 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-03-28 01:49
There were several questions on FL/CL duets repertoire.
I am interested in how they countermeasured the differences of pitches of flute and clarinet in pp(or p) or ff(or f).
In pp or p, flute pitches become flat.Flutists try to make the pitch normal by tightening the embshure or even changing the air angle onto the edge. In ff or f,reverse tendencies. But anyway,these measures can be executed if the flutist has good experiences.
But in case of clarinet, in pp or p, the pitch becomes sharp. In ff or f, the pitch becomes flat. If the clarinetist uses a long lay/small tip clearance mouthpiece, these tendencies are enhanced. Clarinet is very difficult to remedy this tendency. Maybe it can be normalized by changing lip position on the reed.
Did the duet people recognized these problems?
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 2000-03-28 12:19
People have known about this problem regarding the tendencies of flute and clarinet tuning for a long time, mostly as a result of the orchestral wind section; actually, I believe the clarinet's tendencies are opposite that of ALL the other wind instruments. Some writers do take this into consideration, but most expect the performer to make appropriate adjustments. This takes practice, but it can be done quite effectively. Pitches can be made flatter by "feathering" fingers across tone holes--laying the finger above the tone hole so it stops some, but not all, of the air from coming through--or dropping the jaw slightly; pitches can be made sharper by opening trill and sliver keys, or by "biting" slightly. Often, it's possible to adjust the pitch without doing anything consciously, just by listening very carefully. Hope this answers your question!
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-03-29 00:43
I am a music major and in my woodwind class, we discussed breath control and intonation using the garden hose analogy. When thinking of a garden hose, think of water pressure. If you were to kink the tube in the middle, then no water will come out. If you were to suddenly un-kink it, then you get a full stream of water. However, if you were to control the kink, then you would get a steady stream of water.
Now think of any wind instrument. If you were to overblow on the clarinet, you flatten because there is too much air being blown into the instrument. Overblowing causes a loud disgusting flat sound. Now, when a clarinetist plays softly, sometimes, some players move their embouchure and pinch their reed causing the pitch to sharpen. The embouchure has to remain relaxed to remain in tune with a steady air stream through the clarinet. It is really hard, I am still working on control!
With a flute, because of the range, overblowing will cause the pitch to sharpen. Overblowing can even cause a flute player to play in the wrong octave! When a flute player overblows, the lips are tighter to together and the air is more forced. When a flute is flat, there is limited air going through the instrument and the lips could be too spread apart. If the lips are too far apart, the notes will be unsupported, and unsupported notes mean flat notes.
Think back to a steady stream of water and the garden hose. If the flute player and clarinet player both play with good breath support, then they will have good intonation and range. Without having control, there will be many errors with intonation and many players will not play at their desired range. When thinking of dynamics, think of breath support!
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-03-29 07:16
Thank you to two of you!
One word on "breath support". I have wondered why many clarinetists say this word so repeatedly. This is very simple thing to learn. Only 1-2 years is enough to get the nuck. I think the problems exist beyond this level. French clarinetists, such as Guy Danguin, use the word 'colomb d'air'(air colum) and French flutist Michel Debost (now at Oberlin)uses the word 'isometrics'(everything perfectly in balance,breath,posture etc), which he says by far the important thing. This seems very much more informative than a simple "breath support".
His article on isometrics can be read at Oberlin's URL.
Highly recommended.
<A HREF=http://www.oberlin.edu/~mdebost/>Debost</A>
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