Klarinet Archive - Posting 000046.txt from 2002/09

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Support?
Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 06:37:55 -0400

John,

This is so specific a problem that it'll be almost impossible for anyone to
guess accurately what's causing it from a distance. If I understand you
correctly, it's the octave leap that's the problem, not the range of notes
or the individual response of any other note. So your problem is, primarily,
that altissimo G won't speak in a legato (slurred) jump from an octave
lower. Could be you've made a subtle change in the reeds you're using. Or
possibly there's a little dirt in one of the tone holes near the top of the
clarinet that are open when you play the higher note (check especially in
the register tube and the open tone holes in the left hand section). Could
be you had trouble with it on a particular day with a particular reed and
you reacted such that now you're just trying too hard and clinching as you
make the slur. If everything else works and it's really only this (rarely
needed) slur that's doesn't, I'd find the best clarinet player I could
(other than yourself, of course) and ask him/her if he/she has the same
problem when playing on your instrument. If not, then play it yourself and
see if a person standing right there watching and listening to you can give
you any more help. Someone's really going to need to hear and see you and
feel the equipment you're playing on to narrow anything like this down for
you.

Good luck.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John J. O'Neill [mailto:avodah@-----.com]
> Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2002 1:10 AM
> To: klarinet
> Subject: [kl] Support?
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> Recently, I have been having difficulty playing from clarion g to
> altissimo g. In other words, I can't easily sound altissimo g directly
> from clarion g. All I get is a grunt as the instrument tries to reach
> the higher note. (Altissimo F# is also becoming a problem.) The only way
> that I can play altissimo g is to tongue it. Is there any other reason
> for this situation besides lack of breath support? I am using a Hite M43
> mouthpiece and a 3.5 Vandoren V12 reed. I guess the real question is:
> How do you supply (and how do you know that you are supplying) enough
> breath support to reach those altissimo sounds? If I tighten up the
> embouchure, I have a greater chance of playing those upper tones, but I
> am aware that tightening up or biting harder are not the correct
> solutions to this problem. I don't really want to use one of the myriad
> alternate fingerings for altissimo g. TIA for any help you can provide.
>
> JON
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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