 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2000-09-15 19:34
Hi everyone. I'm new to this BB and to the clarinet, so I'd better intoduce myself before I go any further. My name is Rachel and I live in Leeds in England. I started to rent my first clarinet two weeks ago, and I'm getting on OK. I start group lessons at the end of the month, but I couldn't resist playing with it before then! My clarinet is a Buffet Crampon B-12, with standard mouthpiece, and I'm currently using the size 1.5 Rico Reeds that came with it. I can already read music, so I had a bit of a head start.
But now to my problems. My notes in the Chalameau (sp?) register sound a bit 'breathy' - is this because I'm using such a soft reed? I'm also a bit squeaky occasionally moving through the break, but that's probably to be expected. But I do find that this worsens after I've been playing for a while and my clarinet gets a bit full of saliva (sorry!) - is there any remedy to this other than taking it to bits and running the pull-through through? And finally, tonguing. I've been reading previous posts on this, but it sounds far better when I play without tonguing. When I use my tongue, all the notes seem to start with a "pphhtthhtt" sort of sound - am I doing it all completely wrong, or will this just get better with practice?
Anyway, thanks for your time, and I must say that I've found all the advice on here really useful, and I'd be grateful for any suggestions you could give me.
Thanks
Rachel
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-09-15 20:04
Rachel,
It takes quite a bit of time to become proficient at tonguing and such. Give yourself plenty of time. The stock mouthpiece really isn't very good, so I recommend you replace it with an inexpensive but good mouthpiece - the Hite Premiere, Fobes Debut, Pyne Polycrystal are all good ones.
The couple of students I've worked with have used 2 1/2 Mitchell Lurie reeds with those mouthpieces with no problem at all, but i really can't say whether the reed you're currently using is too soft for the mouthpice you have - I've only tried a stock Buffet b12 mouthpiece once, and it was so bad I chucked it in the trash.
Don't worry about the "break" as of yet; work on have nice, big, full chalumeau tones first. If you can get the lower notes really nice first, the next range will be so much the better.
Have fun, keep practicing, and join us often!
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2000-09-15 20:08
Hello Rachel,
Welcome to the clarinet world. Don't worry if you can't cross the break yet. You should practise the chalumeau notes for at least three weeks before you start on the higher notes.
Tonguing is a problem at the start. It will sound awful compared with not tonguing. But you must persist. It is absolutely essential that you learn to tongue. If you don't, you'll never get anywhere. Use the tip of your tongue against the tip of the reed, and keep at it! You'll get there eventually.
Buy a Vandoren 1.5 reed, it is much better than the Rico ones, which everyone seems to agree are the worst around. It is also slightly harder than the Rico, because Vandoren reeds are about half a strength harder than Rico.
Keep coming back here for advice. We have lots of it.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-09-15 22:42
All of these will get better with practice. Breathiness goes away with better air support. Even experienced players embouchure (that's the name for how you hold your mouth etc and the muscles involved) get tired after a certain period of time and when it does you don't play as well. Tonguing takes time to master and do cleanly. It is a necessary skill so keep at it.
I'd recommend getting better reeds though. Try Mitchell Lurie or Rico Royal.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-09-16 05:45
I agree with all the above, especialy a better mouth piece. I might add too that your tongue is a muscle and its now being trained to do something it wasn't originaly designed to do. It will feel quite awkward at first, maybe tickle a bit, and tone may suffer a bit, but it will get better with practice. Learning to tongue properly later after playing a while is, I feel much harder because the coordination is not up to speed with your reading and fingering ability. I am one of those who learn the hard way as I started of wrong.
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Author: Jim
Date: 2000-09-17 04:51
Saliva is the downfall of all wind instruments. The only true solution is taking up strings or percussion. (Don't do that!) Most woodwind players develop the technique of opening the key of a "flooded" pad and blowing toward the pad/ hole from the outside. Tough to be descrete or quiet doing this. There are other more sophisticated methods, a search of this board might turn up some info.
Best of luck to you! I started playing in 1961 in school, stoped for a while, but picked it up again 9 years ago. It is a delightful instrument!
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Author: Rene
Date: 2000-09-20 05:43
Reminds me of my own start not long ago. All I can say is that things will become better bye and bye. Keep trying. The sqeaks are a matter of control, and the air sound goes away with stronger reed control.
You might find it funny to read my own experiences on
http://mathsrv.ku-eichstaett.de/MGF/homes/grothmann/Klarinette
(The link may be broken in two lines ?-)
Rene
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