 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lisa
Date: 2003-11-27 16:17
I had a frustrating Thanksgiving musical experience this morning at church.
We had a college flute player (who plays ok for not being a music major). and the organist who occasionally switched to keyboard for a few contemporary songs.
There were more pitches than in a baseball game---yikes!
I turned to 440 with the tuner, making me pretty much in tune with the keyboard. The temperature of the church affects the pipe organ, and I couldn't figure out whether I was sharp or flat to the organ BECAUSE, we add said flautist to the mix. She has the tone and technique, but not a good ear for intonation---grrr!!!
My question is, should I have found the pitch of the flute for a good instrumental blend, or should I have found the pitch of the organ and have been out of tune with the flute. (We were playing differnt parts, but occasionally had that nasty unison note.)
It was really hard for me to tell how to adjust my pitch, since I felt like I was between a sharp flute and a flat pipe organ. (A chilly church would make the organ flat, right?)
I guess I'm asking for future reference--Christmas is coming!
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Author: Fred
Date: 2003-11-27 17:22
Ideally, those issues would have come up at a rehearsal - but I know that's not always the way it works for church functions. At the very least, someone needs to take charge, decide what the pitch is going to be, and have everyone get there. That might mean you need to carry a shorter barrel than you currently think necessary if you end up needing to tune to the big box of whistles.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-11-27 17:24
You, the organist, and the flutist should get together before the start of the performance and get together on pitch. Since the organ probably is not adjustable, you and the flute need to move toward the organ's pitch. For those pieces where the keyboard is used, you both need to tune to the keyboard. The rule of thumb in an ensemble is to tune to the instrument that has the LEAST flexible tuning ability. In this case that's either the keyboard or organ. The instrument with the most flexibility of the four mentioned here is the flute. They can adjust pitch not only by pulling or pushing the head joint but can make substantial changes simply by rotating the lip plate closer to or further from the mouth. Since the flute is the most flexible, it should come to you in pitch not the other way around.
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2003-11-28 13:17
Try to get together with the key board person and find out what pitches the keyboard and organ are actually playing. A tuner could be used to monitor the organ at various temperatures. You (with the aid of a tuner) could then practice intonation at home at pitches of the keyboard and organ. This will let you know approximately how much to pull out, push in, or use a different barrel, etc. for the various pitches you will be playing at. Once you feel comfortable with your intonation, you can the "pass on" the info to the flute player. Then at the next practice you can all work on intonation to bring it together.
Our church orchestra has an ongoing intonation problem caused by tuning when we are warmed up, but then sometimes sitting 20 or 30 minutes during the service before picking up the instruments, and having to play in tune immediately on cold (or at least cool) instruments. The more experienced players are able to handle this by either pushing in slightly or "lipping up" or both, but some of the players with less experience frequently play flat until they are warmed up again. Oh well, it still beats canned music. Whether it is due to tin ears, or extreme politeness, the audience never seems to complain. (At least not publicly.)
John
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Author: AJDar
Date: 2003-11-28 15:55
I keep a Clik barrel in my case for church orchestra. It allows quick adjustments to compensate for the problem of playing, sitting for 10-20 minutes, then playing "cold".
Also, how many in your group have individual tuners? We've found that using tuners with the clip attached to our instruments helps us make our own adjustments when we don't have the luxury of re-tuning as a group during the service.
Darlene
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-11-28 19:04
From what you describe, Lisa, it sounds as though you had little, if any, rehearsal time. I'd rather decline the invitation to play than go into it almost 'cold' like that and risk a really bad performance.
In 'my' church we usually use instrumentals as prelude numbers or during the priliminaries, sing-along, special music etc. - while they're still 'warmed up' from a minimal twenty minute rehearsal period. Our fixed tuning reference is the (musically-unforgiving  ) piano.
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: Lisa
Date: 2003-11-29 04:48
John,
>>some of the players with less experience frequently play flat until they are warmed up again.
Right. And our sharp flautist began each song in tune after the instrument cooled down between songs, only to quickly rise sharp sometime during the playing of 5 verses to each hymn.
Ron,
>>From what you describe, Lisa, it sounds as though you had little, if any, rehearsal time.
You're close. We rehearsed with the choir for a good half hour before the service. Oh, I think I also forgot to mention that the choir room downstairs has its own keyboard, which may or may not have the capability to bend the pitch at the touch of a dial. So I'm not sure what pitch we tuned to then. We also spent a lot of time stopping and starting, and never did play every verse of every song in rehearsal.
The songs were easy to play, and straightforward. I had played most of them before. That wasn't the problem. As Dee said above, the flute's pitch is the most flexible of the four instruments. I had to lay out for a couple of measures to make sure I wasn't the problem. I could adjust and find the organ's pitch.
I know you can't stop in the middle of verse 3 and say, "Could you pull your headjoint out about a half an inch?" (I exaggerate). I like the suggestion of putting a tuner by each player, and finding out exactly how flat the organ is, and adjusting on organ songs. Come to think of it, *I* checked with a tuner before going out into the sanctuary (since I'd tried a second reed that I'd liked better), and the flute play did not. Oops.
Notes to self:
1.) Don't change reeds between rehearsal and performance.
2.) Don't tune the clarinet (with reeed #2) to the tuner when the flute player has already gone into the church. Just follow her out and ask to tune to the instrument the director will be playing first.
There will be a rehearsal or two before Christmas (upstairs in the church), so I'll be able to practice in the same temperature, on the same instruments as during the actual service.
Post Edited (2003-11-29 04:49)
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