a modern composition that had an essential contra bass clarinet part. Nobody in the clarinet section could get more than a note or two out of the instrument without squeaking. I was able to make it sing almost immediately, and so for that semester my trombone was relegated to my dorm room closet. I had an absolute blast playing that beast.
Fast forward twenty years of not playing any instruments, and two years ago I dusted off the trombone. Then I bought a Noblet bass clarinet off eBay. I pacticed the bass (boy was I rusty!) and started playing it in my community groups. The magic was back!
After a few missed eBay opportunities I found a paperclip contra, played it for a cycle and now she’s at South Florida Horns getting completely overhauled (compete with a gold bell which is kind of extra, but then so am I). I also played a Royal Global Max at TMEA last year and fell in love; I’m now grateful to have one that was given the Studio overhaul treatment by L&P.
The most exciting and unexpected development is that I’m finally using my theory and composition degree. I’m a crap composer, but it turns out I love and am decent at arranging parts for contra and adapting standard bass parts for extended range bass, including incorporating non-covered parts like bassoon 2, string bass, alto clarinet, etc.
I’m excited to geek out with y’all!
