 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Michael McC.
Date: 2002-03-07 23:59
An interesting problem for you. On my Buffet R-13, the altissimo E will not speak hardly at all. I either get the A above, or a subtone, or nothing at all. It only does this when I am playing softer than forte, it doesn't seem to be a problem when I am playing loudly. This is not a very good problem to have, particularly in the Copland Clarinet Concerto, because he writes up there most of the time. Thanks.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-03-08 05:55
If one is faced with this and needs to play high E softly, one can half hole the first finger hole, left hand. However, this has to be carefully done as it may flatten the E some.
One could try a different mouthpiece, but high E seems to me to be a reluctant note. One can also build the embouchure up with Robert Spring's warmup, long tones chromatically from the low E1 to high C4 and down, 4 beats on each note at 60 beats per minute with periodic 4 beat rests. Good luck!
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Author: SWTClarinet
Date: 2002-03-08 06:12
Hi Michael,
A colleague is playing the Copland here at school, and I've noticed in his playing that he has the same problem. There's only two things I can think of off the top of my head:
1. Half-hole as Wes pointed out, and include that right-hand pinky on the Eb key (it'll make it a little flat, but sometimes it helps on response.)
2. Do long tones focusing on the relaxation of the inner throat muscles. A lot of people say relax your neck, but there was a funny post earlier about what that leads to. Try doing twelfth studies starting on 4th space E by half-holing up to a #C, and continue chromatically upward to the #G(above staff) to F above. Try this at about 60 beats a minute, spending about 8 beats on each note. At first, do nothing but crescendo through both notes, then try crescendo-ing through the lower note and decrescendo-ing the high note. Be careful not to tense up the throat muscles, or else it pinches off the sound terribly. Stay relaxed. It takes a while to do, but works if you have the time.
Hope this helps!
Joey
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Author: graham
Date: 2002-03-08 14:09
Try practicing it on your A clarient. If the E is not a problem, then your B flat instrument is the culprit. No point working with defective equipment, so think of changing it.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-03-08 17:17
Michael -
Playing clarion G (on top of the staff) and opening the throat Ab key gives an infallible altissimo E. It's louder than the regular fingering, and you may have to shade a hole or two for intonation, but that's better than missing the note.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: dan powell
Date: 2002-03-09 02:58
my 1982 r13 has the same problem only the high e doesnt speak well .the rest of the horn is fine and i dont have this problem on any other clarinet .what up?
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Author: richfong
Date: 2002-03-09 13:47
let me guess....
Your clarinet is new.
Try, clean some of the hole in the upper join, some dirty dust will infect the tone of A5, E6.
And I also will "sing" the E6 in mind first.
Hope it help. Cheers.
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Author: Jim S.
Date: 2002-03-09 17:54
Try adding the right hand clarion C key rather than the Eb key. It may, on some clarinets, add a lot of richness to the high E with or without changing intonation depending on the fingering otherwise. That addition is often superior to the Eb key for altissimo notes on my R-13.
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