 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jerry
Date: 2000-08-26 00:14
Well folks, I received my Debut MP, Rovner lig. & Zonda 2.5 reeds today. Seems to take a lot more effort to get a sound from it than I imagined it would be. Seems as though I have to blow pretty hard ........how do these younsters get all that sound out of this thing? Of course I don't know the *proper* emboucher. Also, after less than 10 minutes of effort, I find that I've managed to chip/split the mouth end of the reed on the right side. any thoughts as to what I might be doing wrong?
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-08-26 00:27
Jerry: I would find someone to give you some help. Just the adjustment of the reed up or down can make a world of differance.
i just started a class at our local college and the first thing the instructor said is that i don't count. Not me. I don't count the beat. So after 8 months of playing two to three hours a day. It is back to 1 2 3 4 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. i have a real block in this area.
Anyhow hang in there no one said it would be easy just fun and a feeling that you are learning a new skill. it's always easier for the kids. They just don't know it.
peace
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-08-26 00:57
While I agree with Bob that you should find someone to show you how, here's something that you can try. It sounds like you might be putting too much lip pressure on the the reed.
1. Take just the mouthpiece (with the reed of course). For now, set the reed so that the tip of the reed is even with the tip of the mouthpiece. When you tighten the ligature screws, don't "crank them down." They should be just barely tight enough to keep the reed from slipping. Any tighter and it could "strangle" the reed.
2. Put the mouthpiece in your mouth and put no pressure whatsover on the reed for now. Just make sure that you seal all the way around so you don't leak out the sides of your mouth.
3. Now just blow with medium air pressure being sure (for now) to put no pressure on the reed.
A sound of some kind should come out. It will probably sound more like a duck call than a musical instrument but this is a good place to start. (Now if I can just get my spare mouthpiece, aka duck call, back from my husband).
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Author: jerry
Date: 2000-08-26 09:59
Dee, I can't play the Marine Corps Hymn on it yet but your suggestions helped to get a sound out of it. I'm still amazed at the amout of force (breath) that it takes.......bet I'm still doing something wrong. One thing I did notice was that when I cup my hands over the MP, sound tends to come a *little* more easily ......but still! Can't imagine playing this way for a couple of hours in a concert or band some where. SO! Better look for that teacher/coach, whatever, and find a horn for the MP.
Thanks, you guys.
~ jerry
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-08-26 12:20
Jerry - putting a clarinet on it will most probably help out the resistance immensely. High notes are more resistant than low notes.
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Author: ken
Date: 2000-08-26 20:33
Dee, that was absolutely splendid advice, applause/applause!
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Author: Lee
Date: 2000-08-27 08:15
A 2.5 sounds a bit stiff for an absolute beginnier. I started on a 2, and that was with brass playing experience. A softer reed and Dee's advice should do the trick.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-08-28 00:54
Two things:
1.Zonda is a very thick heel reed. It is about 3.2mm or more. Something like Vandoren's V12. Difficult to vibrate when it is set on a comparatively open faced mouthpiece. Traditional reed heels are about 2.8 mm. These reeds would be better for beginners. If you like Zonda quality, a traditionally shaped new Zonda-classico(I use now) is recommended.
2.Meticulous reed setting.
Symmetrical reed setting is needed to make it vibrate properly. Not only the tip, but also the heel position onto the reed rail should be checked. (The latter thing I personally recognized more than 10 years after I had started clarinet.) When fastening Rovner ligature, this position seems easily chaged without proper attention.
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Author: jerry
Date: 2000-08-28 01:20
The Zonda I have is listed as 2 1/2 (whatever that means). I don't know what the "heel" thickness is (nor what it should be) but it was recomended that I use a soft reed and Muncy Winds Music (where I bought the MP, lig. and reeds) said this was a soft reed. Thanks for your advice........things seem to get more complicated with this "C" business -- I hope it starts to sort itself out pretty soon.
~ jerry
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Author: Meredith H
Date: 2000-08-28 01:49
One of my friends from the brass band I play with asked me to give her a bit of help with her clarinet playing. She has self taught herself the clarinet and was experiencing some difficulty getting any notes above the break. She brought it in with her on the weekend and you should have seen the way she had her clarinet in her mouth, it was the worst embouchure I have ever seen. What is even scarier is that she actually has a clarinet student that she is trying to teach!! She basically just stuck her clarinet in her mouth like a srinking straw, her bottom lip completely protruded, there was absolutely no stability at all. The reed she had was a rico 1.5 and it sounded just dreadful so I gave her one of my No 3 GC reeds that felt like tissue paper to me but sounded like a plank of wood when she blew it. I corrected her embouchure and will now find some reading material for her so she doesn't ruin her student. This lady is an excellent cornet player so I don't doubt that she can teach her student music but I think she should educate herself a bit more about the clarinet before she tries to teach it.
This is a bit off track isn't it? Your 2.5 reed may be a bit hard so why not try something a bit softer. You also may not be placing enough of the mouthpiece in your mouth thereby crushing the reed so it can't vibrate. You shouldn't feel worn out from blowing a clarinet. Playing warms me up but it never feels like it is too much effort.
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Author: Jim
Date: 2000-09-03 02:43
Our community band director who has retired after 35 years+ teaching (trumpet major, clarinet minor) recently offered the opinion that the reason those awful mouthpieces are sold with most horns is that thay are set up to allow any beginner to make a sound with the instrument. (This was in the context of chiding anyone who hasn't moved up to a better mouthpiece to do so.) First time I had heard this, but it makes sense. I suspect many clarinetists (like me) started with one of those awful mouthpieces and something like a #1.5 Rico reed. (They cost .25 each in 1961 and I went through quite a few!) And yes, even with a clarinet attached it first sounds like a cross between a duck call and a fog horn!
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