Klarinet Archive - Posting 000554.txt from 1997/06

From: SEAN TALBOT <talb4841@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Bleeding tongue
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 10:52:57 -0400

I used to have many problems with this till a teacher figured
out that I was taking tip of tongue, tip of reed too much to an extreme.
The tongue only needs to stop the vibration of the reed, and does not have
to stop the air. Players do this by either by smacking the mouthpiece
and reed, closing the airway or by hitting the reed hard enough that it
closes off the mouthpiece with every articulation. Neither of these methods
can be done with extreme speed and it hurts also. What I did was work on
producing a long tone and carefully touch the reed with my tongue, and
through doing this over and over I could get a sence how much or how little
pressure it took. When the tone is stopped, air should still be able to
flow through the instrament. In practicing this way, and practicing
stopped staccato, I've improved my articulation technique and I still
work on this almost everyday. The best part, my tongue hasn't bled once
since I started this and it has helped many other aspects of my playing.

Sean Talbot
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
talb4841@-----.edu

"How do you know when to tune bag pipes???"
---S. Talbot