Klarinet Archive - Posting 000915.txt from 1997/08

From: Karl Krelove <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Chromatic Tuner & Intonation
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 15:13:54 -0400

At 09:52 AM 8/21/97 -0400, Dennis Nord wrote:
>
>I recently got a chromatic tuner with the intention of improving my
>intonation on both clarinet and tenor sax. We didn't have these little
>marvels when I was starting out 40+ years ago. Now I have 40+ years of
>bad habits to correct!
>
>Anyway, this little box seems to indicate that I can't play hardly a
>single note in tune. Well, OK, one note, A 440, but after that it's not
>looking too good.
>
>So, can anyone please offer some practical exercises for using a
>chromatic tuner to improve intonation. There is only one offering in
>the Klarinet Archives for making a chromatic tuning chart. This method
>records the intonation of an instrument (actually the whole setup), but
>makes no recommendations for correction and improvement.

Make sure once you have the data you'll get in this way that there are not
mechanical explanations for the pitch problems. Being able to adjust your
pitch to a surrounding environment (like the rest of the wind section, or a
piano) is an important skill, but to do it as a regular way of playing to
satisfy a tuner will be bad for keeping any kind of consistent embouchure
and will drive you batty. If D is out of tune with the same embouchure that
produces neighboring notes in tune, check out the instrument, not your
playing. If the tendencies are related to register, they may well be areas
you have to learn to adjust consistently. Upper clarion notes are often
sharp. Low chalumeau notes are flat on a lot of instruments. Of these
problems, what mouthpiece and mechanical adjustments won't fix, you need to
learn to adjust with mouth position or extra keys when the note is long
enough to matter. But, IMHO, to get every note perfectly in tune (i.e. "0"
on the tuner's scale) every time you play it would require that you switch
from playing a clarinet to playing a synthesizer. And remember, the goal
has to be to teach your ear what "in tune" sounds like so you can control
the pitch when you're actually playing somewhere, when you won't have the
tuner to help.

Karl Krelove
"Time is the best teacher; unfortunately, it kills all its students!"