Klarinet Archive - Posting 000147.txt from 1996/10

From: "Jeroen T. Salm" <jtsalm@-----.nl>
Subj: Re: CO2 influencing pitch
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 18:51:43 -0400

Hello,

When I had my lesson with Karl Leister about second movement of Schubert
Oktet, he told me, to take a breath (deep, 'cause the frase will be long),
hold the breath for about 4 seconds and only after those 4 long seconds
begin playing, otherwise the first note/tone will be too high (in pitch).
Indeed, always when I start a long frase with a long tone,this method is
the only way to get a good pitch (i.e. not to high). Just inhaling and play
for it causes a to high beginning (as we here so often).
I think this also has to do with CO2?
I have made a habit out of this. So Mozarts 2nd movement, a lot in Debussy's
Rhapsody etc. etc....

I've played a lot during carnival here in the South of the Netherlands. I
was - probably - too drunk to notice that I had a pitch at all!
Instead of drinking Heineken-beer, our orchestra plays in pure CO2 and we
think it sounds wonderful!
As an experiment: ask a Top Gun Fighter to play the clarinet in a F16 high
above the mountains and listen to the pitch-falls due to increaing CO2
percentage...
I didn't got lower pitch notes while belching, only high squeezes...

greetings from The Low Lands,
Jeroen T. Salm
(The Reform-Boehm Wulritzer clarinettist, but searching for a good set of
Buffet Elites clarinets)