Klarinet Archive - Posting 000734.txt from 1999/02

From: Keith <100012.1302@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] klarinet Digest 8 Feb 1999 09:15:01 -0000 Issue 1041
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 13:10:17 -0500

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.net>
Subject: Getting used to a bass clarinet
>If any of you dedicated bass players have suggestions, I'm MORE than hap=
py
to hear them. As long as they don't involve changing mouthpieces: the da=
mn
Selmer Paris mouthpiece was a fortune as it was:-).
<

It is a shock at first, isn't it? First, be sure that your instrument is
well regulated - pads that are supposed to close together really do; ther=
e
is a tricky adjustment for the right hand fingers, and also on some basse=
s,
the orientation of the joints is important to get pads closing right. If
you find yourself having to use a LOT of finger pressure to seal notes, t=
he
instrument probably needs regulation. =

Second, try putting more mouthpiece in your mouth than you think necessar=
y!
A rubber pad on the mouthpiece helps to remind you. When starting the
"conversion" I even glued cork to the mouthpiece to make my jaw opening
wider, though I later dropped this. But think of it as a scaling - the ba=
ss
mouthpiece is bigger so there will be more of it in your mouth, even thou=
gh
the proportions stay the same.

Third, relax your embouchure more than for the soprano. Pinching/biting i=
s
bad on the soprano but terminal on the bass. This may be the cause of the=

low-note difficulty. This is really saying the same thing that Neil L doe=
s
- the embouchure is basically the same (tho things are bigger), but you
can't get away with the faults that you can (sort of) on soprano.

Fourth .... there is an amplification of the effect that happens on all
clarinets, that you have to match the cavities in your mouth/throat to th=
e
sound coming out (technically, this is acoustic impedance matching, simil=
ar
to matching an amplifier with a speaker). So you make them big for low
notes and small (an "eeee" 'sound') for higher ones. But here's the
unexpected thing: the feeling for D clarinet is the SAME as for G chalume=
au
... learn the clarinet notes by playing low G then pressing the speaker
key. So going upwards over the break is a feeling (behind your teeth) of
going down, rather than up!

Finally - this one depends on your bass - if you have dual register keys,=

as more expensive basses do to improve throat/twelfths intonation, this c=
an
make the note or two just above the "second break" feel different. This
occurs between D and E clarinet register. E and F# are often tricky notes=
,
and need "support" from the diaphragm and long note practice.

Repeat: more mouthpiece, more breath support and a more open throat.

Keith Bowen

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