CALLY LAUGHLIN
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Happy New Year!

1/1/2021

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I decided to make a practice calendar for the month of January (see below). To go along with it, I will be releasing a new playlist each week to help you out in your practicing each day. These are designed to use each exercise every day. The playlists will include some old content and some new content, and will include these important categories:

Practice Categories:
  • Long tones / tone work
  • Scales
  • Articulation
  • Technical exercises
  • Etudes
  • Repertoire

Playlists:
  • January 1-9: Getting back into shape
  • January 10-16: Nimble Fingers
  • January 17-23: Throat tones & break
  • January 24-31: Articulation Focus

Feel free to modify your routine to best serve you. Don't forget to download the calendar below!

In addition, I will be hosting a couple of events. January 23rd at 10:00am will be my second online masterclass open to students and patrons, and January 30th at 10:00am will be my third online "coffee chat" - basically a Q & A over zoom with patrons. If you are not already a patron, you can support my channel here: patreon.com/callyclarinet. You can join the coffee chat or the masterclass later this month by signing up for the corresponding tiers. 

I wish you all the best in 2021. Happy practicing!

​If you appreciate the work I put into creating videos, PDFs, and this website, please consider becoming a Patron for as little as $3 to support my channel's future. Thank you!

-Cally

january_2021_practice_calendar.pdf
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Thank You.

12/26/2020

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Thank you all for your support in 2020. Cally's Clarinet Channel has been a major highlight in my life, as my video explained. My hope is that you, my viewers, have had a better year because of the content I have shared with you.

As a thank you, I have created a PDF of all of the exercises from "Clarinets, Cats, & Coffee." My hope is that it will help you find what you need without having to sift through a million videos to find the exercises you want to practice. I have included the playlist below and a the PDF to download.

If you like what I do, please consider becoming a patron of my channel - perks include coffee chats, masterclasses, discounts on lessons, and more. 

Thank you all again - your support means so much.

​-Cally

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callys_channel_exercises_2020__part_1_of_3_.pdf
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callys_channel_exercises_2020__part_2_of_3_.pdf
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callys_channel_exercises_2020__part_3_of_3_.pdf
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Buying a New Clarinet

1/26/2016

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It can be tough to choose a clarinet for yourself, your beginning child, or your advancing high school clarinetist. Here are some tips that I have acquired in my experience as a clarinetist and educator. 

Where to start:
Start beginners with an intermediate clarinet, if your budget will allow, and then switch to a professional model in high school. If you must purchase a plastic beginner clarinet, choose one of the models below for reliability and durability, then switch to a professional model in high school.


Beginner models:
Choose instruments made in the USA or France.  These instruments are made from durable, quality material that sounds great and can withstand beginner wear and tear. Cheap instruments will break easily, and are inconsistently made, making replacement parts difficult to impossible for repair technicians to find. Many repair techs will refuse to repair cheaply made instruments. The instruments below are reliable student model clarinets:
  • Vito
  • Selmer USA
  • Yamaha (student models)
  • Buffet (student models)

Intermediate models:
(note:  I would recommend purchasing a professional model over an intermediate model if you can afford it.)
  • Buffet E-11
  • Buffet E-13 
  • Buffet E-12F
  • Yamaha YCL-650 (marketed as a pro model, but in intermediate price range)

Professional models:
  • Yamaha: Custom CSVR (most affordable entry level pro model clarinet)
  • Buffet: R13 (most affordable of this line, and best seller!), RC, Tosca, etc.  All models are great!
  • Selmer Paris: Signature, Recital, Privilege, Odyssey, etc.  All models are great - find the one that works best for you!
  • Leblanc: No longer being manufactured, but used models can be found: Opus, Concerto, Legacy, Symphonie

Clarinet - Intermediate and Professional Model Buying Guide
First, if you have a private instructor, please ask them to help you pick out a new clarinet.  Second, always try as many instruments side-by-side as you can.  Since quality clarinets are made of wood (a natural material), every instrument is going to feel/sound slightly different.  

You will need:  New reeds, a tuner, paper, contrasting pieces of music (fast, slow, legato, fast articulation, etc).
  1. INTONATION TEST:  Goal is within +/- 10 cents.  Pick one clarinet, and play the chromatic scale from the lowest note to the highest note, slowly with full air support, while watching the tuner.  Have a friend or teacher watch the tuner, too, and take note of any intonation issues. 
    • NOTE: Make sure pro model clarinet is warmed up first. Also, Students coming from a beginner model clarinet will find a pro model clarinet to feel very different, especially in intonation. Be sure to play with high tongue position and full air support through the entire intonation test, and take breaks when you need to. I strongly advise students to involve their private teacher in picking out a professional model clarinet for the first time.
  2. EVENNESS TEST:  While you are playing the chromatic scale, also pay attention to which notes are too "free blowing," "stick out," sound "covered," or "fuzzy" on the instrument.  Write this down to keep track and compare after trying out all clarinets. Any instrument with too many oddities in evenness would not be a wise purchase.
  3. Repeat steps 1-2 for all instruments. If any instrument has unusual intonation or is overly uneven sounding (some notes will be more free blowing than others), do not go on to step 4.
  4. FEEL TEST:  Compare the instruments with the best intonation/evenness, play your favorite pieces of music, and compare the feel of each instrument.  At this point, you finally have to choose the instrument that best suits your personal style, sound, and that has the feel you want.
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Lake Effect's 2015 Adventures

1/9/2016

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One of my favorite things about this group how inspiring and awesome my fellow members are. Erin is a master arranger and an incredibly sensitive 2nd clarinet player, Joe literally can sing through his bass, and I don't even understand how Nora makes the E-flat clarinet sound so freaking good. Seriously. These guys inspire me every time I hear them play. Anyway, we had an eventful 2015. In this post, I will share some highlights from the year.

In March, we played a public concert in Lincoln Park at the DePaul Art Museum. It was a Schubertiade, and being the permanent 3rd clarinetist of the group, I was the lucky winner of having to play the viola part. Folks, let me tell you... playing the viola part in a string quartet is actually really hard. Throat tones galore! I really had to up my game in projecting my sound in the low to mid register. Who would have thought that air support, embouchure control, and playing with high tongue position would help that cause?

Part way through the year, we signed on with Vandoren as Generation Vandoren artists. If you aren't sure what it is, that's okay; we weren't sure either. It's kind of a new thing. Basically, we are an artist group that, in addition to performing regular concerts, connects with the younger generation of clarinet players through our presence in social media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and good old fashioned school clinics.  
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Pictured right:
Clinic at Lakeview High School in Chicago, IL.   


At our school clinics, we typically feature Erin Miesner's master arrangements and tips for students to self-rehearse their own chamber music. We even include interactive games on how to make musical decisions independently of a coach or director.
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Pictured left: Vandoren Booth at Midwest Clinic 2015, post-LECQ performance. DePaul University alumni and faculty!  

With an exciting 2015 behind us, Lake Effect Clarinet Quartet is looking forward to an even more clarinet filled 2016. For more information about Lake Effect Clarinet Quartet, visit our website at lakeeffectclarinetquartet.com and like us on Facebook!  

Next stop: Elmhurst Concert at Elmhurst Public Library, in February 2016!  
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