Klarinet Archive - Posting 000095.txt from 2000/10

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Funny Sounding F
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 21:49:40 -0400

--- Robert Reyes <robert.reyes@-----.net> wrote:

> I been wondering for awhile why when I try to tounge F ( 5th line of the staff) I get a
> metallic sound. I know that it's not the ligature ( Bonade Inverted), the reeds that I've been
> using ( V-12's size 3 1/2 and Rico Royals size 3 1/2), so what I want to know is what is causing
> this metallic sound. My clarinet is a 4 year old LeBlanc LX. When I slur it, it sounds fine,
> but when I have to hit that note it comes out funny. Is it just me or does that happen to other
> people on this list?

That's an interesting problem. You don't get this sound on any other note?
What exactly is a "metallic" sound? Is it a "click" of some kind? If you're
not getting this odd effect when you tongue any other note, there is the pos-
sibility that the cause lies with your embouchure. Students are often sur-
prised to discover that, for a single note on the entire instrument, they
make a sudden shift and/or adjustment in their technique, which results in,
well, a different result compared to how they sound throughout the rest of
the instrument. Playing in front of a mirror demonstrates this pretty well,
and the alteration is usually a sudden jolt or jerk of the jaw, thereby chang-
ing the oral cavity, tongue position, and air stream focus all at the same
time. Naturally, all consistency falls apart with such out-of-place motions
while playing. If you're on a steady regimen of daily practice and weekly
lessons, the issue will likely clear itself up over time. These annoying
quirks pop up regularly over the course of a player's development, letting
us know that (a) we're growing as players, but (b) we still have some fine
tuning to do in our technique.

All of the above assumes that you get the "metallic" sound when tonguing
the isolated note, as opposed to approaching it in motion from above or
below. If the latter is actually the case, I'm led to wonder if you have
a mechanical issue with your clarinet, where perhaps the bridge key is
lacking a pad and is snapping against its upper mate when approaching
clarion F from any note above it during an articulated run. I probably
should have asked about this first. Me and my jumbled thoughts!

-- Neil

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