Klarinet Archive - Posting 000795.txt from 2002/04

From: "Joseph Wakeling" <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Introduction and a few questions
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 06:32:47 -0400

Hello all,

First of all let me say Hi to the list. I'm Joe, I'm currently a physics
PhD student in Switzerland, and I've been playing the clarinet for about 12
years now (although not enough during the last 4 - that's maths degrees for
you). I also write music (although my degree almost killed that). Anyway,
I feel a need to break some of the horribly oppressive noise restriction
regulations here in Switzerland and at the same time find out if I can
really cut it as a player.

To this end, a few questions I was hoping you might be able to help me out
with. Apologies if these have already been asked by a million other
people...

(i) Tonguing. Back in the beginning of my clarinet playing days I had a
very terrible teacher (I am still trying to undo some of the bad habits she
got me into). When she explained tonguing I found that it seemed to do was
fuzz up the reed with spit, and so I started tonguing how I had been taught
on the recorder, tongue on the roof of the mouth. Somehow I managed to get
to Grade 8 without anyone ever noticing (well, they wouldn't, would they?).

Now, it strikes me that it might be an idea to finally learn how to tongue
properly, but every time I try I find that tonguing the reed sounds like a
horrible huge THUD and I can produce much better results by my
misappropriated recorder technique. And being impatient, I get frustrated
with trying to bring my tongue up to speed with my fingers and embouchure
and just forget it.

So the question is: does anyone have any good advice on tonguing technique
and practise methods to bring it up to the same level as the rest of my
technique?

(ii) Tuning. As things stand I'm in the process of arranging to spend a
huge amount of money on a new pair of clarinets. I'm aware that here on
continental Europe A = 442 is the norm and in the US (and UK?) A = 440 is
usual, and I'm getting a little confused by the different makes that seem
designed for one or the other, or, in a few cases, for both (?!). What's
the deal? Is switching between the two merely a matter of different barrel
length or pulling out the clarinet a bit, or is it not so simple? (Bearing
in mind here that as a physicist/mathematician I can expect a bit of a
wandering career and I plan on working in the US at some point.)

Thanks in advance, and looking forward to lots of fun discussion on this
list. :-)

-- Joe

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