Klarinet Archive - Posting 000235.txt from 1996/03

From: David Mack Endres <endres@-----.COM>
Subj: embouchure [was Re: bass clarinet embouchure]
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 11:49:22 -0500

To Bill Fogel, Karl Krelove, and others who have made recent comments
on double lip embouchure, THANKS.

I am a re-born [played 2nd and Contra in H.S.], very amature adult
student who has been playing and studying again for about 1.5 yr. I am
still trying to (re-?) form my embouchure concept and this recent
discussion on double lip has, I think, helped me pull it together a
bit (literally).

My former teacher, Earl Thomas (Earl are you out there lurking on the
net yet?) talked about pulling the facial muscles around my nose and
above my upper lip down to help focus the sound and improve resonance
in the very lowest notes, but I didn't get the idea of how important
the upper half of my embouchure was. The recent discussion
(augmenting some earlier comments about the role of the upper lip by
Neil Leupold) has lead me to think more about what my upper lip is
doing during the past two or three practice sessions, and, voila! I
can:
a) feel my upper lip muscles strengthening, as the lower did
when I started to get chin position and lip "cushion" together
b) definitely get closer to the tone I'm looking for.

Now if I could just play those Baermann Db exercises at a reasonable
tempo!

Just a bit of feed back from a dedicated lurker to let y'all know that
I appreciate the discussions and advice , and that the repetition
sometimes helps. This is a great group and the digest provides a
welcome daily respite from the rigors of 3D geological models!

David Mack Endres-Engineering Specialist---ASC-Workstation Systems-/
EMail: dmendres@-----.com - When In Doubt, - Cell: (512)750-3648 /
FAX: (512) 331-3059 - Blame The Reed - Ph:(512)331-3269 /
Post: Schlumberger ASC, POBox 200015 Austin, TX 78720-0015 /
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