 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jean D.
Date: 2000-02-18 10:44
Hi all! Does anybody have any ideas to share on projecting sound? I just can't seem to get my note to carry or penetrate enough to be heard from a distance in a band. Thanks for any and all help!
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 2000-02-18 12:41
Projection is a really hard thing to learn, so you'll have to be a bit patient with any of the tips you get in response.
First of all, projection can depend a lot on your setup. If you're playing on a very closed mouthpiece, or with a very hard reed, you may be finding it harder to project. That doesn't necessarily mean you should switch, but if you spend a long time working on your sound and nothing improves, you might want to consider it.
A lot of projection comes from having a very focussed, clear tone. As usual, long tones are the best way to work on this. I always start my practice sessions with at least five to ten minutes of long tones, and when I'm actively working on tone production, I'll sometimes do a very short practice session and do long tones only. As your tone gets more focussed, and your breath support gets stronger, you'll find it easier to project.
Part of projection is just the way you think of the note. My teacher in first year always described it as thinking of your sound as a beam of light that you're directing right between the eyes of the listener. I don't know why this works, but it really does!
I don't know of any other good exercises, so I'd love to hear more people respond. I hope these help!
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Author: steve
Date: 2000-02-18 16:34
katherine said: "Part of projection is just the way you think of the note. My teacher in first year always described it as thinking of your sound as a beam of light that you're directing right between the eyes of the listener. I don't know why this works, but it really does!"
that might sound like mumbo-jumbo, but she is _absolutely correct_!!! you must project the note mentally, emotionally, as well as physically....visualization of the note projecting in a compact globe to the back of the hall, or directly into the ears of the audience is one way to think of this...that is why a solo like il pini di roma just before the bird call recording can be so powerful....this "tiny" pp sound is projected all through the great hall...great actors project their character's personality to the audience...and it's just not speaking clearer or louder....
regards, s.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-02-18 20:28
Another perspective to chew on...
Projection is a matter of highly controlled air support. I've personally heard a pro classical clarinetist playing at pp in a good concert hall without amplification. I could hear the clarinet way up in the nose bleed section's exit doors, so could my wife. When I asked my pro tutor about this, he said it was a matter of air support strength at a low playing volume.
Okay, this is a bit tricky to get, so let's try an analogy. Think of two rivers. One is fast, narrow, and rocky. The other is very slow and wide, smooth as glass. In the end, which one is more powerful? Which river can push large barges and boats downstream? The wide, slow one, right? So, how does a clarinetist get lots of air support (wide river) at a low sound level (slow) and have great projection (smooth)? Air support drills, just like Katherine said above. Take the time to play very long notes to develop your diaphram and embouchure muscles. But here's a twist. Learn to play with different dynamic levels (quiet to loud to quiet, etc.), but do it all pegging a tuning meter right smack dab in the middle all the way through. This is a concrete way to gain proper focus, like Katherine discussed above.
It's amazing at how well I could project as an adult novice when I pegged the tuning meter in front of my tutor. Folks complained of the "loud" clarinets next door and sometimes my wife could hear me in the first row of the parking lot, all while my tutor and I were playing inside the partially sound baffled studio in the farthest back room. I have a very good premium pro grade clarinet, but that's not the ultimate controlling factor for developing good projection. As you can see in the postings above, the ultimate factor is the person playing the horn.
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Author: Margaret Copeland
Date: 2000-02-20 13:40
Projection is very interesting. For one thing I think you really need to get an "audience" assessment as to how loud and clear you really are. This is one thing you can't tell when you are sitting in a band. I think the long tone practice is very valuable but you still have to have a concept of what you tone sounds like from afar. I sort of liken it to a ventriloquist who can "throw" his voice. Close up, it may sound all wrong and fuzzy, but out in the last row it can sound great. Long tone practice can also improve your dynamic range which also adds to the illusion of projection. People pay attention as you build from a pp to a ff - especially as you modify vibrato. They get bored when you tone is flat whether loud or soft. I remember Gene Rousseau the saxophonist demonstrating this. He created an almost creepy ethereal note out of nowhere and it built into an incredible intensity as he added and changed the pulse of his vibrato. It got your attention.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-02-21 04:23
Longer air column makes the tone projected better even in pp: Exhale air as far as possible even beyond the bell. French clarinettists play 'A' clarinet(longer than B flat) more often to obtain this feeling.
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