Klarinet Archive - Posting 000748.txt from 2001/11

From: "Tim Roberts" <timr@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: Intonation, Vibrato and Tone Quality
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 13:52:08 -0500

On Mon, 26 Nov 2001 14:23:16 -0700, Bear Woodson <bearwoodson@-----.com> wrote:
>
> I'm wondering how clarinetists adjust the Intonation
>while playing. It's easy enough on bowed stringed in-
>struments to bend the pitch, to make Major Thirds and
>Leading Tones a hair sharper, but how is this done on
>Clarinet?

There are several ways to accomplish this. One common way is to adjust the
shape of the mouth. Dropping the jaw can result in a significant drop in pitch
-- sometimes as much as a whole-step in the right circumstances. Tightening
the embouchure can result in a raising of pitch, although usually only a small
amount.

With many notes, it is possible to adjust the pitch downward by closing tone
holes farther down the instrument, or by partially covering or uncovering some
holes.

There are number of weird fingerings that produce relatively stable notes at
intervals finer than a half-step. Philip Rehfeldt's fascinating book "New
Dimensions for Clarinet" describes the production of many reliable quarter-
tones and even finer tones, and gives examples of their use. If you are at all
interested in getting non-traditional sounds from the clarinet, I recommend it.

--
- Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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