 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SVSorna05
Date: 2003-10-29 02:23
Hi, I seem to have this problem with playing consistantly around 20 cents flat on most of the notes on my horn. What coulld cause this. ais it my mouth? I currently play on an E&S K Clarinet with a rovner ligature stock barrell and a handmade Lomax elite mpc. I seem to play flat on a vandoren 5rvlyre mpc as well. There is nothing mechanically wrong with the horn. I have a pretty good idea its in my embechure (sp?) Does anyone know any techniques that can raise the pitch. I firm up and all that seems to do is clench the sound. Anything would be great thanx!
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2003-10-29 03:41
Make sure you're giving good support to the tone. Sometimes a fresh reed helps. As reeds go bad I think they tend to play flat, at least that's my experience. Also, try increasing the air flow (velocity) without necessarily blowing harder. I'm sure others may have additional advice.
Leonard
Post Edited (2003-10-29 03:43)
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-10-29 13:23
If you are flat throughout the range of your instrument, get a shorter barrel to bring you up to pitch.
If you are flat on some, in tune on others, and occassionally sharp, then your reed is probably too soft to keep a solid tone.
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Author: sinkdraiN
Date: 2003-10-29 17:24
This may not apply to you so take it for what its worth... I recently had a young student who played 50 cents sharp. After some experimentation she played sharp on every horn and every reed. It went away immediately when we replaced the stock no name mouthpiece with a hite premiere.
Again, this may not apply to you
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-10-29 18:41
Flatness of this nature could be the result of swelling inwardly of the tone holes. This is quite rare, but has been seen by me with some students.
My former teacher Harold Wright would do undercutting on his own clarinets in order to bring pitch up....if this the case I reccommend you find an experience repairman with expertise in tuning clarinets.
David Dow
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Author: Rick Williams
Date: 2003-10-29 22:35
Just a couple of questions and thoughts.
Have you always played flat on the instrument or is this something new? If it's new, then something has changed...the question is what.
If it just started to occur, then what if anything have you changed? If nothing, then look towards the instrument itself. Humidity something.
If someone else plays your clarinet setup, is it still flat? If so, then look for a shorter barrel.
How consistant is your playing? By that I mean are you a progressing student whose embrouchure and technique are changing fairly rapidly or are you more experienced with a fairly stable technique.
Check your MP. I know that sounds almost trite, but I recently went through massive fits because I could barely play an A5 on my clarinet. Below was fine, above was mostly ok, but the A5 was twitchy as heck and it turned out that my 70 day old $60+ MP had warped. I don't know if that can cause playing flat, but I'd look anyway.
It's been mentioned, but try newer reeds, stronger reeds, whatever just try something different to see if that improves, worsens or corrects the situation. If you recently switched reeds, could that be a part of the problem? I know when my reeds get weaker, I go thin and sharp, but that's me.
I can relate to you on this because it can get frustrating and expensive tracking down these problems. When I'm having problems I first look at myself...what am I doing that could be causing this because that is free. Then I move on to cheap solutions, new reeds for example. If it's still a problem then a quick check by a tech (get to know your tech..buy him pizza.compliment his good looks and talent..be a friend!). Then if all else fails look to new stuff like MP's and barrels. It also helps to have a good teacher who can work with you. Of course, that didn't help me because after a couple of sessions bitching about the A5 and finally me discovering the MP problem, she goes..."wow that is really warped!" Well Duh, no fooling!....BG!
Good luck
RW
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