Common doubling combinations from the Broadway doubling list

ByBret Pimentel

The most popular thing on my website is the Woodwind doubling in Broadway musicals page, which brings in visitors from around the world. I’ve even been lucky enough to hear occasionally from major woodwind doublers who are working on Broadway.

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the most common combinations of instruments called for. I’m including a table at the end of this post that shows every combination that occurs 10 or more times on the current version of the list. The first column numbers the rows for convenience in referring to specific data; the second column indicates how many times that particular combination occur.

Six of the top seven “combinations” are actually “straight” books, calling for only a single instrument (or multiple instruments within the same family, such as flute plus piccolo). The fifth most common “combination” on my list is a question mark, which indicates that I know (or have reason to believe) that a reed book exists, but don’t have specific information on the instruments required.

The most common “straight” book is clarinet only (I use “clarinet” on the list to mean B-flat or unspecified clarinet, and “clarinet in A” when I know that is what is used). If you include lines 13 and 14, which call for clarinet plus bass clarinet, or B-flat clarinet and A clarinet, the total count of clarinet-only books is 399. This would seem to imply that if you play only a single instrument and want to work in musical theater, then clarinet may be the best option. However, this fails to take into account a number of other things—for one example, it seems to me that “straight” books have become less common as pit orchestras have shrunk, so clarinet-only players may be less employable in theater now than they once were.

Bassoon alone comes in second, followed by flute only and oboe only, though if flute-plus-piccolo and oboe-plus-English-horn books are included in the counts, they each outnumber the straight bassoon books. Straight saxophone books are relatively rare, with 19 alto-only books and 16 tenor-only. No combination of multiple saxophones occurs more than 10 times, unless it also includes other woodwinds.

The most common true doubling book is piccolo, flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone, with 80 occurences. Another 184 doubling books are subsets of this group of instruments. Adding tenor saxophone to the group adds 110 more books.

Doubling combinations with oboe/English horn most often use clarinet and/or tenor saxophone, totaling 69 books.

The most common low reeds book is clarinet, bass clarinet, and baritone saxophone (27 books); adding bassoon and/or flutes adds more possibilities for the low reeds player.

Among the “rarer” instruments, alto flute is the only one that appears on this list, though it appears with relative frequency in the full list. Its infrequency here is because it is used in such widely varying combinations of instruments. Its appearance here (line 50) is as part of a straight book with flute and piccolo.

Of the 1983 books included here, 616 are doubling books. Of these, fully 584 call for clarinet. 355 call for flute, 266 call for alto saxophone, 182 call for tenor saxophone, 162 call for piccolo, 128 call for bass clarinet, 74 call for baritone saxophone, 69 call for oboe, 59 call for English horn, 33 call for soprano saxophone, and 25 call for bassoon.

# instruments
1. 327 Clarinet
2. 208 Bassoon
3. 202 Flute
4. 181 Oboe
5. 116 ?
6. 104 Piccolo, flute
7. 85 Oboe, English horn
8. 80 Piccolo, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone
9. 65 Flute, clarinet, alto saxophone
10. 55 Clarinet, tenor saxophone
11. 47 Clarinet, alto saxophone
12. 39 Flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone
13. 37 Clarinet, bass clarinet
14. 35 Clarinet, clarinet in A
15. 32 Oboe, English horn, clarinet, tenor saxophone
16. 32 Piccolo, flute, clarinet
17. 27 Clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone
18. 27 Flute, clarinet
19. 21 Piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
20. 20 Clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
21. 19 Alto saxophone
22. 17 Oboe, English horn, clarinet
23. 17 Clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone
24. 17 Flute, piccolo
25. 16 Tenor saxophone
26. 16 Piccolo, flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone
27. 14 Clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, baritone saxophone
28. 14 Flute, clarinet, bass clarinet
29. 14 Flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
30. 13 Piccolo, flute, alto saxophone
31. 12 Flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
32. 11 Clarinet, baritone saxophone
33. 11 Clarinet, bassoon, baritone saxophone
34. 11 Flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone
35. 11 Flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, baritone saxophone
36. 10 Oboe [optional], English horn [optional], clarinet, tenor saxophone
37. 10 Oboe, clarinet, tenor saxophone
38. 10 Piccolo, flute, alto flute

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    The “stale air” phenomenon afflicts oboists (sometimes clarinetists and others). It can be hard to relate to if you haven’t experienced it.

    Here’s how it happens. (The “math” and “science” here are very simplified for clarity.)

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    A few moments later, the oboist’s body has replaced the oxygen with carbon dioxide. But the player’s lungs are still, say, 50% full. The oboist’s brain needs oxygen and starts urgently demanding a breath.

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    A well-meaning educator sees the oboist struggling with breathing. He or she unhelpfully pencils in a few more breath marks. This is going to make the problem worse as the oboist takes even more unneeded breaths.

    The solution to this is to figure out an outlet for the stale air. (Taking smaller breaths isn’t a great solution because it encourages weaker breath support.) In some cases it may be necessary to use a “breath” to actually exhale stale air. Then, after playing a little more, get a satisfying breath into emptier lungs. In other cases, it might be a better solution to do a quick out-in breath.

    Stale air isn’t something that people encounter day-to-day. So it’s not well understood, sometimes even by oboists and other wind players who deal with it. Being aware of the problem makes it relatively simple to solve.

  • Woodwind technique and conservation of energy

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    Selinger, Jessica C., Shawn M. O’Connor, Jeremy D. Wong, and J. Maxwell Donelan. “Humans can continuously optimize energetic cost during walking.” Current Biology 25, no. 18 (2015): 2452-2456.

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    • More resistant notes failing to respond because there’s just enough breath support for the less-resistant ones

    • Embouchures losing their shape, reverting to a neutral/normal mouth position

    • Voicing, such as the high, cold-air voicing needed for clarinet playing, or the low, warm-air one for flutes and double reeds, lapsing into a medium, luke-warm state that negatively affects tone, pitch, and response

    • Pitch sagging at ends of notes as breath support peters out

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    Additionally, this intentional use of greater energy resources must be managed carefully to avoid its misapplication, which can result in excessive tension.

    I find that when I am playing at my best balance of efficiency and effort, an hour of playing a woodwind instrument leaves me feeling like I have done some light exercise; I’ll feel the mild and pleasant fatigue of having taken a walk or reorganized a bookshelf. Serious tiredness or soreness are warnings that I’m overusing my body. (Your results may vary depending on your physical capabilities.)

    Be in tune with your own body as you play, and teach your students to be in tune with theirs, so that you’re in the sweet spot of working hard enough but not harder.

  • Taking your doubles to the next level

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    I think that as a doubler it’s easy to consider your ability level “good enough” on a secondary instrument. Check your doubles below, and ask yourself what you can do to raise the level of your playing. I’ve given just a few examples of “next level” techniques on each instrument.

    • Flute
      • Can I play up to the highest notes (4th octave C, C-sharp, and D, for example) with delicacy?
      • Can I play the lowest notes with power and confidence?
      • Can I double and triple tongue fluently and without having to think about it?
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      • Has my tone progressed past the “duck” phase? Is it rich, dark, and flexible? Even in the high register?
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  • Woodwind doubling on both oboe and bassoon

    ByBret Pimentel

    Mid- to late-20th-century music written for woodwind doublers, such as musical theater “books,” largely solidified around three main types of doubling specialists. The most common of these is the clarinet/saxophone/flute player. Less common but still widely used are the oboist with passable single reed skills, and the “low reeds” bassoon/bass clarinet/baritone saxophone player.

    In the 21st century, “doubler” woodwind sections have shown a tendency to shrink in number of players while growing in number of instruments. That means that some new combinations of instrument are becoming common that weren’t before: for example, it would have been very unusual in the late 20th century to write both flute and oboe into the same book, but this is becoming much more commonplace.

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    Woodwind doublers already understand the benefits of being able to get the doubling gig, but also to get a broader array of single-instrument gigs. If you have the motivation to pursue both oboe and bassoon, I think you will find—as I have—more opportunities to make music.

  • Shaping a phrase

    ByBret Pimentel

    When a woodwind player plays a phrase like this:

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    To play create this shape, you blow air that makes the shape. You can imagine playing a single note, like this:

    …and then let your fingers and tongue play the notes over the shape.

    But sometimes less-experienced players blow like this:

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    To practice this, first decide what shape your phrase should have, and mark it into your music. Then, without your instrument, blow air that makes the shape of the phrase. Then pick up your instrument and do the fingerings, blowing the air shape outside the instrument. If some notes should be tongued, add that next. Once you are comfortable with all those steps, combine them to play a smooth, connected, well-shaped phrase.

  • Clarinet and saxophone embouchures and the “chin”

    ByBret Pimentel

    The chin is much-discussed in clarinet pedagogy. Keith Stein suggests a “stretching” of the chin, making it feel “long and pointed” and “rather hard.” David Pino, a student of Stein’s, echoes this. Jane Ellsworth describes a chin that is “drawn downward” (while the jaw provides a “controlled” “upward pressure.” Michele Gingras advocates a “flat” chin. Bil Jackson indicates that the chin “flattens naturally” when the lip configuration and voicing are correct. Tom Ridenour explains that the chin should be “down and flat” and that this happens “virtually automatically” as a result of proper voicing.

    The chin gets somewhat less attention in saxophone teaching, but some pedagogical examples can be found. Larry Teal indicates that the “chin muscles” should support the lower lip (as the jaw drops downward), and Timothy McAllister agrees. Tracy Heavner recommends that the chin muscles be “held flat against the chin” with a sensation of those muscles “pushing … down and away from the body.” Brian Utley advocates a “firm but relaxed [chin] position.”

    Most of these sources seem to generally agree that the “chin” (or something) must be flattened or stretched or firmed in some way. Let’s look more closely at exactly what is being described, and how it does or doesn’t differ from the clarinet to the saxophone.

    “Chin” is probably not a specific enough term for our purposes. Is it a bony structure? a muscular one? The pedagogical literature is rather unclear and contradictory about exactly how the “chin” moves, and even whether it is actively engaged or whether its movement is a result of some other thing moving.

    Additionally, there is a common misconception in single-reed teaching that the lower lip forms a “cushion,” without which the teeth would contact the reed. This creates an embouchure that is formed by pressure from the jaw, with the lips serving passively as a gasket, and the lower lip taking quite a bit of abuse from the lower teeth.

    A better way to form the embouchure is to bring the jaw (and teeth, and chin) down, away from the reed, and allow the muscles of the lips to form the embouchure. This moves the effort from the larger, stronger jaw muscles to the smaller but more supple muscles of the lips (of the citations above, Teal’s describes this the most clearly). For early beginners (or those who have played for many years with unnecessary jaw pressure and the resulting shredded lower lip) it may be necessary to gradually develop a little endurance in those muscles.

    Taking this approach, it becomes clear that the pointing/stretching/whatever, which is actually mostly jaw movement, must be more extreme for the clarinet than for the saxophone, to accommodate the clarinet’s steeper angle.

    Left: clarinet jaw position (more open). Right: saxophone jaw position (less open).
    Left: clarinet jaw position (more open). Right: saxophone jaw position (less open). Note that the lower teeth clear the reed; the lip will rise to meet the reed and form a muscle-based (rather than jaw/teeth-based) embouchure.

    However, the chin area does have muscles, too, and these play an additional role. The lower lip has an acoustical damping effect on the reed, which plays a role in response, tone quality, and volume. Pulling the muscles around the chin downward around its bony structure (this is independent of jaw movement!) firms the lip slightly, reducing the damping. Allowing the muscles to relax softens the lip, increasing the damping. To take an oversimplified view of one aspect of this, we could say generally that the smaller clarinet requires a slightly firmer lip (and thus less damping) to accommodate its higher frequencies (pitches), while the larger saxophone needs less firmness (more damping) to accommodate its lower ones. Note that firmness of the lower lip should not be confused with overall embouchure “tightness.”

    Understanding better the anatomical and acoustical aspects of the “chin” (and, of course, the skeletal and muscular systems that combine there) lead to clearer, more accurate teaching and better single reed playing.

2 Comments

  1. Pingback: Nutty Broadway Doubling « pakikipagsapalaran ni patti (adventures, patti style)

  2. Any chance you could (or recently did) update this table? I’d be curious to see how much the last 15(!) years of both database updates and new productions/orchestrations has changed what combos are most common

    Reply

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