Klarinet Archive - Posting 000763.txt from 1998/08

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Noisy tonguing
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 10:08:32 -0400

This is an interesting problem. In the case of the young student, I have
little doubt that Dee is correct--her exercise is very similar to one I was
taught.

In short--play a long tone. Touch the tip of the reed with the tip of the
tongue, just enough to muffle (NOT stop) the tone. (It will feel
funny--sort of like licking a 9V battery--you should see the faces on a row
of 6th graders!) That's how "hard" you need to "tongue." I tell students
that "tonguing" means "licking lightly."

Now for my problem, which I hope some of you mouthpiece gurus can help with.
When I play staccato, I get a "grunting" sound that is quite annoying (to
me--folks a row away say they can't hear it).

Now, I *know* that this is the mouthpiece's fault, for 2 reasons. First, I
*don't* tongue too hard--I've been doing this for a while. Second, it
doesn't happen with other mouthpieces. Like most of you, I have a drawer
full of them. On mouthpieces with thinner rails (either stock, like a
Woodwind K10, or a Richard Hawkins that I have) the articulation is much
crisper, w/ no grunts. Unfortunately, the tone and flexibility are not
nearly as good--and I am addicted to having the best tone possible.

My Bb/A mouthpiece is a Dan Johnston "J" facing, which gives me (IMHO) a
fine tone and flexibility to slur across wide intervals. Part of the reason
is can do this is that it has extremely wide tip and side rails, which I am
told (by DJ) increase/even out the resistance across registers. Also,
inadvertent upper partials ("squeaking") never happens, even with
thin-tipped reeds, since the wide rails maintain a good "seal" at all times.
I believe that Pynes are built much the same way (Messrs. Pyne and Johnston
went to Eastman together, and sat next to each other in the Buffalo Phil for
a long time).

So, what I want is the best of both worlds. I'd love a great tone with a
crisp articulation, too. Any ideas?

kjf

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Garrett [mailto:rgarrett@-----.edu]
Subject: Re: [kl] Noisy tonguing

On Tue, 25 Aug 1998, Dee Hays wrote:
> >From your description, it sounds like she is tonguing by "hitting" the
reed
> with her tongue. In reality the term "tonguing" is a misleading misnomer.
> Correct tonguing is accomplished by pulling the tongue off the reed not
> hitting the reed. Here is an exercise to get the hang of it.
>
> 1. Start with the tongue on the reed.
> 2. KEEP THE TONGUE ON THE REED and start to blow. No sound should come
out
> yet but you can feel the pressure of the air with your diaphragm.
> 3. Gently pull the tongue off the reed. The student has now correctly
> tongued the note.
> 4. Stop the note by gently placing the tongue back on the reed but keep
> blowing. There is no need to hit the reed.
> 5. Repeat from the top.
>
> Unfortunately many students get the impression that tonguing a note means
> hitting the reed with the tongue. It's a logical deduction from the name
so
> who can really blame them.

A fantastic post......this is one most young clarinetists should save.
Nice description Dee.

Roger Garrett
IWU

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