Category: clarinet
Budget Bass Clarinet Reviews
Fact: Woodwind doublers need to own lots of equipment. Fact: High quality equipment isn’t cheap. So unless funds are unlimited, woodwind doublers have to choosy on what equipment they spend money on. While I would love to own a $14,000 bass clarinet, it makes no sense for me to go into debt for one. It’s…
PSA: Get your horn fixed, NOW!
A few days ago, I picked up my alto sax and my flute from repair by Steve Schoene at Schmitt Music. The alto repair, a Keilwerth SX-90R black nickel, was a full repad. The flute was just in for a checkup and since he did a full repad on the flute about 2 years ago, there…
Review: Vandoren M|O Ligature
The short review: I like it. Being a newer product, I haven’t seen many local stores keep these in stock. And why should they? Yet another ligature product from Vandoren, which comes in various colors and sizes, to take up shelf space. The thing is, it is a good product, at a good price, and…
Steve Schoene, woodwind repair tech
Steve Schoene is a genius, and he charges far too little for his amazing work. ~ Jeani Foster, Principal flute MSO I have to take a moment to say a few words about woodwind technician Steve Schoene, owner of Schmitt Music in Racine, Wisconsin. For two reasons, one because he’s really really good and deserves…
The Journey
If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. ~ Marty McFly Today was indeed a red letter date for me. I completed a practice goal that I had set for myself over a year ago. That goal was to complete an intensive study in clarinet technique. It began I believe 2/19/2010, and…
App review: Fingering Woodwinds for iPhone
Given how huge apps are, I figured there might be something in Apple’s App Store. And lo and behold there is “an app for that.” It’s called Fingering Woodwinds for iPhone ($4.99, iTunes link). The developer does have a separate iPad version as well for $6.99. While I would like to review that one as well,…
How to clean a woodwind mouthpiece
Let’s face the facts. You probably need to clean your mouthpiece. I’ve known for a while that my mouthpieces needed a good cleaning. It’s one of those things we know we as woodwind players know we should do more often but don’t. After reading this article on NPR about wind players getting sick from the…
JazzTimes interviews Eddie Daniels
Lee Mergner of the JazzTimes recently interviewed the legendary jazz clarinetist Eddie Daniels about a new upcoming project. Luckily for us the conversation went very long, with Eddie talking a lot about players he enjoys working with, ensemble concept, clubs versus festivals, tenor players around New York in the 70’s, and more. Be sure to…