Klarinet Archive - Posting 000013.txt from 2001/11

From: EClarinet@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Re: voicing/was "Band vs orch eefer range"
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 13:29:47 -0500

<<<Before I post a more detailed response to what you wrote, could you
explain what you mean by voicing?..... Is your usage of voicing refering to
positioning the tongue to bring out certain harmonics in a pitch?>>>

Hi Mike!

I'm not sure if you saw the definition of voicing I gave to Luby in that long
post I made, so I wanted to let you know it was there. To further answer
your question about bringing out certain harmonics, yes, it does do that.
That is what Ed was referring to, I think, when he said: "I suspect that a
lot of people are aware of the importance of vowel sounds, shape and size of
the oral cavity, etc. in determining tone quality on wind instruments."

It is usually the higher partials that are lacking in young, inexperienced
players' tone, and voicing helps bring them out. But when I speak of
voicing, I am mainly talking about teaching it to beginners so they
understand that the clarinet uses a fast airstream, and that the way to
acheive the proper air speed is to 'funnel' the air when it gets to your
mouth by raising the back of your tongue---you 'voice' a particular vowel,
"eeee", to acheive this. Ed also mentioned raising the center of the tongue,
and I know I do this to color certain notes, although I am not aware of using
the center of the tongue to reach certain high notes.

The idea of the fast air is essential for the students to understand if they
are going to be playing an instrument where they are overblowing all
registers above the fundamental. It's not just a matter of tone, but of even
being able to play the notes. For instance, usually all I have to do to get
the typical beginner to be able to play a high C is to tell them to use fast
air, to say "eeee", and 90% will get the note. For the others I have to talk
about the lower lip stretch allowing the reed to vibrate, etc.

Recently we have been having discussions on the list about when to introduce
the clarion register to beginners, and I did not chime in, but I will now,
because it relates to what I am saying about voicing. I usually have a kid
try the clarion register after they have been able to play an in-tune (by the
tuner) open G. I have them play low C, and then I say that if they are using
fast air, they will get a high note to pop out when I reach over and hit
their register key. If they get the note, I have them watch the tuner needle
to see where it goes. I call the tuner, at this point, the EEE-O-METER, and
I tell them that it will show whether they are using "eee" or not. This is
very effective for my visually oriented students....it helps if they can see
a representation of what they are hearing. For my aurally oriented kids,
it's always best to play the note and have them match pitch, which I
eventually do with the visual kids too. After all of this, I explain that
the fast air they use to make the higher notes will make their lower notes
sound better, and I always have the tuner out in the beginning so they can
see this. I also play along with them a lot so they can hear it.

Tom Ridenour says that often when you focus on voicing (airstream shaping)
first, the student will make a natural embouchure without too much explaining
from the teacher. I have definitely observed this to be true in about 75% of
my students. The rest require specific embouchure work apart from voicing.

I hope this is a better approximation of what I was talking about with
voicing and that it proves enlightening in some way. :-)

Elise Curran
Orlando, FL

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