Alfred Reed: Scherzo Fantastique - Akshat Ghuge, Contra-Alto Clarinet

Scherzo Fantastique by Alfred Reed, written for Contra-Alto Clarinet (Eb Contrabass Clarinet)
Akshat Ghuge, 10th Grade, Contra-Alto Clarinet
John Sabin, Piano
Performed at the 2022 North Texas Premiere Solo Contest on May 14th, 2022. Received Division 1+ Rating and Outstanding Soloist.
I mess up on some of the difficult runs in this video, so you may not want to use this as a reference video!
Thanks for watching!

[@cooperrandolph8258]

Michael Lowenstern on the piano fo today

[@CorkProgressions]

This was the best recording of scherzo fantastique I found so far. I am currently learning the peice myself

[@akshat-gh]

thanks!

[@baronvonbeagle9787]

why do I get grand admiral thrawn's theme vibes with that opening?

[@maddman102]

Going to play this in December for solo and ensemble. Currently tryna get a headstart on it, and this performance has helped greatly.

[@dandelionjpeg]

I played this for my state's S&E. got second division. it was super fun!

[@nickcoulter1960]

Solid performance my friend!

[@lamaspacos]

Amazing ❤❤❤sound.

[@j9rq560]

This was pretty pog to listen to 👍

[@akshat-gh]

thank you 👍👍

[@davidwood351]

I love my contra alto. I like to rattle the windows.

[@sriprabhavdulla419]

What ligature/reed combo are you using? I'm actually playing the same piece on the same exact instrument for UIL and was suffering from intonation and tuning problems especially in the lower notes and throat tones. Thank you

[@akshat-gh]

i’m playing on a school-owned selmer C* mouthpiece w/ a standard rovner leather ligature and strength 3 vandoren blue box bari sax reeds (i used to use contrabass reeds, switched to baris tho bc they’re less expensive and have a more powerful sound even though they’re more difficult to play)
for intonation, i’m not sure if there’s rlly much you can do as i usually also have intonation issues. best bet is to blow a bunch of warm air through the neck before playing if you’re super flat and pull out the neck all the way if you’re flat. from my experience throat tones and low notes on contra usually tend to be super finicky so just experiment with different fingerings and do long tones to find the sound/intonation that’s closest to what you want. hope this helps!

[@sriprabhavdulla419]

@@akshat-gh thank you so much

[@shritankhammamkar]

another tip is to try and make your upper register have the same tone quality as your lower register, i've never even listened to a contra-alto but i could tell when you were playing the upper register since it became more airy, once you fix that itll sound incredible (it already does)

[@akshat-gh]

yeah that’s the main thing i’m working on with contra right now, making the registers a lot more even in tone. thanks!

[@fsdhuy]

yoo that looks like a mini version of the selmer rosewood contrabass, is the horn you used also by selmer?

[@akshat-gh]

yup it’s a selmer! pretty sure it’s a model 40

[@easheraustinmusic]

Wow, really nice performance - I think it works nice on contralto than on my B flat Selmer contra!

[@akshat-gh]

Thanks a lot!

[@pukalo]

Did this particular instrument go down to low E, E-flat, or D? It was offered in those ranges.

[@akshat-gh]

Eb

[@zurireidp8861]

does this piece go to a low C? my contra only goes to low Eb and i really wanna play this piece.

[@akshat-gh]

nope, lowest note is E

[@zurireidp8861]

@@akshat-gh omg thank you!!

[@lottaart7848]

I could tell you made a mistake on the run at 0:35 , but pretty nice!

[@akshat-gh]

thanks!

[@shritankhammamkar]

bro is still posting UIL 💀

[@shritankhammamkar]

sounds good tho

[@akshat-gh]

i liked this performance man come on

[@shritankhammamkar]

@@akshat-gh it is a good piece

[@baronvonbeagle9787]

Piano needs to be quiet for you