Klarinet Archive - Posting 000939.txt from 1998/04

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: Re: wind instruments and circus tricks
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:19:03 -0400

Daniel Paprocki asked:

> By the way, what instruments can't circular breathe? I know the
>clarinet, sax, and oboe can. What about flute, bassoon, and brass
>instruments?

This discussion has fascinated me because I had no idea until now that
circular breathing could have a function in legit music.

As for the brasses, I first saw it demonstrated, years ago at a regional
music festival in upstate New York, by a professional trumpet player named
Ernie Royal. For a long time I thought it was just a trumpet/cornet
players' stunt. The only places I ever heard it done in performance were by
dixieland lead trumpets or cornets who sustained a high note for an entire
32-bar chorus, mainly to show off - although it could be exciting.

Besides the brasses, can't we assume that if oboists can do it, players of
the other double reeds can? Wouldn't it be easier to sustain the necessary
breath pressure on the reed on a lower-pitched instrument? About the flute
family, I have no idea, but why not?

And wouldn't the ability to do it effectively (and silently) depend to some
extent on a player's physical characteristics - his or her cardiovascular
efficiency, and the conformation of the oral cavity and jaw? - and, as a
couple of subscribers have noted, the state of one's sinuses?

Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.net>