 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SuzyQ
Date: 2004-12-08 18:42
I have a big problem with leaking air. --not just when my lips are tired.
I've read the past thread, "leaking air: Good or Bad" and also, "Leaking air a concern?"
Despite the fact that some think it is perfectly acceptable to leak air, I am NOT happy with the amount of air I am leaking. --and I want very badly to at least lessen it.
So, I am asking, what do you suggest to overcome this problem? I leak air very much in access;not just a little here and there.
Back in August my summer teacher help me "fix" my embouchure from being lumpy in the chin. About that time I started leaking air, and the hissing has gotten worse.
My current teacher does not know of anything in particular help and does not seemed concerned about it. But I am. I'm getting really annoyed by all family and friends saying, "What wrong with you and all the air leaking???"
How did YOU overcome?
Suzy
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2004-12-08 18:52
I've never had the problem, so perhaps I'm a pain by replying--but I would try double lipping. I've used a double lip for about 12 years now and find it works great for me. I get a good tight seal around the mouthpiece. My teacher used to call it "sucking a straw."
Working your lip muscles up where they are nice and strong will help as well. That's just by practicing untold numbers of hours.
But, if you did well before you changed your embouchure, go back to the way you did it before. The sound you get is one of the most important reasons for any embouchure style.
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2004-12-08 19:03
Suzy --
"Embouchure Building for Clarinetists" by Larry Guy has a number of theoretical and practical suggestions for developing/strengthening one's embouchure.
The book is available from Woodwind Books & More, a bulletin board sponsor.
(I have no connection with any of these people, except as a satisfied customer of Woodwind Books & More.)
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Author: Clarinetist
Date: 2004-12-08 19:26
As said above you should strenghten your lip muscles. I have had this problem, bu I don´t have it anymore. I guess it disappeared when my lip muscles got stronger when I had played enough.
I have heard great players leaking air and I find it as a weakness in their playing. I have even heard a recording where Guy Dangain plays works by Brahms, Schumann and Debussy and you can hear the air that leaks very clearly!
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Author: RAMman
Date: 2004-12-08 21:48
I had quite a hiss....and while it didn't bother me and I made no effort to eliminate it, it vanished entirely when I changed mouthpiece.
Perhaps a different shape can help. Other than that, I suppose it is a case of following the advice above.
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Author: ginny
Date: 2004-12-09 01:29
I hiss when I get my lower lip off the rail edges of the reed. I get more overtones that way. Is leaking air such a problem?
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Author: jo.clarinet
Date: 2004-12-09 05:29
I think it's more of a problem for the people sitting nearby than for the 'leaker' him/herself. I really dislike sitting next to someone who is leaking air all over the place - I find it so distracting that it completely spoils my pleasure in the music we are supposed to be making!
Joanna Brown
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Author: Jimmy Zhong
Date: 2004-12-09 05:36
I second that Todd- I'm working out of Larry Guy's book at the moment, and it's really a great help! I had a lot of bad embochure habits that I wasn't aware of (such as bunching my chin - as you mentioned), and the book also gives you lots of exercises to help away from practice time. I'd highly recommend it - you can get it from wwbw.com as Todd said.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-12-09 12:25
I've found that certain mouthpieces tend to make me leak more than others. My old mouthpiece (Gigliotti P) made it very dificult for me NOT to leak whereas my two newest additions to the family (Greg Smith and an Ideal mouthpiece refaced by Walter Grabner) tend to take it away almost completely, if not so. In these cases, it was (I assume) the shape of the beak.
But looking at a new mouthpiece is more of an extreme fix though.
I found that putting on a thick pad on top of the mouthpiece helps keep your mouth in a more "round" shape and easier to close off those sides (where most air leaks I had were). Other than that, I think it's just getting certain facial muscles to work.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2004-12-09 12:58)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-12-09 13:16
Yes, try double lip for openers. If your embochure is reasonably strong and it's happening even before your muscles tire....then it's the mouthpiece,reed ligature thing. Look for the reed not centering on the lay. Look for an unbalanced mouthpiece lay. Look for a mouthpiece warped in the longitudinal direction. Look for a sharp corner on the reed where your lip touches. Sometimes just beveling the sharp corners of the top side of the reed edge helps. If none of this helps then watch the Seinfeld Show.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Mrs. Redfern
Date: 2004-12-11 04:44
i don't know if this will help even at all, but I guess the mental picture is worth a try. my teacher told me to think of the air as a laser beam, highly concentrated and powerful. try putting a paper against a window(closed of course) and using your air stream to hold it up there... its a good way to see if the laser technique works for you... sorry if I just sound like a moron.... :-)
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2004-12-11 11:20
Mrs Redfern,
I've heard similar advice before, though I haven't done it myself.
Sometimes hissing bothers me too, but today as I put on lip gloss(Nivea tube type) and practiced, it seemed to work better.
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-12-11 15:33
Dry lips = hissing for me. When I start to hiss, at a rest I quickly wet my lips with my tongue and it goes away until they start to dry up again. That's probably why the lip gloss seemed to work.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: joeclarinet
Date: 2004-12-12 05:22
The beak being small could possibly contribute to the leaking. The Gigliotti MP has a pretty tiny beak. Tony G. used to leak air big, big time. On his solo recordings sometimes it is like a hurricane blowing there is so much leaking.
A note on the pad size - do not put a large pad on your mouthpiece as it will absorb sound and your tone will suffer from it. It deadens the mouthpiece vibrations. So a big patch such as the Runyon Cushions you can just cut in 1/2 and they will work better and absorb less vibrations.
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Author: earlthomas
Date: 2004-12-14 15:41
I would suggest that a lumpy chin is not a good thing. The "Dick Tracy" Chin, or "clarinet face" is desireable and it helps to strengthen facial musciles involved in embouchure. You might try extending the upper-lip out and over the mouthpiece which is beneficial to tone quality. The resultant extra lip tissue could counter the tendency to "hiss". I sat next to and performed with a great player back at Juiilliard (J. Cloyde Williams) and he hissed audibly, yet was a tremendous performer, so much so, that I don't recall anybody objecting to it.d
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