Klarinet Archive - Posting 001010.txt from 1999/01

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] PLAY WITH THE REED DOWN!
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 04:00:47 -0500

Play with the reed "DOWN"!

These are the words of Carl Baermann, in the preface to his own method,
who says:
There is a class of clarinetists that play with the reed turned up,
although I cannot ascribe a good reason for such a method of tone
production.
Whoever considers the structure of the mouth must become convinced that
this method is a wrong one for the following reasons:

The stronger or weaker pressure of the lip on the reed is of the utmost
importance for the production of tone.
Every degree of pressure acts so decisively on tonal color and
articulation that the finished artist will ultimately experience that
every tone, properly speaking, has its own embouchure though this of
course, is an enigma to beginners.

Now how then is it possible to master all these finer shadings with the
upper part of the head and its lip, since that part is utterly
motionless!
Motion is only possible for the lower jaw of the human head, and it is
on that account that the reed should be managed by the lower lip
Moreover, the staccato is of great importance.
It is impossible to give the three varieties of staccato- the sharp, the
soft and the tied, with proper distinction, if the tongue instead of
encountering the reed, touches on the inverted upper part of the
mouthpiece

Therefore,I say,"Down with the reed to the underlip"!

--
Avrahm Galper
TONE TECHNIQUE AND STACCATO
THE UPBEAT BAERMANN MELODIC SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS
http://www.sneezy.org/avrahm_galper/index.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org