 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: csusbclarinetman
Date: 2003-12-12 04:53
This may sound dumb, but what is a good way to carefully to tune to piano? I seem to have a problem hearing the difference in pitch most of the time. Help please!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-12-12 05:30
Try to make your sound fit into the sound of whatever you are tuning to. Make it a color embellishing the piano sound, rather than a separate instrument.
More down to earth, experiment. Play with the piano, then try pulling out, then pushing in, etc. until you start to hear when it's right. If in doubt, pull it out... and if that doesn't work, push in instead.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-12 05:39
Listen for the vibrations. When you are off pitch with any other instrument, there will be a slight vibration in the tone. Like a vibrato. If you can't tell if you are sharp/flat or not, pull out a bit. If the vibrations in the tone come "slower" to the ear and aren't as many, you are better in tune. If it makes the vibrations worse, you've made the problem worse and have to go the opposite way. Sort of a guess and check, but if you have the time, may as well tune as well as you can.
Once you're in tune, as Alex says above, you and the piano will be together creating a new color to the sound. It won't sound like a piano and a clarinet trying to play an instrument, but will sound like one instrument, with a tone of neither piano nor clarinet.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: KENOLD
Date: 2003-12-12 06:48
Plugging one ear helps me to hear the difference between me and what I am tuning to. You have probably seen vocalists do this.
Ken
Learn to perform even the things you don't like, as if you love to do them.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Pam H.
Date: 2003-12-12 11:18
I do what Alexi does, listen for the wave sound in the vibration. If you hear no wave you are in tune. This is also an easy way to check throughout a performance.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2003-12-12 14:29
Just for practice, since you can do it by yourself, you can get a tuner that generates tones, and intentionally play sharp and flat to get used to listening for the beats (vibrations). I have a korg 30 that works fine for this.
Besides learning to listen and adjust your barrel, it is also useful to practice "lipping" up and down since that's what you'll have to do during performances, unless you are one of the few that has a clarinet with perfect intonation.
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bassclarinetchicka88
Date: 2003-12-13 00:48
what i always do when im not sure whether im sharp or flat is bend the pitch down so much that you are obviously flat, and then bring it up gradually until it sounds in tune.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-12-13 01:11
With the piano, it's often difficult to hear the vibrations, due to the differences in volume, color, and sustainability of sound. Be careful that you don't think "I'm in tune" just because you can't hear beats (waves) between you and the piano.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-13 01:47
That's true. A piano can't sustain a constant volume nor crescendo to match your volume. You can continually blow air while a piano only has that initial strike so if you don't hear it right away the piano will fade until you can't hear it at all. Hmmm. This poses a problem. Cause you could be in tune with a tuner, but the piano could be slightly out. Maybe you could cross reference it with the tuner. Have the piano strike an F (our G) and see what it registers on the tuner. Then try to have your clarinet match whatever the piano's performance was.
Of course this obviously takes more time and is pretty absurd. But that's me and my math mind. If A is in tune with B, and C is in tune with B, then you can conclude that A is in tune with C!
If you want a ven diagram let me know. And I'll email you one. ![[right]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie8.gif)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-12-13 02:43
I think a better course of action is to train your ears for intonation, so that you can identify whether you are flat or sharp when you do hear yourself with piano. This takes a while, and playing with a tuner as suggested above helps a lot. Also, playing in an ensemble should improve your sense of pitch, but only if you are actively aware of intonation. Keep in mind, also, that intonation varies depending on the harmonic context of the piece, especially with equal-tempered instruments.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
