Klarinet Archive - Posting 000847.txt from 1998/05

From: "Diane Karius, Ph.D." <dikarius@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] intonation in large groups
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 01:29:15 -0400

Help! Having searched the archives of both Klarinet & the community
band mailing list and come up with nothing directly applicable,
I'm going to toss this question out and see if anyone has any good
ideas:

Does anyone have some constructive suggestions regarding how to
improve intonation in a large community band setting (both within the
clarinet section and across the whole band)? As a side question - I
find that I cannot get sharp enough to match everyone else's pitch,
although I am sharp compared to A440. In the short term,
should I try some shorter barrels, even though the barrel I have now
works well both for intonation and sound.
I belong to a large community band which suffers from BAD
intonation (really sharp). As much as I hate to admit it, the
clarinet section (of which I am section leader) is among the more
serious of the offenders, and even worse, there are significant
intonation problems among the first clarinets. The band director has
talked to me about it - regarding the whole band as well as the
section. She's as frustrated as I am and wants me to help. We both
know that the problem is two-fold - the failure to tune properly to
the tuning note (the tendency is to try and adjust the embouchure
rather than pulling out/pushing in) and then the failure to adjust
tuning as we play and warm up (hence ending up seriously sharp).
When I can, I am telling other clarinet players (using my tuner to
show them) if they are sharp/flat but that has had little effect yet
- as far as I can tell they just aren't in the habit of listening to
(or really hearing) the tuning note, since they can't tell that they
are 20 cents or more sharp to the tuning note. I'll confess to
treading fairly lightly here because there is a little bit of a
problem in politics - there was some resentment when I moved into the
firsts since I was the new kid on the block and wasn't even a music
major (our section leaders are typically music major/band
directors/pros).
Sorry this went on so long, but if anyone has some good advice my
ears and our conductor would really appreciate it.
TIA!

Diane R. Karius, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology
University of Health Sciences
2105 Independence Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64124
email: dikarius@-----.EDU

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