 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tenorchick
Date: 2003-12-03 00:45
I am playing the e-flat clarinet for a piece at school, and my tone does not seem near as a nice as that of my B-flat clarinet tone. What should i do differently with my embouchure to improve the tone? Any help at all is appreciated.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-12-03 16:15
Any embouchure modifications should be the result of trials (tighter, looser, narrower, wider, insert more or less, etc.) to discover what may help. There's a great likelihood that your embouchure is not the culprit, however. The Eefer is higher pitched than a Bb Clarinet, and the bore is narrower, so they just will not sound the same at all. As an example in brasses, although the bore tapers are similar, there's no way to make a trumpet sound like a trombone.
Regards,
John
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-12-03 16:24
I rarely disagree with John McA, but I have heard recordings of some fine professional orchestras in which the Eb clarinet does sound very much like a Bb clarinet (maybe a bit on the bright side, but no more bright than, say, Anthony Gigliotti's Bb clarinet sound).
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-12-03 17:24
David, if we never disagreed, one of us would be unnecessary.
And I do agree with you in part -- that sound takes an exceptional Eb Clarinet as well as an exceptional player.
But, oh please, don't tell me you've heard a trumpet player who sounds like Glenn Miller.
Regards,
John
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2003-12-03 18:13
Come on guys, back to topic. In our clarinet choir one of our members bought a brand new Eb soprano, with the same complaint of its shrill sound. Our wonderful Contra-Bass player, who seems to be able to play whatever comes into his hands and must be a close personal friend of some music store owner or other, brought along some new mouthpieces, barrels, and a kind of extension that goes right above the bell for her to try out. She's tried out these gadgets, and a few of them have really helped the sound to mellow out. So maybe some experimentation would help?
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-12-03 19:27
Aw gee Mom, you're always making us get back on topic whenever we start having fun! Well.....to answer the original question, my humble response would be, there really isn't anything radically different between Bb and Eb clarinet embouchures, so I wouldn't really look to the embouchure as the cause of poor tone. Perhaps some equipment changes, as Brenda suggests, are in order?
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-12-03 20:05
Brenda ... does that mean my e-flat writting is getting some angelic tone qualities (not that I'm suggested it wouldn't!)
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-12-04 07:15
I rarely disagree with David S, but while the Bb and Eb embouchures may not be "radically different," the Eb mouthpiece is smaller. Thus it must be treated differently in the mouth. As the Eb MP is shorter, it should not be inserted so far... etc.
Regards,
John
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2003-12-04 15:48
To achieve a sound similar to the sound of the Bb clarinet on the Eb takes years of practicing and experimenting. I don't think it's preferable to sound exactly like a Bb because the Eb has a character of it's own that you want to hear. But I understand what you mean in terms of control and focus of the sound.
The Eb is a smaller instrument and therefore you would need a more focused embuschure and higher air speed.
I don't know what mouthpiece you have but I usually recommend a Vandoren B40 if you don't have so much experience. It's designed to have a semi-dark sound without using too heavy reeds.
Unfortunately the usual Eb clarinet reeds are too thin, the stem doesn't have enough wood to protuce the sound you would like. I usually recommend using Vandoren White Master on Eb. # 2 1/2 or 3 would be ok. They are recommended by Vandoren as Eb reeds as well. Just cut them off to the length of an Eb reed.
Have fun
Alphie
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