High Notes on Bass Cl., Possible instrument problem?

I can play perfectly up to around D(middle of the staff), but at E and especially F and beyond the notes just don't come out, or are very soft. It's not like they don't come out and there's a buzz either, it feels like the note's just being restricted somehow. And then, sometimes I'll practice at home, and for a few minutes my range becomes what it usually is. I can play up to C above the staff perfectly, just with a little trouble if I need to come in on the C itself. Then I might put it down for a few minutes and get stuck at F again =/.

I've been playing for 3 1/2 years, and my range definately did not used to be this small. Could it be a problem with the instrument, or something I'm not doing right most of the time?

Thanks in advance ^_^

I'm thinking it could be the instrument. On mine, I can usually play anything, but I try to avoid playing high notes. I just bring everything down an octave, but then, I never really have music too high. I don't really hear many bass clarinetists who can reach higher notes... It might be the instrument. I would recommend having someone else try playing it. That way, you can tell if it's you or the instrument.

Are you sure your reed is on properly?
I know that might sound stupid, but perhaps it's a little too low on the mouthpiece?

Ok, I spent some time working on this with my teacher. We pretty much experimented with everything to see what would work. So far, it seems putting the reed a bit higher than I'm used to, taking in some more mouthpiece, and putting my bottom lip over my teeth (I can't believe I didn't know you're supposed to do that D=) have helped a bit. Now, playing long tones, I can get up to an A. At B I get fuzz, but I'm not worried about that, because it feels natural. F-A it feels like the reed can't vibrate or something, there's just some kind of resistance.

My school's full of win, so they sent me to a store to pick a mouthpiece for us to buy. I tried four, and though none of them really solved the problem, I took the one that improved my sound in the lower register and made the higher one more easy. So now, with effort, I can get what I feel "should" be my range, if I'm just playing the notes themselves. The problem is, I need to play pretty fast up there for a piece we're doing (Suite Francaise). I'm pretty sure it's not the instrument now, as both my teacher and the people at the store told me it's not. So I guess all I can do now is practice doing whatever gets those notes out, try to make it happen every time, and then make them come out faster, right?

for working on getting the notes out more easily, you can start sluring a scale up, then move on to tonguing up, then to just starting on the notes. if you're past the just hitting the notes stage and working on facility up there, maybe find some higher exercises and etudes to practice playing higher in real music.

kay, i think you're crazy for avoiding high stuff! it's so fun!

Yay, good news for all of you who care =D. The new mouthpiece is great, and I tried a couple more reed sizes, people tell me 3's a bit hard, but it works best. Today, I was the only one home, so I could practice as much as I wanted without my family having to deal with all the squeaks.
For the first 20-30 mins, it felt the same as usual. Then, at one point, what feels like my "real" range came back. I played chromatically up to D above the staff, a whole octave higher than I was just hitting! This is quite a bit higher than I need to play for any of my music. So obviously I took advantage of it working and practiced for about 2 hours after that. Now, I just pick it up and play through certain parts to make sure I can still do it. It looks like what I need to do is warm up a LOT (I don't know if it's me or the instrument that needs it) and at a certain point, the notes up there feel completely natural again. After reaching this point, I tried switching reeds, ligatures, and mouthpieces, and it still worked. I feel so accomplished right now, if I can keep this consistent I'll have increased my range nearly an octave in one afternoon ^_^

nice!

what size reeds were you using before? stiffer reeds tend to make higher notes easier but if youre not careful (i.e. switch only for that reason) you might sacrifice lower tone. but 3's are usually a good bet if you've been playing bass for a while

I'd already been using 3's, but I was experimenting with other sizes. In the end, though, 3's make higher notes easier, and my sound in the lower register clearer, so they're perfect for me. I might try a 3.5 soon, see how that works for me. I guess I'm just someone who needs a pretty hard reed to play well ^_^ .

What brand is your new mouthpiece and what facing does it have ?