Klarinet Archive - Posting 000636.txt from 2003/08

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: Articulation problems
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:42:26 -0400

Tony Pay wrote:

> There are several difficulties here. The first is
> probably that you don't describe what you
> mean by 'articulation'. Is that as in a staccato
> passage?

Doesn't articulation mean "the separation of two notes by a moment of
silence"? Thus articulation includes legato articulation as well as
full staccato (approximately 1/2 of the note's normal duration).
Articulation also includes separating two notes by breath control or
even (to be ridiculous about it) by removing the mouthpiece from your
mouth. In short, anything except separating two notes merely by a
change of pitch.

> One has to ask: what do you mean by 'closing
> the reed'? You might mean that during a
> note, the reed closes against the mouthpiece
> during the cycle and that's certainly driven by
> air pressure.

Yes, even when there's no articulation, the reed closes against the
mouthpiece during each cycle (440 cycles for "A", etc). I wasn't
meaning to discuss that point.

Rather, I was trying to avoid revisiting the strenuous discussion a few
months ago about whether or not a "clean" articulation, regardless of
duration, must always interrupt the air flow, or can it be enough to
merely stop the reed's vibration? The discussion was that the reed
should 'close' and interrupt the air flow as well as case its vibration,
otherwise the hissing sound of air escaping past an 'open' reed would be
unmusical.

I was trying to restrict the discussion to the forces that are (or
should be) primarily responsible for 'reed closure' when/if it happens.
In retrospect, I can understand that some of the strenuous discussion
may've developed because some of us equate articulation only with
staccato. This definition hadn't occurred to me.

> The tongue totally interrupts the reed's
> vibrations in staccato. The breath is what
> sustains the reed's vibrations.

I'm saying (and I thought this was a certainty?) that the breath can do
other things besides sustain the reed's vibrations. This is similar to
asking: "What does a gear box do?" Your answer would be that it
depends on how the gears are set. Sometimes the gear box reverses the
car's direction, sometimes it changes the torque, sometimes it
disconnects the engine from the wheels, etc. In the same way,
depending on how other things are set, the breath can be the main force
responsible for holding the reed against the mouthpiece, which is the
opposite of sustaining vibration.

Again, my statement is that the main force which places the reed against
the mouthpiece does not (or should not) be delivered by the tongue.
Imagining otherwise leads to the "hitting" syndrome.

> This [clarinet filled with water] is just a crazy
> model. It doesn't help in the least.

Probably not. Withdrawn.

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