 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarisax
Date: 2003-10-24 02:31
hello. i am a student in high school and have attended PA governor's school and i also had pretty good luck at districts and regionals and all of that stuff last year. well, i really want to do good again this year but recently i've had a problem with my tone. my private lesson teacher says it sounds "brassy." it seems to be worse when i tongue, especially at the end of my audition solo. i dont know what to do and she didnt really seem to know either. she just played how it should sound, and of course her tone was dark and round, and then she said i should do it like that. well, i practiced for about 3 hours tonight playing slow long tones, and then tonguing and staccato stuff at varying speeds. it seems like no matter what i do i just dont have that supposedly "great" tone that i had just a month ago. i play on a buffet r13 from the 1960's and have a richard hawkins B mouthpiece. i am using vandoren v12 size 4 reeds. i dont know if i just blew the reeds out or what, but something is wrong either with me or my set-up, so any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. and i was also wondering if mitchell laurie reeds or any other brand would help, my band director plays mitchel laurie he really likes them. thank you.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-10-24 02:48
Lighten up on the reed, and see what's up...
You could accomplish this with another box, or sanding a bit of the existing
stash... I think you're pressing pretty hard to make a heavy reed fit.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-10-24 13:11
If your mouthpiece has a relatively short facing curve, it could have a hard edge to the sound, a "brassiness" or brittle quality. You might try going through one of our favorite clarinetist cathartic rituals --- trying out mouthpieces. (Hey, it's never our fault, always blame the equipment first!)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-10-24 14:10
clarisax -
I can't tell exactly from your posting, but you seem not to have tried a few new reeds. Any reed starts to sound metallic as it reaches the end of its life, and if you've simply been rotating a few reeds, all of them may be ready for replacement.
The first thing to do is get a new box of Vandoren V12 4s and see how they play. You might try other reeds, too. I've found Daniel's and Gonzalez FoF to be good.
Another possibility is that you may have gotten a ding at a critical point on your mouthpiece. Look at the lay carefully, particularly at the corners of the tip.
Finally, your teacher is in the best position to tell what the problem is. Let her play your setup. I've done this all my life and never gotten anything worse than rabies :-) If she doesn't want to risk getting your diseases, at least have her put her reed on your mouthpiece and instrument, and, after washing and drying it, test your reed on her setup.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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