 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Bellflare
Date: 2004-05-24 03:35
OK this sounds easy, but I get soooo many differing answers that I thought I would ask here...and yes I did do a search, but I want to get some newer takes.
1. What EXACTLY do clarinetists mean when they speak of the "focus of the sound."?
2. Bending the one...what does it mean and how is it achieved.?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdennyclarinet
Date: 2004-05-24 09:36
1. The word "focused" baffled me for a while too until I learned to understand and appreciate the way in which the air flow enters the clarinet. You can even experiment on your own with this. Play with your cheeks puffed out and with your tongue down low. Listen to how shallow, spread out, and "unfocused" the sound is. The air is not traveling directly into the instrument. The energy of the air column dies as the tongue is lowered and as the air bounces off your cheeks BEFORE entering the clarinet. Then, literally "focus" your air stream to travel more directly into the instrument. Raise your tongue and bring your cheeks back in. Compare your sounds now. Listen to how the direct air stream that is uninterrupted creates a much more solid and "focused" sound.
From Ridenour's "The Educator's Guide to the Clarinet":
"Some of the words clarinetists use to describe the characteristic shape of the clarinet tone are 'centered,' 'focused,' 'concentrated,' and 'well-defined.' It is perhaps best to begin with the word focused since this concept is crossreferenced with the sense of sight. Every child knows when a picture is blurry and when it is clear and this makes it easy for them to distinguish a blurry, uncentered sound from a well-centered, focused one."
"An easy way to help them make this distinction is to present a few examples of tones, while asking the students to close their eyes and pretend the tones they hear are two different photographs. Ask them which sound 'picture' is in focus and which one is blurred."
"Once they become comfortable with the idea that they can actually hear shapes with their ears, it is easier to get them to hear and appreciate the shape of a professional's tone and begin listening critically to their own."
"You can continue teaching them to listen to clarinet shape by playing some contrasting examples of clarinet styles. For instance, the style of an old-fashioned Dixieland clarinet player like Johnny Dodds juxtaposed with Harold Wright, Karl Leister or some other great classical clarinetists. It should not be difficult for most students to distinguish between the loose, diffused, unfocused nature of the Dixieland player's tone and the pristine, focused tonal shape that someone like Harold Wright produces."
2. Bending the tone. I'm sure you could get people to discuss this for days. Think about the clarinet solo in Rhapsody in Blue. You have the low trill then the slide up to high "C". If you haven't heard this solo, find a recording of it. Anyway, practical application and experimentation are a must to understand this concept. Bending the pitch literally means that you are playing a note with a certain fingering, but then you lower (or raise) the pitch without changing your fingering. This is mostly achieved with the position of the tongue, the direction of the air, and the openness of the throat. Try playing a high "C" then with your tongue think of saying "EEEE YAHHHH". The more drastically you move your tongue down and open the throat the more of a dip you will get in the sound. This is a preliminary exercise. Try first by bending a half step, then whole step, etc. Once you can bend down quite a ways, you can try to bend upwards. Start from a clarinet "G". Hold this note out and begin lifting fingers up towards your high "C". Try to fight the nature of the clarinet wanting to move pitches upwards. Use your tongue and throat to try to keep the pitch at a "G" even though your fingers are moving up. As you fight the nature of the instrument, you will begin to hear a sliding sound up to the high "C". These are the first two exercises I was shown when I was first learning how to bend pitches. Give it a try and see what happens. Also, it wouldn't hurt to look for some jazz clarinet recordings. Andrew Firth does a lot of pitch bending.
BME, MM, DMA
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-05-24 12:50
For some of the MOST beautiful glisses I've heard played in recordings, check out some Artie Shaw songs. THAT guy did some AMAZING stuff with the clarinet.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2004-05-24 17:23
kdennyclarinet: Enjoyed your response!
I use pitch bending a lot, primarily using embouchure variations. Tongue repositioning can do the trick, but the sound may become less than focused (good to know what focused means, eh?). That's one reason my reeds are always rather soft (usually #2).
I cannot do it but have heard The Star-Spangled Banner played on a Clarinet with no movement of the fingers. Now THAT is pitch bending to the extreme.
Regards,
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-05-24 18:29
Me too, kdenny and JMcA, I have used the low-pitch attack on slow blues Dixie, and recently on a "dirty" blues bass cl solo !, trying to "aggravate" the others by SLOW recovery to pitch. FUN, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: hans
Date: 2004-05-24 18:59
Re: "trying to "aggravate" the others by SLOW recovery to pitch"..... You are a bad man Mr. Berger! :-)
Hans
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Clarinetist
Date: 2004-05-25 09:35
Ken Shaw wrote:
>I have heard Charles Neidich bend a clarion high C (2nd ledger line) down a full octave.
My teacher can do bent notes pretty good also. He must have learned it from Neidich. You see: Neidich is his former teacher.
Btw, You should listen Sharon Kam´s recording of the Copland´s concerto. He does some great stuff also.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2004-05-25 12:05
Clarinetist wrote:
> Btw, You should listen Sharon Kam´s recording of the
> Copland´s concerto. He does some great stuff also.
She ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif) ...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: allencole
Date: 2004-05-25 15:13
1- Also try OOO-WAH if EEE-YAH doesn't give you what you need. The former involves more lowering of the tongue and works on the harmonica, where there are neither embouchure nor tone holes to assist in the bending process. It can also work as an opening manuever for EE-YAH.
EEE-YAH seems to me more appropriate for taking that gliss over the second break into altissimo--which can be a very interesting exercise in itself. Feel free to employ your RH side-keys when you enter this region. (but fingers will still be "on" the tone holes)
This is not to take away from KDenny's suggested exercises. They should train you nicely.
2 - On Neidich's (and his protege's) bending of thumb C down an octave. I presume that we are not using the no-finger definition of 'bend.' If he can drop a thumb C an octave with nothing but his mouth , I would be seriously impressed.
Allen Cole
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-05-25 16:11
Allen -
Nothing but his mouth. I heard him do it, and it *was* seriously impressive.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-05-25 20:04
allencole,
Quote:
2 - On Neidich's (and his protege's) bending of thumb C down an octave. I presume that we are not using the no-finger definition of 'bend.' If he can drop a thumb C an octave with nothing but his mouth , I would be seriously impressed.
It can seriously be done without use of your fingers..I did teach it myself and it seems to be very easy when you hear it... wait it is really easy!
I do nothing more than "lowering my voice" and play with the tension of my lips and have learnt to controle it this way...
I think i say wiieeuuuoooooo or something like that.
Eddy
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
