Klarinet Archive - Posting 000877.txt from 1998/10

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] grunt- register tube
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 10:47:57 -0400

Informative. How many grunts get heard by an audience, though?
Recordings are a different issue, I suppose.
(I don't do any - fortunately for all ears - though Mr. Pay does quite a
lot, I believe..).
Roger Shilcock

On Tue, 20 Oct 1998, Tony Pay wrote:

> Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 13:52:05 +0100
> From: Tony Pay <Tony@-----.uk>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] grunt- register tube
>
> On Thu, 15 Oct 1998 08:18:22, -0500, NGSH50E@-----.com said:
>
> > I've noticed several postings about the "grunt" in the upper register
> > on some clarinets.
>
> [snip]
>
> > ....the clearance of the register pad is critical--if the key opens
> > too far, the horn is more likely to grunt.
>
> I've sometimes wondered whether the design of the register key on early
> clarinets (the touchpiece stands very proud of the body of the
> instrument) is that way so that you can control the clearance. The
> acoustics of early clarinets can be quite wayward, especially in the
> higher register, and you can alter both intonation and response to some
> degree in this way.
>
> This is a particularly good trick for playing the very quiet passages in
> the slow movement of the Crusell Second Concerto even on a modern
> instrument, actually; an almost closed register key is a great help.
>
> > Remember also that there's no substitute for correct embouchure and
> > tongue position in the upper register.
>
> The best way of going about practising this is to work out how to *play*
> the grunt quite loudly. With a little practice, you can alternate
> between grunt and note on the same fingering, and even make up little
> tunes for yourself that incorporate grunts. That way you're not
> frightened of them. Knowing how to play them is one way, and a very
> good way I'd say, of knowing how *not* to play them.
>
> There's nothing *wrong* about grunts, of course: a grunt is just the
> first mode of vibration of the the section of tube to the first open
> finger hole, but with the register tube open to the air. Careful design
> makes this first mode of vibration unstable, and thus we get the second
> mode. But because there's no such thing as an isolated clarinet (only
> clarinet systems, which include embouchure, tongue position and so on),
> we can make the grunt a stable regime, and thus 'play' it.
>
> One of the difficulties is that when you're frightened of grunts, you
> tend to imagine them, and then....guess what?
>
> Tony
> --
> _________ Tony Pay
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE
> tel/fax 01865 553339
>
> ... 90% of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.
>
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