Klarinet Archive - Posting 000269.txt from 1997/05

From: "Lorne G. Buick" <lgbuick@-----.net>
Subj: Re: Tuning and reeds
Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 11:32:58 -0400

I use this too, and I use concert B flat. I've heard others say it should
be B natural, but not as high as C. I've had students produce anywhere from
G to D the first time they try this... 8-}

> Here's a test I learned a while back:
> Try playing just your mouthpiece and reed (no barrel or
> clarinet). Play with normal embouchure and support. Ideally, the pitch
> produced should be a C (concert). If what you hear from just this part
> of the instrument is sharp, then the problem is probably in the reed /
> mpiece / lig setup. This doesn't mean that any one of these, or the
> combination of them, is necessarily BAD, just perhaps wrong for the way
> you are playing this week / month / year. Incidentally, I'm not positive
> that the note is supposed to be a CONCERT C. It could be a WRITTEN C (on
> the B-flat instrument--that's the instrument I was playing on when I was
> shown this technique years ago), but you'll be able to tell which is
> correct. If you are a little sharp or flat of where you should be, it
> won't be by anything approaching a whole step.
>
> Best of luck,
>
> Nathaniel Johnson
> Conductor / Clarinettist
> All-Around Good Guy
> University of Northern Colorado
> clarinat@-----.com

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LGB Lorne G Buick St. John's
lgbuick@-----.net Newfoundland
Canada