 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: AJ
Date: 2004-05-03 14:01
Hello everyone
I play Alto Sax in Jazz band once a week. My main instrument is the clarinet and recently Ive beewn having trouble with tounging and my tone has changed a bit, is this from playing Sax? Over all my toung has been heavier and if its from the Sax (which I think it is) what should I do to prevent and quitting Jazz band isnt the option becuase the Sax section is pretty small already. Well thank you for any comments.
AJ
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Author: ned
Date: 2004-05-03 22:58
Hey - practically the same problem here - I'm in a two sax"section"'with a trumpet also in the front line. I don't think you can really do anything about the embouchure problems actually, I get them too.
In fact I hardly ever practice the alto because the band demands just sax for harmony backing and riffs - I prefer to do all my soloing on the clarinet.
My opinion is that frequent doublers seem to end up with a type of compromise tone on clarinet (no noticeable effect on sax, I notice) and are prepared to live with it.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-05-04 04:05
The correct embouchure formation for saxophone is very different than that of the clarinet. The saxophone is more rounded with less tightening at the corners. Pinching, or tightening, as you've probably discovered, does not lend itself to a singing saxophone sound.
You are probably transfering some of your saxophone tendencies back to the clarinet as to embouchure, tonguing, and possibly the entry position of the mouthpiece into the mouth.
If the clarinet is your primary instrument, you might consider putting down the sax for a few days just to get back on track. After you get your clarinet embouchure settled in, the transition back to the saxophone will show the apparent differences in producing a sound...GBK
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-05-04 11:23
From my limited perspective as an experienced doubler:
Sax needs a lot less breath pressure than clarinet, and sufficient breath pressure on clarinet is vital for clean tonguing and good tone.
I wonder if the sax playing has made you lazy in this respect for clarinet playing.
My recommendation is to keep playing both, and be conscious of the changes required. Consciously make them. That is how you become a good doubler.
And if you are using a similar embouchure for each, get the wrong one corrected. When you change instrument, make a CONSCIOUS embouchure change, until it becomes automatic. More details on embouchure differences offered if requested.
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Author: jez
Date: 2004-05-04 15:32
I think the problem here is that when playing the sax you need to make sure you treat it as an entirely different instrument and don't try to play it with the same embouchure as the clarinet.
GBK describes the differences very well and perhaps you need to work on making the most of those changes when you play sax (it'll make you sound better anyway) If you don't then the 2 things are abound to affect each other.
I used to play sax quite a lot and never found it affected my clarinet playing but I was always careful not to think of it as just another member of the clarinet family. Make the most of the difference and you'll get the best out of both.
jez
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-05-04 20:45
You think that's bad --- after 30+ years of playing clarinets and saxes in parallel and in about equal amounts, I'm now re-learning oboe after a 30-year layoff......but it's coming along and I don't expect it to cause any embouchure problems on my other horns. Like the guys say above, treat the clarinet and sax as different animals, do what's right/appropriate on each (independent of the other), and give both as much practice time as you can spare. Pretty soon you'll be going from one to the other with little or no thought, adjusting automatically for the differences.
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