Clarinet Ensembles

Australian classical guitarist Craig Ogden and Irish saxophonist Gerard McChrystal combine to create Pluck, Blow. Here is a sampler of their 20 year collaboration starting in 2003.

Pluck, Blow sampler

Solas is the collaboration between organist Christian Wilson and saxophonist Gerard McChrystal.

Solas Gerard McChrystal-saxophones, Christian Wilson-Organ.

"Shchedryk" by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych. Originally written in 1904, it has since become best known as "Carol Of The Bells", with English lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky.

I've been working on this arrangement by Thomas H. Graf with some of my students recently. Decided to have a go at it myself as well!

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/SvzkgYWxnuk

Carol Of The Bells

miku - on melancholy hill

Alexander's Ragtime Band

Rake Stepper (ft. Michael Wilbur)

Playing with former guitarist and singer.  We haven't played together in quite some time.  This was just a quick jam session, unrehearsed (obviously) but a nice demo of acoustic guitar and bass, especially their relative volume levels.

Looking For Love

As Above, So Below

Nocturne No. 1 - Aurora Borealis Demo

Quick solo bass excerpt of Borislav Slavov's Weeping Dawn, from the Baldur's Gate 3 Soundtrack.

Bass Journal - Weeping Dawn

My 3rd attempt at playing sevenstars0828's cover of Kurousa-P's famous VOCALOID song, "Senbonzakura (千本桜)."

Come January 2015, I got to rent the LeBlanc paperclip again! This time, I used a synthetic reed, which greatly improved the tone quality. I also found a better way to record it, hence the better quality of audio. 

Then in Spring 2015, I rerecorded the alto clarinet part on a whim. I don't know why I did so. Other than that, nothing changed.

This is the last take that uses all the specified instruments. The rest of the untouched tracks in the final version had to be rerecorded, and since I did not have access to an Eb clarinet or a bass clarinet anymore, I had to use substitutes.

• Eb alto clarinet (Noblet, JD Hite mouthpiece, an unknown inverted Vandoren ligature, Vandoren Java alto saxophone reeds #3)

• Bb contrabass clarinet (LeBlanc paperclip, stock mouthpiece, stock ligature, Legere synthetic reed #2.5)

Senbonzakura (千本桜) [3rd Attempt]

Well, at long last, I've finished it! 1.5 years ago, I started this project after finding the sheet music to this arrangement. After lots of practice, editing, re-recording, sweat, and tears, I have produced my final version. While still imperfect, I finally find it presentable.

The Eb clarinet recording, I've found, was not as perfect as I thought. Often it was not in time with the other parts, to the point that it was unbearable. Since I have no access to an Eb clarinet, I had to re-record the part on Bb. The result was a compromise: fixing some of the technical problems in the old take, but not having as satisfactory of a tone. This is really apparent in the solo: the original take was almost perfect as it is, but the retake is nowhere as good.

Rerecording the Bb clarinet parts was a lot of fun. The 1st part is tough, but my end result is far superior to the first take I did, which only got replaced now. The 2nd part was rerecorded quite easily, and I even took a few ad libs here and there.

The alto clarinet take from Spring 2015 is sufficient, save for a few sections. I kept it as is.

The bass clarinet part was rerecorded using the contra alto. I read off the bassoon substitute included in the folder. Since the tones of the two instruments are quite close, it was an excellent substitute. 

The contrabass retake I took in January 2015 is near perfect the way it is, so I left it alone.

As I mentioned earlier, it's not perfect, but I'm pretty damn proud of it! 

The final line up:

• Bb soprano clarinet for Eb clarinet and Bb clarinet 1, 2 (LeBlanc Normandy, Vandoren 5RV Lyre mouthpiece, Bonade Inverted ligature, Vandoren V12 #4.5 reeds for Eb clarinet and clarinet 1, Vandoren Blue Box #4 reeds for clarinet 2)

• Eb alto clarinet (Noblet, JD Hite mouthpiece, an unknown inverted Vandoren ligature, Vandoren Java alto saxophone reeds #3)

• Eb contra alto clarinet (Selmer Bundy, Clarke Fobes Nova mouthpiece, Rovner Dark ligature, Legere synthetic reed #3)

• Bb contrabass clarinet (LeBlanc paperclip, stock mouthpiece, stock ligature, Legere synthetic reed #2.5)

UPDATE: While I do call this the final version, I did so because I didn't think I would get access to an Eb clarinet and bass clarinet again to rerecord their respective parts. But if chance does occur, I have two interesting choices:

• Rerecord the Eb clarinet and bass clarinet parts on the correct instruments. I may rerecord some of the other parts, mainly the alto clarinet part while I'm at it.

• Do the same with the Eb clarinet as above, but rerecord the alto clarinet part on bass clarinet instead. And then rerecord the 2nd Bb clarinet part on alto clarinet. That way, all 6 main members of the Eb/Bb clarinet family are represented: Eb sopranino, Bb soprano, Eb alto, Bb bass, Eb contra alto, Bb contrabass.

Senbonzakura (千本桜) [Final]

My 2nd attempt has only one difference from the 1st one: the contrabass clarinet. I had access to a paperclip contra in November - December 2014. Before I had to return it for 2 weeks, I decided to rerecord that awful "contrabass" take from the 1st attempt on a whim. Aside from that, nothing changed in this version. 

(I immediately fell in love with the contra's range to low C, so forgive the 8vb's)

In a way, you could say that this is the "true 1st take," since it I finally played all the parts on the correct instruments.

• Bb contrabass clarinet (LeBlanc paperclip, stock mouthpiece, stock ligature, RICO reed #2)

Senbonzakura (千本桜) [2nd Version]

This is my attempt at sevenstars0828’s arrangement of Kurousa-P’s famous song "Senbonzakura (千本桜)." I overdubbed myself playing each part (except for the contrabass part, see explanation below)

Original video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-AWxNG7ueY&list=TLGKutG7hWB4MAqH7r7FlLoYmrGcuhJ_FW

They were generous enough to provide links to download the sheet music in the video description. The arrangement is for a clarinet sextet: 1 E-flat, 2 B-flats, 1 alto, 1 bass, and 1 contrabass.

    Anyway, I will say it now. This was bad. Very BAD. My attempt at recording myself playing all parts merits no comparison at all to their video. First off, this was done while I had more important school stuff filling up my schedule; I only got to practice and record when I had free time. Secondly, this was all the effort of one guy. I didn’t have anyone else help me when I played this arrangement, so obviously it is very sloppy. Thirdly, the only recording equipment I used was my home computer and GarageBand.
    I did have access to decent school instruments to cover all the parts save for one. That is not a contrabass clarinet you hear. It is me playing the part on bass clarinet and taking the audio down an octave. The effect is still unsatisfactory.

     Even then, I am still proud of this little side project of mine (I am satisfied with the tone I have on the Eefer). I just couldn’t resist trying it. And I know that overdubbing myself is a little hobby that I will continue to do.

I hope I can get together an ensemble one day to play this arrangement right!

Set-up:
• E-flat Sopranino* Clarinet (Buffet E11, Vandoren B45 mouthpiece, stock ligature, Rico Royal #5 reeds)

• B-flat Soprano Clarinet for both clarinets 1 and 2 (Buffet R13, Vandoren 5RV Lyre mouthpiece, Bonade Inverted ligature, Mitchell Lurie Premium #5 reeds for clarinet 1, Vandoren V12 #4 reeds for clarinet 2)

• E-flat Alto Clarinet (Selmer Bundy, Yamaha 4C mouthpiece, stock ligature, Rico Royal #3 reeds)

• B-flat Bass Clarinet for both bass and contrabass clarinets (Buffet Student Model with a hole in the bell to allow low D, stock mouthpiece, stock ligature, Rico Grand Concert Select #3.5 reeds)

Senbonzakura (千本桜) [1st Version]

From Hymns of the Christian Life (no. 212)

This is actually a reupload of a recording I made way back in 2014, just when I was starting to explore the idea of an alto clarinet quartet.

The choice of hymn was inspired by this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59zPtejrbNY

Set up:
• Eb alto clarinet (Noblet, JD Hite mouthpiece, unknown inverted Vandoren ligature, RICO Royal #3 alto clarinet reeds)

alec's arrangements

Abide With Me (Alto Clarinet Quartet)

An old overdub project of mine made back in early 2015, when the Yee meme was already old. I decided to upload this now for completion's sake.

Senbonzakura (千本桜) [Final]

BL0rangeReEdz

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