Klarinet Archive - Posting 000246.txt from 1996/03

From: Donald Yungkurth <DYungkurth@-----.COM>
Subj: Single/Double Lip Switching
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 16:18:31 -0500

A number of people have commented (following the single/double lip discussion
for bass clarinet) about the difficulty or undesirability of switching back
and forth between single and double lip embouchures. I do this routinely and
feel I play with the same sound either way, but that I have more subtle
control with double lip.

I probably wouldn't suggest that everyone try this. I started on double lip,
without any instruction from my teacher as to the "correct" embouchure. I
simply didn't like the sound I made with single lip.

Forty-seven years later, I again took lessons. One of the first questions my
teacher asked was why I used double lip. I explained about the difference in
sound, and he had me play a passage both ways. He told me I had the same
sound with both embouchures. He put a rubber patch on the mouthpiece for my
upper teeth and, with the internal bone conduction eliminated, single and
double sounded the same to me as well!

He suggested I try single for a few weeks and decide which I preferred. He
had used double for years until he started playing a lot of Eb. He needed to
used single on Eb and didn't want to switch for A/Bb, so he stuck with single
from then on.

I found that single was easier for me, and now use it most of the time.
Changing from double to single required absolutely no relearning or effort.
I find that I switch to double occasionally and the switch is not a problem.
I suppose all those years playing double had toughened my embouchure -
That's a lot different than trying to make the change to double from single.

One other interesting side issue - When I played double, I always played
slightly off center - It just was not comfortable to play with the mouthpiece
centered. With single, I could play centered. After playing single for a
while, I found I could play comfortably using double lip, whether centered or
not. One benefit of this is, during a long playing session, if my lip starts
to bother me, I have three other embouchures to switch to! Single or double,
centered or uncentered gives me a total of four different choices. They are
just enough different from one another that changing actually gives my tired
lip a rest!

As mentioned above, while this works for me, I certainly wouldn't suggest it
as a way of life for others!

Don Yungkurth (DYungkurth@-----.com)

   
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