Klarinet Archive - Posting 001088.txt from 2002/11

From: Bi6W@-----.net (Bill Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Tonguing --- Jack Brymer and Keith Stein
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 16:27:31 -0500

This thread began with a 'garden hose nozzle' metaphor about
interrupting air flow 'at the nozzle' (at the reed tip) and storing
pressure in the 'hose' (lungs & instrument) until sound resumes

This is opposed to turning off the air supply 'at the hose bibb on the
wall' (releasing pressure in lungs & instrument) and then needing to
repressurize the system when sound is to resume.

I agree 100% (as any reasonable person would, I think) that breath
support must be maintained somehow. Allowing the system to drain of
both air flow & air pressure is wrong.

But the question that began this thread still remains:

Close the nozzle at the tip, or continue the flow but do something with
the reed?

As with most things musical, the answer that works for one person or
situation may not work for the next, and this is why I quoted both
Brymer and Stein. Other interesting thoughts have surfaced -- tip of
the tongue vs. middle, distorting the oral cavity, up-and-curl vs.
thrust-and-retreat, and so forth.

But I'm hoping not to lose sight of the original issue.

If you read the full text of Brymer, he discusses the effort required to
bend the reed all the way to the rails, and the effort required to shut
off the air flow by plugging the slot between reed and rails. Clearly
subscribes to the 'close the nozzle' approach.

Stein takes the opposite approach. Some of his descriptions are: [**
indicates Stein's italics, not mine, pg. 24]

"Imagine that one granule of the tongue tip is nicking a single fiber of
the reed, **brushing** rather than **striking**. [....] At this
point, think of the tongue as **denting*** the moving air stream without
interfering with its progress. [....] One of the secrets of
successful tonguing is the maintaining of **continual breath flow** (and
breath support) between tongued tones, whether in silence or in sound."

This is clearly the "let it flow, but hold the reed quiet" approach.

I still maintain that 'closing the nozzle' is not the best place to
begin.

Cheers,
Bill

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