Klarinet Archive - Posting 000366.txt from 1998/02

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: RELAX AND LIVE LONGER by ROBERT MARCELLUS
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 21:40:28 -0500

Relax and Live Longer by Robert Marcellus
(Final segment)

Trying one reed after another, it is amazing how soon you start pinching
and blasting away FFF in an effort to make stiff reeds vibrate enough
to produce a sound.
Pretty soon your mouth and ears get accustomed to the assault, and you
wind up incredibly amazed that ou've found ten or fifteen reeds that
you will be able to use.
What a false Valhalla that is!
I know, because it happened to me.

So, in the best of spirits, and with a cheerful word for everyone(even
the fiddle players), you float onto the state with a slight swagger; you
don't even bother to warm up too much, and five minutes before rehearsal
you take your horns out -and panic sets in.
The reeds are all probably too stiff, and though you can squeak by for
the rehearsal, the intonation is enough to make you want to quit the
profession; and maybe the look in the conductor's eye tells you he
thinks you should.

Take a rest

Summarizing this, don't try too many reeds at one time without some sort
of let-up.
Give the embouchure a chance to rest, if only briefly, between reeds.
Take out that clunk that you had been using previously, so that you'll
at least have a perspective when looking for replacements.
Make sure that you're not just blasting away at some volume level and
some fast passage you happen to know because you play it every time you
warm up!
Relax and try them easily, PP as well as FF, articulated notes as well
as slurred passages.
Try not to put of your reed hunting until the end of the day when you
are naturally fatigued.
I'm not minimizing the problem but take it easy!

Avrahm Galper
The Upbeat Baermann Melodic Scales
http://www.sneezy.org/avrahm_galper/index.html