 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: hupsop
Date: 2009-01-26 22:43
Hello
I'm an beginnerish clarinetist, I've been playing for about 1½ years now (before that around 10 years of guitar so I'm not beginner with music though). I'd say my tone is good or at least decent given that I've not played for that long, but I noticed quite dramatic improvement after this excercise I've been doing so I'm looking now for some ideas to implement this better & gain understanding of the issue. What I'm doing is playing long notes and singing the fifth at the same time (so it produces kind of buzz effect). I was just basically fooling around with this and then I noticed that after a few minutes of this when I resume my normal playing, the sound is really OPEN, it's really something. I've been using this as a part of my routine, but the effect kind of diminishes after I start doing other stuff, probably because I switch my attention more to other things.
So what am I actually doing here? How can I implement this effect more consciously to my playing? Does anybody use this as a part of their routine? If not, should they maybe?
Any ideas appreciated
Juho
Post Edited (2009-01-26 22:48)
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Author: pelo_ensortijado
Date: 2009-01-27 08:46
i use this method fromtime totime.
its a great way to make the airsupport steady. but be careful that you dont spread your focus to much.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2009-01-27 10:42
it sounds like you're opening your throat and playing with relaxed tongue position, almost similar to saxophone technique.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-01-27 13:40
When you sing into the clarinet along with the note you're playing, the buzzy effect you hear is a technique that jazz saxophone players call "growling." It's used to add drama to a phrase and is beginning to creep into modern classical composers' vocabulary a little bit. If you see the instruction "growl" on a modern piece of music, singing into the instrument while playing the written note is the way to get it.
Growling works on any single-reed instrument. The larger (the more low-pitched) the instrument is, the more dramatic the growl. Growling is easier on the instrument's lower notes. On saxophones, growling sounds louder and has more of a rattle than on clarinet.
On my instruments, I've found I get the biggest, dirtiest growl if I don't try to sing a clean fifth interval, which tends to give a somewhat buzzy acoustic bass rather than a good growl. If I sing a random howl, that's when I get the wall-rattler. (Anyhow, I sing about as well as a goat, and if I try to sing a clean fifth for an acoustic bass, what comes out of my mouth instead might be just about anything, so I might as well go for the growl on purpose instead of by accident....)
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-01-27 15:05
>> When you sing into the clarinet along with the note you're playing, the buzzy effect you hear is a technique that jazz saxophone players call "growling." <<
It can be a growl, but that depends a lot on what exactly you do and how exactly you do it. It is possible (and sometimes used this way) to sing while playing without creating a growl at all.
>> It's used to add drama to a phrase <<
I can add drama, sometimes, in a specific context. It can onso be used as as a critical/integral part, as opposed to add "something" to something that already exists. One example I'm remembering right now is when the player actually plays a two part melody, one part he is singing.
>> The larger (the more low-pitched) the instrument is, the more dramatic the growl. Growling is easier on the instrument's lower notes. <<
Sometimes, but not necessarily. Again this depends a lot on what and how you sing into the instrument. Sometimes it's actually the higher notes that can sound a lot more "growly" (and sometimes not).
>> If I sing a random howl, that's when I get the wall-rattler. <<
It is a very good idea to try to radnomly sing into the instrument, and the same with many other techniques. You can discover a lot of great ideas by doing random things. But it is also a good idea to develop control to be able to make a lot of different things with control, one example can be to sing into the instrument in a way that isn't a growl.
If you are interested I can email you a sample from a piece that actually has a couple of ways to sing into the instrument, and is also very good piece and example.
Nitai
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2009-01-27 17:48
Some flutists use singing/playing as a brief warmup to quickly improve tone on a given day. As a flutist and clarinetist I find the flute warmup varies more day to day. Some days the tone is just not there. Doing some singing helps. I would actually suggest singing the same pitch as you are trying to play. You're trying to make it resonant and ringing so in one way it makes sense to voice it with the same pitch. A little time spent here is adequate....one minute or two is enough to address the issue.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: MBrad
Date: 2009-01-27 21:07
LeilaLoban wrote:
"When you sing into the clarinet along with the note you're playing, the buzzy effect you hear is a technique that jazz saxophone players call 'growling.'"
I think what the original poster was talking about more accurately translates into "singing while playing" than "growling," especially since he/she has been aiming for particular pitches (as opposed to an ornamental effect). Incidentally, the technique is certainly not limited to either jazz music or the saxophone (nor does it necessarily originate from that).
LeilaLoban wrote:
"It's used to add drama to a phrase and is beginning to creep into modern classical composers' vocabulary a little bit. If you see the instruction "growl" on a modern piece of music, singing into the instrument while playing the written note is the way to get it."
If by "beginning to creep into modern classical composers' vocabulary a little bit," you mean "Brahms didn't use it," you'd be right. But the effect has been called for by many composers writing for clarinet since at least half a century. In my experience it has never been something particularly unusual, though certainly rarer than, say, fluttertonguing.
As far as using it as an excercise--if it causes you to become conscious of the inner workings of your throat and vocal cavity, why not? The more control you have over that, the wider your tonal vocabulary.
Post Edited (2009-01-27 21:08)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-01-28 01:24
Singing while playing has long been a standard part of french horn technique. If you get the pitch right, you can produce a difference tone and play three-part chords. Weber called for this in the cadenza of his horn concertino.
The jazz trumpeter Charles ("Cootie") Williams became famous in Duke Ellington's band for his "growl" playing.
I've never been able to growl effectively on clarinet, but it's certainly possible, and anything that helps you play more freely is worth doing.
Ken Shaw
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