Klarinet Archive - Posting 000837.txt from 2000/11

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Article: Breathing and Support
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 10:45:45 -0500

On Sun, 26 Nov 2000 02:07:54 EST, Knaphet@-----.com said:

> I agree that a musician's perceptions need to be good enough to be
> able to discern subtleties of dynamics. I think I can make my point
> and get my question answered if I approach it differently. The first
> basic question: how do we control dynamics?

There are three main points where the current conditions modify the
dynamic obtained: the abdomen/diaphragm (the flexion of each), the
tongue (its position and shape), and the embouchure (many things).

The second two change the sound as well as the dynamic.

> It is a product of how we use those two muscle groups, but I do think
> more specifics would help me. Can we assume that the abdominals will
> work about the same amount all the time, and most dynamics come from
> how quickly we let the diaphragm relax? Or is it some other way, some
> more subtle combination?

It could be either, couldn't it? Sometimes it works well to keep the
abdominals the same throughout a passage, sometimes changing them works
better. In general, it's a simpler experience to allow the diaphragm to
vary outside consciousness, because that's more directly connected to
our imagining, moment by moment, what we want as we play.

The degree of support is up to you.

> I was theorizing that my problem is that I could probably play with
> more dynamic freedom if I think of the diaphragm as moving freely and
> overpressurize the air less with my abdomen.

What do you mean by 'more dynamic freedom'? Do you mean, a wider range
of dynamics?

At high dynamics, we use very little support, because the abdominal
muscles are working strongly, to deliver air at high pressure to the
reed. There's no need to create an additional resistance, because the
reed/clarinet system is already resistant.

At very low dynamics, support is much more useful. But it would be an
exaggeration to say that it's *always* necessary.

I don't really know what you mean by, 'overpressurize the air'. How
would you know you were 'overpressurizing' the air?

> I think I am interested to know more about how we change the usage of
> those muscle groups for different situations, and hope I am expressing
> myself clearly.

As always, the way is to make the experiment and find out.

If you want to know what other people do -- me for example -- then I
can't really give a definite answer. I use more or less support
depending on the reed and on the register and on the dynamic required,
and on the sound I'm looking for. One of the things about 'warming up'
is that you experiment to 'calibrate' yourself, so that you can produce
naturally what you want at crucial points in the piece.

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

... Star Trek XXVII - The Search for Shatner's Teeth.

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