Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-10-03 05:57
... i find it's a lot easier to play the altissimo notes when the reed itself favours the upper register 1st & 2nd 8ve with ease, not flat, not sharp, just right
i also find it's easier if the reed's moist enough, warm enough and played in long enough so it's speaking freely -- a reed that's even the slightest bit dry, stiff, or cold, or hasn't got used to vibrating yet, or too woody in the wrong places -- all these make the altissimo range that much harder to play
exactly the same embouchure for High C should do High C#, D and Eb no sweat, usually need some embouchure adjustments to do High E & F
the reed tip & blend may need fine dusting adjustments depending on where the notes break or drop
for instance if High C to C# doesn't transition easily with exactly the same embouchure, maybe the reed tone by itself is playing a bit sharper than C so give it a general light thinning to bring it down to C -- and warning, maybe that's only on one blade not the other, turn the blades over to see which one is playing sharpish
or if the notes drop out between C# and D, perhaps only one of the quadrants in the tip-blend area is just a bit too heavy, and again perhaps only on one blade
or if it's tougher to get from D to Eb, then the blend at the apex may be a tad too thick or too close to the tip edge, again maybe only one blade
If High E & F are a real struggle, i find it's easier if the really thin area of tip is about 3mm deep rather than 2mm deep, measuring from top of apex-blend to tip edge along the centre-line
on most average reeds, rollover to about midway down the reed for High E & F is a technique that often works, there's a 'high spot' that sounds the higher frequencies easily without dropping out, squawking or screeching -- but finding it with ease the first time takes practice -- on many different reeds :-]
for High E & F it helps me to form embouchure =0= rather than ===
that's squeeze the sides and pucker up in the very middle rather than squeezing flat all across
beginner reeds are too soft and pithy to give high frequencies, fine grain does it best, all the other stuff in between depends, especially on how it's cut
before playing altissimo, practice the basic fingerings until they're reasonably fluent, makes it easier to concentrate on tuning -- and saves the eardrums [:-}
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