 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: panda
Date: 2004-03-13 12:33
Hello everybody,
I was wondering if anyone had any idea why when I play for example Chalumeau low E and use the register to to play Clarion B i can easily get the clarion note but when i move my thumb away from the register key my clarinet doesn't go back to the chalumeau range but stays in clarion. Any advice would be most welcome.
P.S I have only tried the clarion range a couple of times and have only been playing the clarinet for eight weeks and know that I really shouldn't be trying the clarion range yet but was curious to give it a go.
Panda.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: hans
Date: 2004-03-13 13:15
panda,
You may be unconsciously increasing the pressure on the reed when you go up from Chalumeau E to Clarion B. When you release the register key the increased pressure could be preventing a return to the Chalumeau. As you gain more experience you will learn to control this.
IMO you should try the clarion any time you like, whenever you feel like it. Playing the extremes of the instrument's range is good for developing your tone.
Regards,
Hans
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: panda
Date: 2004-03-13 13:59
thanks for the advice it's most welcome I have noticed that to change from clarion to chalumeau i am changing the amount of pressure i am using so i will try and remedy this.
thanks again.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-03-13 15:24
Slurring from Clarion to Chalemeau is actually pretty dificult. I never thought SLURRING could be so hard! What my instructor pointed out is if you make as though you're "dropping your jaw" when slurring from clarion to chalameau. It's sort of exaggerating the difference in pressure and the difference in your lip position on the reed.
If you haven't noticed already, play a chalemeau C. And if you move your lip slightly downward, almost as though sticking your jaw slightly further out, you can produce the clarion G without using the register key. A little more pressure and a slight adjustment, and you can produce the altissimo E (it'll sound like a squeak, but it's an actual note). This is part of an 'overtone' series.
Of course they'll be out of tune since you're not using any register keys, but it gives you an idea of how embouchure alone can control these tones. And when you combine the slight embouchure movement with the proper fingerings, you should have NO problem gettin' those notes out.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ron b
Date: 2004-03-13 16:03
Panda --
I don't know where you got the idea that, "...I really shouldn't be trying the clarion range yet..."
It's your clarinet. Try anything you want to try. There's no limit just because you're new at it, as the above suggestions indicate. It's very helpful if a teacher or another more advanced player can show you things but, really, the only way you'll discover *your* way of doin' things is to try it. If you're a reasonable person, and I believe you are, you won't hurt the instrument at all. Your pet's ears, on the other hand....
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: cujo
Date: 2004-03-13 16:28
Try practicing playing different registers going back and forth beetween them. Using different notes while doing this will be pretty hard but excellent practice.
Try the same fingering in different registers. once you have those add a note or two at a time.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: john gibson
Date: 2004-03-14 00:28
Paula
Its as mentioned previously. You're "lipping it up" as you go up. You also need to control the air flow. Blow a little less as you drop the register and return to the lower notes......work with breath control and you'll have it made.
jg......the clarinator
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-03-14 04:39
BTW, in case no one has yet mentioned it, it's much easier to maintain a clarion note without a register key if you have a very thin reed. You are a beginner so chances are you're using a 1.5 or 2 reed of WHATEVER brand. And I find the thinner reeds very easily overblow (for me it's annoying because I often ACCIDENTALLY overblow) up a register into clarion. It'll be easier to control when you eventually work up to a slightly harder reed strength.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Peacham
Date: 2004-03-14 09:34
There's no harm at all in trying the clarion - or the altissimo for that matter - as early as you want.
What you should avoid is desperately trying to play notes that are too high for you to manage easily. Learn one note at a time. I'd guess that after eight weeks you can probably reach clarion G quite easily, but maybe you find A, B and C above more difficult. Fine, once the G is secure, learn the A, once that's secure, learn the B. But don't get yourself all tensed up by playing notes that are a strain. The upper C is particular is a pig; it is difficult to tongue and difficult to keep in tune. You need to make sure that when you learn to play it, you are learning to play it cleanly and accurately, not learning to produce a horrible squeal that happens to be fingered like a C.
Going back to your original question about slurring down from B to E: make sure that when you open the register key you are not also touching the throat Ab key with your LH first finger. The Ab key will also act as a register key on that note, so if you open it by mistake, when you release the thumb key you'll stay on B.
-----------
If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-03-14 10:52
My simple take on the problem is the following:
You would have the same problem playing a harmonic on a violin, and then expecting the fundamental to sound when you remove your finger from the string. The vibration mode has been already established in the string, and will not change unless given a significant shove.
The register key is only an aid.
A higher register (on any wind instrument) needs more air pressure from the lungs, and more support from the lips. (Note that the flute has no 'register' vent to assist)
So to go from the higher to the lower register, you suddenly need less air pressure and more relaxed lip support, at exactly the same time as you close the register vent. The change needs to be 'kicked' into happening.
I believe that many experienced players come to do these sorts of changes so automatically that they are no longer conscious that they are doing them, and have forgotten that they once had to make a conscious effort, hence some teachers claiming that air pressure and lip support should be constant throughout the registers.
But I am only an analytical amateur.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: panda
Date: 2004-03-14 10:52
thank you all for your welcome advice, It had been drummed into me by a clarinet teacher and clarinet books that I shouldn't attempt the clarion range so early on in my learning. I ignored that and have been having a go anyhow. All your advice is exactly want I needed to hear and it has given me confidence in keep trying out different registers and who cares if i squeek or squawk my way through learning.
thank you all again.
Panda
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 2004-03-14 11:34
It's OK to go ahead and try the clarion but probably not a good idea to do a lot of playing up there at first. The reason is that you need to establish a good solid foundation. The upper notes will play easier and with better tone quality if you first establish good control and tone on the lower notes. If you play the higher notes too much too soon, you may develop the bad habit of "pinching" with your embouchure to get them to play and to be in tune. This generally results in poor tone quality and you would have to work to overcome this pinching at a later date. It is for this reason that many teaches and books advise against playing the clarion too soon. You might compare it to building a house. The foundation has got to be firmly set before you erect the walls.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2004-03-14 13:38
Although taking lessons from someone more experienced than oneself is very beneficial many musicians were originally self-taught. The things you learn yourself by "trial and error" are gifts that last a lifetime. Gordon's comment about "no longer conscious" is a gem. There are some aspects of clarinet playing that are difficult to explain verbally.....you just have to discover them. As an aside, I guess a squeak is an overblow.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2004-03-14 21:47
One other reason to avoid 'high' notes is that they take more effort and can tire you out. You want to get lots of playing time in at every session and playing (lots of) high notes will leave your lip muscles exhausted.
But it certainly is ok to fool around with them.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
