Clarinets accessories / fan articles

Things a player may need, birthday presents

There are a lot of more or less useful or just funny accessories for clarinet players, starting from pads or pencils (with a clarinet image and a magnet, of course, to stick it to the note stand!) for little more than 50 cents up to custom made soft leather gigbags for hundreds of euros. Some are must-haves, others may be a good idea as gift for a clarinet player's birthday.

Maybe this gives you some ideas - or if you know anything else, I'd be grateful to hearing from you and will add it to the list. Since prices differ from country to country and over time, you better use a price search engine to find out what you have to pay today.

Accessory Comment
Rubber sticker for mouthpiece Most players use one because the surface of the mouthpiece is so smooth that teeth slip... The little rubber sticker sticks on the mouthpiece surface where your upper teeth sit and helps them stay there. It will also protect the mouthpiece from scratching sooner or later. But one day you will have bitten holes into the rubber and it must be replaced...
Reed cutter ... these are of different quality and precision, so try out the one you buy! Description unter working with reeds.
Reed holder If your reeds come in little plastic holders of fair quality (like Vandoren makes them), you can keep them in there, but it is only second best. Better and nicer are special boxes, see reeds.
Pencil with magnet and eraser ... to make notes in the notes, the pencil must be soft (since you can't press on a stand)! The magnet or a cord help to fix the pencil to the stand.
Gigbags ... for a single instrument or a set - simple version or luxury edition - this can become expensive, but it may be a worthwhile investment if you don't always use a car to get about. Do check that your own instrument(s) fit(s). If the bag carries your stand, too, that is great, because then you have everything together (else you'd need a stand bag, too).
Cork sheets Sheets in strengths of 0,5 mm, 1 mm, 2 mm for fixing your clarinet
Tie-pins There are decent tie-pins with clarinets on - makes a nice present
Leather wiper The wiper should be from suede leather - the sort that is used for cleaning windows (but without added chemicals added!). You can sew one yourself - cut out a lengthy triangle and sew a sufficiently long cord to the most pointed end. The cord should be a little longer than the longer joint, and that cord should have a in-spun-weight at the end (in-spun so it won't cause scratches). The leather (or better: the oil in the leather) will get used up after some time and the leather will one day become dry or brittle so you want to replace the wiper.
Magnets, clothes pegs ... in order to hold notes to steel stands when you play in open air. Wind might otherwise blow the sheets from the stand. Good magnets are better than clothes pegs, because when you have to turn over pages with an instrument in your hand, they are easier to handle.
Metronome There is a wide variety - today mostly electronic, sometimes with an additional blinking light to use during a rehearsal. Of course you can just use a smartphone app, but that is no good idea for rehearsals, because stands are narrow and often shaky, and expensive smartphones do tend to fall off :-(
Alphabetic binder to put notes in What you want are binders with alphabetical registers where you can slip the notes into. Nice if there was a kind of simple lock to close it and keep it closed, so that the notes can't fall out. These binders become valuable if you play in an orchestra where you have more than 20 pieces that could be rehearsed at the same time (without a register you will have chaos soon). Make sure the binder is not too heavy, if you are not going by car all the time.
Music stand Lightweight and simple is easy to transport, but big and rugged will last longer. If you sometimes stand up playing it should be that high that the upper end of the note sheet is not much lower than your shoulder (then you can see the conductor easily). The stand should be that solid that it does not fall over when wind blows into the sheets (the stand might then fall into instruments resting in instrument stands on the floor - there is always too little space on stages, and that will cause trouble...). I have got a Japanese type of extra light aluminium, nice to transport, but not for the outdoors (too light) and magnets don't stick to aluminum.
Music stand light Little LED lights to be clipped to the stand. They might save your day in the back of a concert hall if there isn't enough light on your notes to see. Do check a standard battery size (like AAA, the small ones) fits and the device accepts re-chargeable ones.
Screw driver Hardware stores do stock the ones for delicate jobs.
Sealing wax, white ... to fix a pad, you will find it in artist/painter's shops or in music shops
Silver polishing cloth simple version, no aggressive chemicals, soap powder does it, ...
Instrument stand The smallest version for an E flat, A and B flat clarinet can be folded and will then fit into the bell in your case, but these stands are stable enough to hold the instrument. Versions for bass clarinet are made from steel, are big and heavy, but still very useful. The bassoon versions can be used as well, and is often significantly cheaper.
Tuning device You want an easily readable, not to sensitive display, optimally you can place it on your music stand while you use it. If you have a bass clarinet or other deeper instruments, you better check, whether the tuner will still work with the low frequencies. The tuner should use standard accumulators. Today a smart phone with an app will do the same, good apps may cost some 5 EUR but then are easier to read and to set to the base frequencies (440 / 443).
Cork grease You will find the lip-stick version the most practical, but the classical can to be much cheaper (La Tromba is excellent, a little pot can be used for years).
Super glue (just in case) Usually you don't want to use that for your precious instrument. In case of a pad or a cork has fallen out you can fix it in a concert break within seconds. Cyanacrylat can later be removed without doing to much harm. However make sure you read the instructions first!
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