Klarinet Archive - Posting 000309.txt from 1996/10

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Embouchure position in clarinet playing
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 1996 01:52:33 -0400

Neil,

Your note gives lots of great advice. I guess we'll just have to agree to
disagree on the movement of the pressure point. Answers to some of the
questions you raised are inserted below.

At 4:06 PM 10/11/96, Neil Leupold wrote:
>On Fri, 11 Oct 1996, Jonathan Cohler wrote:
>
>But when talking about improving one's abilities as a
>clarinetist, I suspect more interest is directed toward clarinet-specific
>experience and terminology, offering understanding of *how* to play better,
>as opposed to why it works in narrow scientific terms.

All of the scientific explanations and physics were there to explain the
*how*. The *how* is one must adjust the pressure point on the reed up or
down slightly to get optimum response on different notes. This is
especially important in the top of the clarion and altissimo registers.
For example, for the A, Bb, B and C above the staff, the pressure point
tends to be slightly lower than normal. For the high D, it is somewhat
higher than normal.

Therefore to get a nice soft slur from high C to high D, without a big bump
in the sound, one must raise the pressure point while making the
transition. Raising the tongue simultaneously helps too.

The pressure point for the high F tends to be lower than normal, and so on.
The exact optimal positioning will depend on one's instrument and
mouthpiece to some degree. You know you're in the right position if you
can start the note from niente with no undertone.

Hopefully, this is down to earth practical advice. The physics was just
there to explain why this works.

>
>how experience of your own growth process and
>physical sensations informed you in the direction of arriving at your
>present level of playing excellence? Or did you really learn clarinet by
>consciously applying physical scientific principles to your daily
>practice regimen as a student?

I'd say a bit of both.

>> Now there are only two variables (assuming a fixed mouthpiece, reed and
>> ligature) that we can control to effect reed resonance. Those two
>> variables are amount of pressure and PLACEMENT of pressure. And they
>> accomplish different things (so you cannot substitute one for the other).
>
>I won't attempt to contest this statement, because I can neither prove
>nor disprove its validity. I simply don't know enough about the physics
>(or the relevance, for that matter) of "reed resonance" to digest what
>has been written above. I'll just assume it is correct and try to
>add something more to it. My own experience of achieving optimum reed
>response and clarinet tone -- and thus, flexibility in all areas of tone
>production -- involves determining on a per-reed basis the lowest
>possible contact point between the reed and my lower lip which will
>still allow me to produce a controllable tone.

That sounds reasonable to me.

>As I stated in a recent
>post, emphasis on the embouchure as some kind of device for *producing*
>tone is a mistake (John does not say this, but he also makes no mention
>of certain other highly germane elements of tone production). I believe,
>based on my own personal results, that formation and conditioning of the
>embouchure should be undertaken contingent upon allowing a focused air
>stream to initiate and manipulate the quality of tone. The embouchure
>muscles need to be conditioned and well-developed, without question,
>because their primary function is to facilitate, via the air stream, free
>vibration of the reed. Where many students perceive the embouchure
>muscles as things which press inward upon the reed and mouthpiece, I
>suggest that merely the lips and sides of the mouth should exert any
>pressure, and the surrounding facial muscles -- and jaw bone -- should be
>conditioned to relax, allowing the air stream to do the "work". Much
>like conditioning the diaphragm muscle to push downward and outward when
>playing -- which is in direct opposition to how it is designed to naturally
>*contract* -- one should endeavor to condition the facial muscles to
>relax rather than push purposefully inward against the mouthpiece and
>reed. Once the muscles have been toned and conditioned to relax,
>attention should focus on the delicate vibratory sensations detectable
>(very acutely) by the lips alone, in combination with manipulating the *air
>stream* when attempting to manipulate tone and response.

I would agree that most developing clarinet players have the problem of too
much pressure (versus too little), so I would also agree with the advice of
always trying to play with the minimum pressure necessary to produce a
focused sound. But clearly, some pressure is necessary to make the reed
vibrate.

--------------------
Jonathan Cohler
cohler@-----.net

   
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