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It's any wonder you even found this video at all :D

Thanks. Hopefully I can get some more out in the not too distant future.

The clarinet in this video is an old LeBlanc LL, I think it was from the 80s going by the case, but must have gotten lost or something, because it was sold brand new to me in 1998. The mouthpiece is a Vandoren B45 and the reed is a Vandoren V12 3 1/2.

@@CodedNotes tysm

Thanks! I'd love to add new content, but my now 11 month old son has required me to lower it in life's priority list. I'm really keen to get back into it though.

@ Totally get it! Enjoy the time with your son, and we’ll be here whenever you’re ready to jump back in. :)

I made a video about mouthpiece buzzing, perhaps that will help you a bit th-cam.com/video/4WhUzkNZpy8/w-d-xo.html

You found one of my oldest videos too 😄 I wish the audio could have been better for you.

Do you have a link to a recording?

@CodedNotes been looking for it's sheet music. It's like impossible to find

@@jaredaugust2879 Oh, you mean this th-cam.com/video/W-8ujbCB190/w-d-xo.html ? I'll see what I can do.

@@CodedNotes yesss 😎😎😎😎

@@jaredaugust2879 Try this... ko-fi.com/s/c5acb567b4 It should be a PWYW item. I hope you have good fingering for a high G# 😅 If I get some time, I'll make a video for it.

You've just made my day 😀 Enjoy!

Glad to have helped. Niche definitely seems an appropriate way of describing my content 😀

I'd love to have the time and record all the pieces. I have a slightly better set up these days.

What model of clarinet? It's an old LeBlanc LL, I think it was from the 80s going by the case, but must have gotten lost or something, because it was sold brand new to me in 1998.

The version of "In a Sentimental Mood" I played comes from the book "Classic Jazz for Saxophone - Wise Publications". It's a really good book because it puts a lot of the classic jazz standards like this one into a friendly key for beginner-intermediate players. It's good bang for your buck. I updated the link in the description of the book I have, but I think there's a different edition.

Are you able to slowly descend to a low Bb? If you can, I suggest stepping down from say, G, but as you get to lower notes, tongue them a few times to make sure your embouchure is settled. Assuming your instrument is totally fine, it could just be you haven't established the muscle memory required to know exactly what embouchure you need to hit those notes in a one-off situation. If you suspect pads aren't closing properly, shine a torch down your instrument with the keys down and see if there's any light escaping.

A glissando is 'to glide' from one pitch to another. A "lip gliss" is to do a slide such that all the notes blur/bend into each other creating something similar to a trombone slide. This is typically what the clarinet at the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue uses. It's a bit of a misnomer because it's not just the lip that's involved in allowing the player to accomplish this. If a lip gliss is too difficult, the fall back is just to move chromatically through the notes (i.e. move by semitones). If the music is fast enough, you could probably just get away with any scale of notes because the composer is generally after the effect of the 'blur of notes' Lip glisses aren't too common; you certainly wouldn't want an entire clarinet section doing them in a wind band. It's used mainly for solos in jazz, klezmer, folk type pieces. A regular chromatic scale is by far the most common thing to do when you see the squiggly lines in music.

@@CodedNotes thank you

Thanks. Yes, In a Dream is quite a good one. Hopefully I can find some time this weekend to put a video together.

Thank you!

Here you go th-cam.com/video/fBFcQsBu5Rc/w-d-xo.html

That's hilarious. It's always good to have friends that have your back.

My last music teacher told me before the last concert I was a part of that it was ok if I didn’t play

He is 😂😂😂😂

Glad to hear! It's a great piece which I haven't used in a while, so your comment has reminded me to give it to one of my students the next time I see him.

Yes, that is indeed a Selmer Muse. An upgrade from my Le Blanc that I'd been playing since 1999. The key positions of the Selmer were more similar to the Le Blanc compared to the high end Buffet clarinets; just enough difference that I kept missing the keys on the Buffets when I was trying them out. That's muscle memory for you. The Muse seemed like a good choice; it had a more silkier feel, which resonated with me when I got it.

Thanks. I'll admit I'm a clarinetist first, saxophonist second, but it's not a big deal to transition from saxophone to clarinet. Sure, there are some minor fingering differences and the open tone holes are unforgiving, but to get a sound out and play some tunes isn't a big transition. What is a surprise to saxophone players moving to clarinet though, is the different physical requirement on the embouchure. If your desired sound is a New Orleans or dixieland style, then the physicality difference isn't as much; getting a Benny Goodman sound, a bit harder still, trying to get that rich warm classical sound, now that's a physical ask. When going from saxophone to clarinet, you'll likely hear the tone differences as demonstrated at about the 3:30 mark. Anyone who teases that making a good tone should be effortless hasn't been to a Cirque du Soleil performance to see how easy the acrobats make their feats look :)

I practised this for ages and could never quite pull it off 100%. I had a lot of fun with it though. I'd love to hear someone else master it.

#15 is a good one. I'll see if I can put something together before the end of the week (I've been very time poor lately).

How's this: th-cam.com/video/jeG06Ao-frE/w-d-xo.html ? I got a bit carried away and made the video really long, but the playthrough is at the beginning.

Just from a tone perspective, or response? Given that they're narrower than the European Cut, I could imagine them not fitting as well to a lot of mouthpieces.

@@CodedNotes response for sure, I do notice a more resonant tone on Europeans but it's less consistent then french cut. But the real difference is in the response. I guess I just got used to the response of the European cut.

Thanks, that means you made it all the way to the end! My earliest clarinet influences were Woody Herman's The Golden Wedding, and Artie Shaw's Begin the Beguine, both really old school. Honestly, I don't change my setup between classical and jazz; I just grab a middle of the row mouthpiece and decent strength reed then tweak my embouchure to fit the style. I had a go of someone else's "Classic" cut but it either wasn't as good (subjective), or it was getting a big worn out. I ended up getting a French Cut 4.0 sent to me by way of Légère's exchange program, and it was closer to what I was expecting, but it is definitely gives you more of a work out :) The 3.75 is my easier going practise reed. I still can't shake the zingy sound I hear from them though, but if I can get the reed exactly aligned and then work the embouchure just right, I can dampen that sound. Cane is far more forgiving with positioning.

The only copy of A Tune A Day for saxophone I have is a reprint of the original 1945 version. Needless to say, it's very old school and doesn't have Mango Walk. I should pick myself up a copy of the revamped version and see how much better it is.

Glad to hear. Sometimes it just takes a little titbit from some random source to discover a different approach that helps.