h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello, Njan. What a lame greeting Oh well... May I ask *why* you had to sell your Buffet? I know people who would love to get one (me, a while back ), so why would you sell such a beautiful thing as that? If you are going to get a 2-for-1 deal, doesn't that mean the 2 are worth the same amount as the 1? I *love* my Buffet.... It is so much better than my old one, too.

I noticed that the h2g2 Symphony Orchestra is up to you, as well. *That's* pretty neat... I think that is a great idea--nice way to get the musically-minded people together. The RL component was a cool idea as well; it makes it a bit more than just another h2g2 club. Great job!

I actually came by to remind you that you are loved (well, the first time I checked out your page was a couple weeks ago was to find out about your clarinet...). You seem like you aren't very likely to forget it any time soon, but just in case: you are cared about. Even when the "going gets tough", people still care about you and appreciate you because you are a good person. You have fantastic ideas (the Orchestra and its execution is a case in point!) and a great attitude that brings other people up.

Your friends and family, both on and off of h2g2, love you for who you are. I myself care about you without ever having spoken, and I want to get to know you better. Don't forget that you can and do make a difference, every day, and you help the world by bringing others' days up. You matter, Njan.

Peace and Love,
Shee (WLC-wise, but also personally caring)

Shee...

I haven't, yet... she sits, upstairs, in a clarinet case, unplayed.

My previous statement must now be corrected... I just went upstairs and brought her down, so she's had 10 minutes of playing.

My first Buffet R13 (Titania, the oldest) is a Bb, and the pair which I've bought (Both also R13s, Cainnech and Vartouhi respectively) are in A and Bb, being a matching pair I use for orchestral playing... and whilst I love my old R13 to bits, especially for solo playing, I don't have very much money, and I need the money I can sell her for in order to offset the cost of the pair which I've bought.

"You seem like you aren't very likely to forget it any time soon"... I wouldn't be too sure. Without wanting to go into details, I don't lead a very happy life at the moment, clarinets notwithstanding. Including music, there are two things that brighten my life at the moment, but other than that, it isn't all that fantastic, but to say the least. :-p

I'm assuming you're also a clarinettist, then.. what sort of thing do you play, and on what sort of buffet?

Thankyou!!

- Njan.

Now a Buffet R-13 (Bb), previously playing a wooden Normandy in a LeBlanc case ! At least it was wood… I just went and tried to play it again yesterday--very difficult. *sings* Oh how I love my clarinet…!

I play both jazz and classical. Right now, I'm working on both Anthropology (Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie) and the Rondo from the Mozart Concerto ! It's a rather odd combination, really…. I would rather be doing Anthropology on alto, but I'm not as erm --technically facile-- on alto as I am on clarinet. Yet.

What, no Eb?

Oh, I think I've just got it (although I could still be wrong...) Can your new A and Bb share mouthpieces/barrels? That would be handy for orchestral doubling... I guess I'm still not clear on the one R13 for two R13s thing...

Naming your clarinets... That's almost as bad as naming your cars! (Just teasing... I get teased too, about named clarinets, but *not* for reasons which I care to write. )


*drum roll* Ta-da! I am here to brighten your life! Hey, the least I can do is talk to you and keep you thinking about brilliant clarinet-y things! (Clari-nutty, more like... )


(a caring person named) Shee ::nods toward agcB::

Hey. This is Njan, in spite of the wrong user. I'm at Lisa's house, so I'm replying with her account, since I can't be bothered to log me out and her back in.

Ah, groovy... same as mine, although I play with a Selmer C85 120 mouthpiece with the tip opening fine tuned with really fine sandpaper, so that it sounds nicer. The newer Selmers aren't as nice, unfortunately, beacuse they changed the profile of how they cut them, but the old 85 120s were gorgeous, especially if you fine tuned them. *grins*... I also use the Vandoren "Optimum" Ligature, which is equally lovely (I really like my clarinets.. can you tell?)

Ah, wonderful! The Mozart is a gorgeous piece of music! I can play most of that from memory.. I use it to warm up on, and impress people by playing at ridiculous speeds. I'm baad. *grins*

Should be back home tomorrow, I think.

I have a locally-made mouthpiece, but it is pretty good. See, I can't tell you who made it, because then you might know where I am. A bit paranoid?

And I want the Optimum, but I don't have the $40-some bucks right now to just go buy a little ligature with... Too close to Christmas! I'll probably end up with a Bonade..

I have a lot of mouthpieces, now that I think about it... Well, maybe not too many. I have 2 junky ones (one that came with the first instrument, one that came with the second--really terrible, both of them), a crystal one, and my nice resin one. And at least one other that I can't think of.. I think it rolled under my dresser... Hmm. And I have 4-ish for my alto too. Got a regular mouthpiece collection! Now I have to start looking for headjoints..

Very baaad ... See, it is people like you that make me look so *eh*!

Now I'm going to bring up a controversial subject : reeds. (The devotion to Vandoren is comparable to the Religion Of Macintosh! )

Mitchell Lurie Premium.

*fears for the beating of her life *

Ah. Well, I know you're in Kentucky... but no more. So, presumably, a manufacturer there.

They're very nice...really really nice, in fact.. get the plastic-capped one rather than the silver-cap (The silver cap's about £15 or $20 more, scratches easily, and makes an abhorrant noise when you drop it in the middle of a performance) unless you either have money to burn or are really conscious about how your clarinet looks.

I was lucky.. I bought the plastic one and then swapped it for a silver one with someone who cited the "it clatters on the floor" argument.

It's really well worth it.

*grins*... I had quite a few.. I gave away a mouthpiece and a ligature or two to a friend, and one of my mouthpieces (a handcarved grenadilla-wood one, for my rosewood clarinet) is getting to the point where it's about to refuse to be a mouthpiece and take up the occupation of being many smaller pieces of wood, so that one doesn't really count any more (which is a pity, because it made a gorgeous sound).

I've never owned a crystal one.. the sound, from my experience, is very pure, but to the detriment of the tone: The sound is SO pure, because crystal is so accoustically perfect and uniform, that the warmth and depth of the clarinet (and the harmonics that there are) are lost. (And this is from an amateur sound-engineer's point of view, so - uh - I should be better informed than the lay clarinettist. I'm not saying that I am, just that I should be. )

How do I make you look *eh*? *looks around*

*has just got back from a performance of Tchaikovsky's Little Russian Symphony (no. 2), Borodin's Overture to Prince Igor (gorgeous), and Ippolatov-Ivanov's Caucasian sketches*

Ah. ... For many years, I used vandoren classics, and then the nice sales rep. from Vandoren Europe gave me a pack of V12s to try out, and I fell in love with them... asides from the (much cooler) silver box (which I don't use, because I have a reed holder thingummy amongst the other assorted bits of paper, screwdriver, and thin-nosed-plier in the bottom of my double case), they last (for me) SO much longer, and the sound is nicer, and fuller, and ... yeah.

If you can, get your hands on a tester pack (they have 4 reeds in them), borrow some off a friend, or (if you're feeling particularly adventurous) buy some. If I were you, write to Vandoren, tell them that you're a clarinettist thinking of changing, and they may well send you some. (Asides from anything, Vandoren V12s are more expensive than normal vandoren reeds, which is good for them and bad for clarinettists, although I think the greater life of V12s makes it more economical: I'm not spending as much ((I think)) )

Yeah.

Mitchell Luries are about the only reed I've never tried... I've tried all sorts of odd australian reeds, the Rico Grand Concert Select Evolution "hand-picked" reeds (don't like them), amongst others.... but I stick with V12s.

(apart from anything, I played on Ricos when I was about 12 and had just picked up my first (plastic. ) clarinet...)

Take care!

- Njan.

Hey now, no one's said anything about Kentucky!

Oooh oooh, you have a pound key! Very cool.... Okay, so I'm in a funny mood.... I've had too much sugar already today!

*grins hopefully* You could, erm, give some stuff to me? I mean, I wouldn't mind, and.. er..


I'm not that great, don't have all the gear, but I know what I *should* have and know what I want… And I'm gettin' better! (Shameless Monty Python reference…) I need to spend more time practicing... Like right now, instead of talking to you, I should be practicing my music and all those lovely scales... Blues scales especially, because I haven't spent as much time with them as major/minor. But this is more fun .

Were you one of the little clarinetists playing hidden in that back that no one can see, or an audience member (that no one can see )?

And no one said anything about changing reeds, either! (But I knew this was coming.... Fanatical devotion indeed... ) I happen to *like* my Mitchell Luries ... I had Vandoren for my alto once, when I stupidly when to a "music" store for high school rock bands and Vandoren was the only brand they had in my strength... Did I say I was stupid to try to find reeds there? Anyways, I figured I would buy them... The smallest box they had was a box of 10. I used 2 out of the whole box, thinking perhaps the first one was just a fluke... I don't know; maybe their clarinet reeds are completely different... I certainly don't use Alto Mitchell Luries! (Rico/Hempkey for it... )

I didn't like the Vandoren sound--it was too.. 'cramped' is the word I guess… Ah, lovely reeds… Last week I had a box of 5 reeds. Two weren't that good to begin with. I practiced a lot on another, and then in two performances I blew the last ones out. Crazy. Now I need a new box in time for the next time I need to play 'for real'... If only I had decided to play flute. Or percussion. Or even better, *viola*. Think of how everyone'd love me then...


Shee

Your journal. :p

Being English, it's kinda useful. *grins*

I would, but I'm about 4000 miles away...

*grins*... I don't do scales. I only like practicing pieces and studies... I picked up a really random book of studies the other day, and it has a GORGEOUS study which I should memorise so I can play it anytime which I really love. I'm going to record it once I can play it to a reasonable standard.

I was indeed... I take great pleasure in being the second first clarinet (just a plain first, not the principal) and yet warming up in the dressing rooms as if I were a virtuoso (I love showing off. I'm not pretentious reeeeeally. *grins*) by playing all the virtuosic passages from Weber's clarinet concertos, concertino, and Mozart's clarinet concerto. .... it always annoys the principal. *sniggers*

Nono... the idea was, you can get free vandoren reeds and test out the V12, because it's a really nice reed. or some of them are. And as far as reliability goes, I find that more reeds in a box are nice. What you have to bear in mind is, different reeds are good for different conditions. I keep a box of reeds in a little carry case, and whilst I have one or two reeds which I use almost all the time, I try out the others spasmodically to see if they've matured or suit the weather conditions and humidity and venue (you'd be surprised how much stuff like that affects reeds... I've had horrible things I could barely get a sound out of on a sunny day that were gorgeous on a cloudy day)...*waits for cloud of disagreement to descend*

*sniggers*... I think you're best as a clarinettist. We clarinettists ahve the nicest instrument. And reeds make a lovely scapegoat for those days when the clarinet's just icky and you can't get a nice tone out of it, none of the notes speak, and you can't play quietly. (Maybe that's just me. )

- Njan.

Well, no one said I was in Kentucky. Not even my journal. *wide-eyed innocent face* I think Ellen's in Kentucky, though... I can't remember; she could be in Tennessee--I seem to confuse those two a lot...

And what do you think airmail is good for?

Ah, studies... the Rose book... Don't remind me!

I've never heard you play, but I have an inkling of your level... Much above me... Weber is cool... Mozart is better... And I hate Bach. *wrinkles nose up* And he didn't write most of the stuff he claimed! Grr.

Yeah, I get new music tonight! I'm hoping for Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, but why do I get the feeling we won't be playing it? I do like that piece.

You enjoy *snigger*ing? *sniffs pompously* So unbecoming...

*sniggers*


*refuses to disagree, then realises how she just proved Njan's point *
I have all my old reeds that weren't so good originally all nicely organised so that I can go back to them and try again at some later date... They're too expensive to just throw away! Ooh, I remember an audition where I had spent hours and hours for the past two (very dry) days going through reeds and ranking them. Then the day of the audition, it rained. I didn't make it...

(I really don't like the way higher strings sound though, so I probably won't be learning viola anytime soon... It has to be at least a cello, maybe a bass before I can enjoy the noise it puts out. Don't tell my strings! )

Oops... *blushes* Ellen is in Tennessee...

*crinkles to the floor, totally embarrassed and hoping that Ellen never saw that journal entry...*

Ah.. fair point. curses.

I would find out.. I do work with investigation-y computer security things. :-p... *expressly doesn't find out*... but I'm tired. And I don't want to. And I'm not all that bothered. *grins*

*grins*... Klosé, Baermann, Reynolds, Lefevre, Muller, Uhl, Jeanjean, Jettel, Rose... there are enough of them...

I wouldn't have thought so. I'm not actually all that good.

*has quite a lot of pictures of all of his clarinets floating around, many uploaded, so if you want to see any of them, drop me a line and I'll show you. *

Weber is wonderful!!... His better work matches Mozart's, imho. There are lots of parallels between Weber and Mozarts lives and music... I wrote an articley thingy on Weber (Which is official. ) which says something about that, if you're interested...

Groovy. The orchestra which I'm playing with at some point in the next few weeks (as opposed to the one I just finished a season with, which another researcher plays in as well) is playing some nice music this year. (Like Borodin's Polovtsian dances). *sniggers*... I love the clarinet solo from the polovtsian dances, having played it before... the conductor was suitably impressed when, on first-time-running-through, I played it /too fast/ and the orchestra had to catch up. *grins*... (it's quite hard, if you've never seen any Borodin clarinet parts)

I do. Sniggering is fun. *grins*

I cleaned out my mouthpiece today.. it's been accumulating rubbish inside it, and now it plays beautifully. I also organised my case and put my spare mouthpiece, ligature, barrel, and some reeds in my second clarinet case (with my spare R13 Bb) so that I can play that without running around for reeds, etc, every time I play on it.

With regard to what you said a few posts ago... the bell, barrel, etc, of Bbs and As are virtually the same. They tend to ship longer barrels with As than Bbs, but I use exactly the same barrel, because I find the Bb one to be consistantly sharp. Also, it's better using the same mouthpiece, reed, etc, because then the idea of a matching pair of clarinets doesn't go awry, and in pieces where incessant changing is required (like Borodin), the sound tends to be similar, if not exactly identical. (Hence you can laugh at clarinettists who've forked out another £200 for a spare mouthpiece and ligature, even if the only reason you did it was because of a lack of cash). I have it on high authority that this is the case, which is good, because it's what I do... just take two clarinets, one barrel, one mouthpiece on stage (with a stash of spare reeds in my jacket pocket).

- Njan.

We got Copland instead of Stavinsky... He's not that bad, I guess.... Very Americana. "Rodeo", if you wanted to know. I've done a lot of Copland over the years; probably more of him than any other composer. 'Cept Mozart and Bach, but they shouldn't count, because those weren't orchestral pieces. Have you ever seen the movie "Amadeus"? It's pretty bad ...

You sound good. (Er, read good.) And you have to be better than just decent to be second+ in orchestra. And you have to at least *think* you're good to have all that clarinet junk ... And I get the feeling you are good. I've never heard you (again), but believe in yourself! (Back to the WLC-ish thing )

I still have my old clarinet, and it keeps the (atrocious) Buffet mouthpiece and a spare reed, with some cork grease; no water for the reed, though! That stays in my pocket, all day long… Just awful when it dribbles...Or when it pops open and sprays me during the middle of winter as I try to leave the car with too much stuff in my arms...

I don't even know why I still have it, really... It isn't at all special and I don't use it for anything… Hmm… How much d'you think I could sell a wooden unknown-brand Normandy for?

Heh heh--now for another question re: the A vs Bb...:
Why bother to have an A and a Bb in the same piece then?--if they are supposed to sound the same, wouldn't it be easier just to write it for Bb? Or transcribe it, even? *shows her ignorance about different keyed clarinets*

Are you looking forward to Christmas? (Don't tell me you're Jewish... Or worse, Muslim ... Talk about embarrassing... "Oh yes, how was Ramadan?" "Very repentant." *rolls eyes*)

I got to choose between the Weber Concertino and Mozart Concerto... Mozart! Don't mean to imply that Weber isn't nice though... I was talking to my flute friend and she's like "van… wabe… erm… some guy "... Of course, I can name all *her* famous flautists and *her* composers and *her* studies… Oh well...

mmm... nothing like half-eaten mince pie for breakfast... *fishes it out from under the monitor, left there at about 2 this morning*

*nods*... I played that Copland a year or few ago.. didn't like it at all. ...but that's just me.

Blah. Nah. I'm not all that good. Got Winamp? I'll stream some clarinet playing at you with my nice shoutcast internet radio server and prove my point. :-p

23315: vito, normandy, selmer, buffet 11 starting as low as $200 + shipping brownsville, TX, USA;

200, at least... I think I've seen one advertised for 275.

I sold my B12 for £100, which is considerably less than it was worth, but then I was sending it to a friend.

Well... dependant upon what piece you're playing, a part that's transposed for an A clarinet is FAR easier to play. The A clarinet goes down one note further... the A clarinet does, in spite of protestations of similarity between it and the Bb, have a darker warmer tone. Certainly when I play it, it does... ...to be honest, I can't quite put my finger on it. ... assorted of the above

Hmm... not overly. I've bought myself my christmas present already, so I don't have anything to look forward to. ... (A pair of AKG K-66 headphones)

I was made to choose between the Mozart, the two Weber concertos, and the concertino, so I learnt all of them. ... *grins*
- Njan.

Hi, Njan.... I have an excuse; will you accept it? You disappeared into my conversation list.... Sorry...


*sticks tongue out back at Njan* Yes, you're good. Believe it. Have faith in yourself!

Deeper warmer tone indeed... I can tell the difference. Sometimes. Heh heh. Like alto vs tenor sax... Yes, I know, you have no interest in saxophones. Do you play anything but clarinet? Like... oboe? I love oboe... *happy sigh*

You are going to get nothing for Christmas?! Aren't you even going to get together with friends and talk all night? Grr. You should! It's fun, and it's Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year!

It snowed yesterday--so pretty! But it's cold too, and I don't like the cold....



You know what else? I'm hungry. Even your now-week-old mince pie sounds good... Mmmm... Maybe I should go eat something.... Or maybe I should go practice... I'm terrible at practicing... That's why I'm only a decent player, not a good one.

Hey, no problem. Don't feel obliged to answer me. I'm not important. *grins*

I am not. not not not. mner. :p

Please excuse my curt replies. I'm not in a particularly festive mood, and am finding myself in the middle of family christmas celebrations. *hides in a corner*. Is all rather depressing.

Nothing.. I already bought myself a pair of expensive headphones.

Nope. Don't have any near me.:-
On the bright side, new year'll be fun.

*smiles*... go eat Christmas lunch. :-p

Oboes aren't really on my nicelist at the moment. They're gorgeous, and there are lots of oboe-clarinet duets in many pieces I play, but I have a small personal bugbear against oboes (nothing to do with oboes, just someone that played oboe), so I'm more inclined towards the Cor Anglais, which is much cooler.

Have a wonderful christmas!



- Njan.

btw, do you mind if I link you from my user page? :p

*thinks* Maybe he has an inferiority complex...


You *are* important! I got back to you--there's proof!


(a very big inferiority complex)


Well, have the best new year you can. I wish you it to you; you deserve it. This is just the end of the old one.... A whole new time awaits!


Have as much fun with your family as you can... they still love you, and you'll be without them soon enough. And then go stun everyone with brilliant renditions of the Weber Concertino.


Okay, how about stopping by Lisa's page and wishing her a happy christmas?




Eh, oboe is fun... Oboe and clarinet. And cello. But I have absolutely no chance of learning to play cello. And I don't know anyone who does either, so I'm sorta in the dark for that one...


No, I don't mind at all! Well, unless you're going to say something like "then there's Shee, this really annoying gal who keeps bothering me a lot, then forgetting about me, then coming back again"....



Shee

not necessarily logical... for example.. I haven't returned a call made to me a week ago which is insanely important which I really should return. *makes a note to go off and do it*

blah. :-p

You too!

Yeah, well.. we can only hope. :-p

*nods*...one would hope, also, for that... and I had already. :-p

mmm... I could. But I'll probably end up ringing her. Yeah, well, I suppose I can do that as well. And I was on the phone through til 2 this morning to her. Blah. Still. Nowt's stopping me doing both.

*likes violas*

hmm...well...what do you want me to put? I got most of the people there to write their own descriptions. Apart from Feather and Krans and Doikk.



- Njan.

Okay, okay, I've been totally deficit... I was in Arizona for a week, and now I'm back on Thursday and haven't gotten back to you... It's been much too long for my peace of mind; very *very* sorry, Njan!

I hate talking on the telephone... And I'm terrible at it. No eye contact; not even any smileys! (That's probably why I pepper my posts so liberally with them here... ) If I can get around it, I never call anyone on the phone... And so, when people call me, I get in trouble because I never return their messages...

So I'm worthless, am I?--can't even remind you to talk to Lisa...


(Have you ever noticed how evil the "winkeye" smiley looks in the textbox font they give us for typing messages? Eerie...)

Do you still want me listed? I've been quite awful lately in the conversation...

(And I have no idea what to say...)

s'ok! I've been off at Lisa's over the new year, and - as a consequence - not really posting very much. Don't feel you even have an obligation to reply! ... *grins*... you don't have to. Certainly don't get all guilty!

aww! ... I don't like phones. They're all impersonal.

Yeah! I've always thought that, regardless of where it is! ... it's cool!

Yes, absolutely, you're really funky!

Say anything, honey. Just...talk. Unless you don't want to, in which case, don't.

Well, have you seen my space? It's hard to talk about myself... When I try, I seem to miss the most important bits, or things along that nature, so I sorta stopped trying... But that isn't really fair to people, so I kept my old space... Even link to it, though the link isn't obvious! Self-description... I'll go spend a bit of time staring at what other people have apparently written that is already on your space, I guess...

I feel bad when I forget to reply, because I like talking to you!

I never noticed the *actual* "winkeye" as being that scary before... Grr--you shouldn't have told me! Now everytime it is used in a conversation, I'm going to start at it!

"funky" is a term I don't think anyone has ever applied to me before... Hrm... I look anything but, and most of my views are conservative (baring gay rights/abortion/polygamy/etc...) Well, maybe they aren't conservative. But I certainly never thought funky!


Shee