Klarinet Archive - Posting 000582.txt from 2002/10

From: b5w@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] Throat Bb
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 18:51:43 -0400

I hate to ask such a 'juvenile' question, but I've worked a long time at
this (and listened to others), and so far I haven't been able to find a
solution. So I'm going to swallow my pride and ask here:

(After all of the normal disclaimers --- breath support is as important
as embouchure, throat Bb is discussed many times in the archives, ask
your teacher for help, and so forth)

============

I can achieve proper intonation on throat Bb (thumb & L1, not the side
key fingering); but I can do it only at the expense of a **major**
change to my embouchure. Afterwards I must restore my embouchure in
order to obtain proper intonation on other notes. Even when my throat
Bb is not stuffy, the pitch is still wrong unless I move my lower jaw
and teeth farther down the reed ('slide'' my lower teeth past my lip and
towards the bell, effectively rolling my lip inwards, and thrust my chin
forwards even more). So far, I have not found a mouthpiece that helps
with this. Swapping my two bells has no effect.

Does anybody care to suggest what --- (if anything, perhaps there is no
equipment change that won't mess up other notes) --- that a first rate
technician could do by way of hole diameter or hole depth or any other
hardware modification to reduce this problem? Or is it simply an
unsolved error in my own technique?

Thank you,
Bill

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