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 Keeping tone from spreading
Author: dummer musiker 
Date:   2005-04-08 16:46

Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping your tone from spreading when playing loud?

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: Sylvain 
Date:   2005-04-08 17:39

I was once told that playing loud does necessarily means blowing harder. You have to make sure the air is moving fast. You can achive this by raising the back of your tongue to get a more focused sound. Doing this and making sure your embouchure stays put are too important aspects of preventing the sound to spread.

Try this simple exercise. Take a tuner, play at a comfortable level, back of the tongue high embouchure nicely set. Try to increase the speed of the air by pushing with your diaphragm, do not change anything in your embouchure and tongue position, if you go flat you are relaxing something somewhere. Most likely the tongue isnit high enough. Try to visualize the air stream as this narrow compact column of air coming from the bottom of your lungs all the way to the tip of the reed.

Good luck!
-S

--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>

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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: Liquorice 
Date:   2005-04-08 21:57

"Try to increase the speed of the air by pushing with your diaphragm"

What??????? As far as I understand , the diaphragm contracts on the INHALE. I don't see how "pushing with your diaphragm" will make any impact on the air speed during exhalation whatsoever? Another thing, again only as far as I understand it, there are no proprioceptive nerve endings in the diaphragm muscles, so you won't even be able to feel whether you're pushing with your diaphragm or not.

Please, somebody who knows more about this, correct me if I'm wrong?

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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: Marcowelby 
Date:   2005-04-08 22:09

In fact you are right, the diaphragm does not contract on inspiration. Expiration is done through abdominal muscle contraction as well as interconstal muscle contraction (this is obviously a gross simplication of the processus).

It is true though that the expiration from the abdominal muscles is produced by the increased in intra-abdominal pressure which has a deflationary action on the lung by pushing the diaphragm up!!



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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: dummer musiker 
Date:   2005-04-08 22:55

So, what about those tips on keeping the tone from spreading...lol. Ive been working on keeping my embouchure really firm, and not letting it move between dynamics and this seems to help. Maybe I just need to work on expanding my dynamic range...?

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: clarinetwife 
Date:   2005-04-08 23:25

I talk to my students more about filling up the large percentage of lung that is covered by the lower part of the rib cage. The abdominals most certainly are involved, but it needs to be the natural way that the abdominals help with exhalation. If the abdominals are used in an overly forced way, a forced, perhaps overblown tone can result.

An overly soft reed can also make it difficult to play louder with good tone. What's your setup?

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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: dummer musiker 
Date:   2005-04-09 01:33

I have a Morgan mouthpiece, 3 1/2 V12's reeds, and an inverted Bonade ligature.

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

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 Re: Keeping tone from spreading
Author: Clarino20 
Date:   2005-04-09 20:12

Make sure that you keep your embrochure steady. Many times when you play loudly you think all about the air and not about your embrochure. Keep your corners firm, chin flat, and cheeks in. It sounds silly but pretend you are spitting watermelon or cherry seeds through the clarinet, all of the air you have should come from the corners of your mouth. Don't worry too much about the tongue, a spreading tone is mainly an ambrochure and air proble your tongue will do it's own thing.


Corey

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