Klarinet Archive - Posting 001147.txt from 1998/11

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] burping, helium and pitch
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 13:19:33 -0500

On Sat, 28 Nov 1998 11:05:37 EST, Clarguy3@-----.com said:

> The practical application of the information that gas density affects
> pitch of a wind instrument would be in reference to the tidal air at
> the beginning of a breath. A whole section of clarinets breathing at
> the same point will play more easily in tune than one which staggers
> breathing. And the fingering one can use for the first open G of
> Premiere Rhapsodie can be (and probably should be) much more covered,
> thus flatter, than any open G following in these phrases.

I find that breathing in 2 or 3 seconds before I have to play is a
flattening influence even for the beginning of the first note, which is
helpful if that note needs to be flattened. How this fits in with the
tidal air idea, I don't know.

Clearly there is a process of absorbtion of oxygen and emission of CO2
in the lungs that takes a little time. What in fact is the timescale
for the interchange? I seem to remember that the effective surface area
of the inside of the lung is extraordinarly large. Perhaps there is
also a diffusion effect, so the CO2 diffuses into the mouth and upper
portions of the trachaea, even though it's denser?

Anyway, for those who don't want to be bothered with all this, you can
check the *effect* out with a tuning meter. It seems the note has a
more stable and flatter beginning.

Of course the opposite also applies, for playing a flattish note
sharper.

The way I think about all this is that it can be a *help* to the other
ways in which we flatten or sharpen notes, rather than it's a
*determinant* of whether the note is flat or sharp. As Chuck says
above, "will play *more easily* in tune". So you can either breathe
earlier in the Debussy, or use a flatter fingering, or a bit of both.

Now somebody tell us what we *should* do:-)

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE
tel/fax 01865 553339

"...his playing soars so freely, one is aware of witchcraft without
noticing a single magical gesture."
(C.D.F.Schubart on the harpsichord playing of C.P.E.Bach)

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