 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2000-11-08 21:17
I've been playing sax almost more than my bass clar recently, and its starting to seem like it's messing up my clarinet embouchure.. I dont know why, but i've been using lavoz medium-hard reeds for bass clar, but when i play any sax, i can never get a reed thats hard enough. I use rico royal (I know, ick) for alto sax, theyre still too soft sometimes, and lavoz hards for tenor, which are waaay too soft. i ended up going to the music store this afternoon to pick up a couple Hemke 4's ($4.50 apiece, ouch..), so we'll see how that goes tomorrow. What i'm wondering is, is this messing up my clarinet embouchure at all? I'm wondering, cause we had concert band today and I caught myself using a double lip embouchure and i have no idea why. I've never done it before, no teacher i have ever had has even had me even TRY it, I just for some reason had my upper lip curled over my upper teeth today. It was weird, and i had to consciously go back to my old embouchure a couple of times..as i kept going back to the double-lip. Any help would be much appreciated... thanx
-ashley-
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-11-09 06:25
Welcome to the club. Despite the easy conversion from clarinet to sax, the sax embouchure is very different from the clarinet one. It's looser and uses more lip padding, plus a more open jaw and throat. Add to this the fact that saxophones take a lot of wind. If you put that much into a clarinet you could be overblowing.
I've suffered from 'sax pollution' in my embouchure for years. The best solution is lots of clarinet practice. Not only does it help keep the clarinet's tighter embouchure in shape, but it keeps you playing your stuff with the harder fingerings that come along with the clarinet.
For doubling jobs (I usually play tenor or bari), I also use the clickbarrel to help me keep the horn up to pitch, and to measure just how much my pitch has dropped from normal.
Good luck, and play lots of clarinet.
Allen Cole
allencole@richmond.com
http://allencole.tripod.com
http://www.jamschool.net
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Author: William
Date: 2000-11-09 15:05
Try using sax mps that are more open. I have a "Studio" Guardala (metal) for tenor and a "Hollywood" Gregory for alto that is more open than the Selmer "jazz" ** metal that I used for years. Using these mps and softer reeds gives me great flexability in producing the variety of sounds and idiomatic "licks" that you need for jazz. My sop and bari mps are also "open." Nobody has ever said that they could not hear me during a solo or lead line and I would describe my sax embouchures as fairly relaxed, almost to the point of double-lip. Also, as it is easier to "bend" your tone, intonation problems become easier to cope with. However, 90% of my practice is with my clarinets as I consider myself a clarinetist first and sax/flute doubler second. Good clarineting and good sax.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-11-09 16:56
Ashley -
The key is to keep up on all the instruments you play. Practice in separate sessions at first, to get each embouchure fixed in your mind and muscles. Then practice going back and forth. For me, at least, it didn't take long to be able to switch between, for example, clarinet and baritone sax.
I play double lip full time on every instrument. On the bigger ones, if I try single lip my brains get scrambled. From my point of view, double lip is the way to go.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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