Klarinet Archive - Posting 000152.txt from 2007/02

From: "Rommel John Miller" <RommelJMiller@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Facial hair and embouchure
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:25:30 -0500

But that's it, even though my stach isn't in my mouth so to say, whenever I
take a sip of tea or soup or Coke or Pepsi I always get that residual
after-drip that most moustache wearers have, you know like the one's who
used to say that they could taste their soup hours after they've eaten it?
As like in the days of your "grandfather's (or great or double great-
grandfather's) moustache" when they grew them big and burly as in the late
1890's when "men" were supposedly "men" and well, the rest is known. See,
this is the kind of stache I have and I like, and it hangs a little over my
upper lip and covers it, but does not interfere with my ability to pull the
upper lip taut over the upper teeth in order to form a good embouchure, I
just worry about the seal forming and whether the stach and maybe the beard
are causing the disparity of sound, especially in the upper altissimo that I
am having.

Even my lower lip and jaw are able to become taut enough, as well as to
stand out, and away from the hair of my lower beard, but I still wonder as
the reed most certainly comes into contact with these hairs and it is these
hairs which most assuredly affect the vibration of the reed.

It is giving me much food for thought, and I am thinking about consulting a
physicist at a local community college about the aerodynamics of sound issue
and if anyone has done research on the affects of single reed playing and
the presence of the player's facial hair.

But I would like to hear from anyone else about their own experiences with
playing while having a rather full beard and full, bushy moustache, it might
give for good experience and research.

Thanks and peace.

Rommel John Miller
308 Dale Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21206-1219
410-668-4784
410-967-8994
DoctorX@-----.net
RommelJMiller@-----.net

Clarinetist, Saxiphonist and Pianist
Actor and Magician
Contact me for more information

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Charette [mailto:charette@-----.org]
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 11:45 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Facial hair and embouchure

> Been thinking, as I haven't seen many clarinetists or even saxophonists
> with
> bushy style mustaches and beards like my own, I am wondering could these
> be
> attributing to the affect and tone of my embouchure?

If your hair isn't in your mouth, how would it interfere with your
embouchure?

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