Klarinet Archive - Posting 000710.txt from 1996/10

From: Steve Prescott <mipresc@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: glissandos with the bass clarinet?
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:06:46 -0500

Franck Laloe wrote:

>Since there are so many real experts on this list, I woudl like to ask
>questions about glissandos. What technique is recommended to play, for
>instance, the first solo in Rhapsody in Blue? Is is mostly fingers which
>progressively uncover the holes, or a throat motion, or both? Is the
>glissando limited to the clarinet register, or does it go accross the
>register change from the lowest up to the highest note? Auwiliary question:
>with the bass clarinet and the basset horn, I never succeeded in playing
>even an approximation of a long glissando. Is is something that can be done?
>Or do the pads which cover all holes make this impossible? In other words,
>some clarinets also have all holes covered by pads (they are not very
>common, but they exist). Do they allow glissandis too?
>If the question was discussed recently ont he list, I apologize: I came back
>to it two months ago after more than one year of absence.
>greetings Franck
>Franck Laloe, labo de physique de l'ENS, 24 rue Lhomond, F75005 Paris (France)
>tel 33 (1) 47 07 54 13, fax 45 35 00 76 -- laloe at physique.ens.fr

Not that I consider myself an expert:

Yes, I think this was discussed earlier. Anyway, the gist of the discourse
was a follows:
The gliss is performed using the throat (and/or tongue) , aided by
the fingers and to some extent the embouchure. Glissing over the throat
(register) is the difficult part. Many players start on the low G and scale
up past the throat (register) then gliss the rest of the way. In performing
the gliss from clarion C or D, fingers of both hands leave the clarinet at
the same time. In other words, the right hand d finger and the left hand g
finger (ring fingers) slide away from the tone hole at the same time, the
next finger in line on each hand starts moving away before the ring fingers
are completely off the toneholes. Once you get the feel of it you'll
understand. It's like riding a bike (when the road gets rough, you always
fall off...no wait, that's not how it goes...)

I've never tried to play a gliss on bass clarinet...that ought to be fun!

Hope this helps...If its a little confusing go through the archives (?) and
see what was discussed.

Steve

Steve Prescott
Instrument Rep.Tech./ Clarinetist
Indiana State University
mipresc@-----.edu

   
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