Klarinet Archive - Posting 000621.txt from 2003/08

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: Articulation problems
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 14:13:33 -0400

I worried all night about the proper phrase to describe what the tongue
does during articulation. The following comment may seem trivial, but
if an important concept isn't stated explicitly, then it can become a
non-trivial problem. My comment is:

It is ***air pressure*** that closes the reed. It's true that the
tongue does "something" to quiet the reed's vibration, such that our
breath can do the rest. Whatever the correct name for this "something"
may be, we seldom see posts that state explicitly that our breath
provides the primary driving force. As obvious as this concept may be,
it needs saying.

In fact..... if I aimed my clarinet toward the ceiling and fingered all
the holes closed, and then someone poured water into my clarinet until
it was full to the bell. I wonder if I could stop the water from leaking
out the mouthpiece by tongue pressure on the reed alone? I doubt it.
It's our breath that does the major part of the work, and this needs to
be said explicitly.

< climbs off soap box >

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