 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2009-03-31 05:18
How would you go about attempting to blend the many different tones in a section composed of different brands and quality levels? I realize that there is only so much you can do to make an old beat up Noblet sound like a great R13...trust me, I found it impossible for me to produce a good tone on one that someone has in my section. Obviously, not everyone can afford to go buy an R13, or even E11 for that matter. What can we do to help fix this problem? It is a major source of our troubles at the moment.
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Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2009-03-31 05:51
I'd say intonation and volume in a wind band are the more crucial factors here, and can take care of any perceived differences due to brand.
Try this: Have only the first chair player play a note, at a good solid volume. The second chair player then plays the same note, but not as loud as the first. If he can hear himself at all, he's playing too loud or out of tune. When he's in successfully, the third chair is allowed to enter, and so on down the line. By the time you get to last chair, the volume will probably be very very quiet, and that's ok.
This works great during tuning, and is applicable during actual repertoire as well. The goal should be for everyone except first chair to play as loud as they can without actually hearing themselves. First chair determines the volume and pitch. When different sections are playing different notes (e.g. the 1sts have something different than the 2nds, etc.), the top of each section determines volume and pitch, taking into account what they hear from an appropriate source (e.g. first chair, or some other instrument playing the same part). The important part is that everyone who is NOT first chair should strive to never actually hear themselves playing.
Over time, as they get used to it, section players can play progressively louder until they're almost as loud as the first chair player.
Clarinet is an excellent blending instrument. You can blend a clarinet with just about any non-percussion instrument together successfully if they're in tune and complementary in volume... trouble with a beat-up Noblet and a new R13 is more likely an intonation/volume issue that simply manifests ever so slightly more obviously because of instrument differences.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-03-31 07:05
> Obviously, not everyone can afford to go buy an R13, or even E11 for that
> matter.
I usually get the squeaks when I hear statements such as these. I then have a hunch that this isn't really about solving a problem but rather about mobbing people away from their chosen equipment or maybe even out of band. ![[mad]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie9.gif)
Having said that, a halfway advanced player will be able to blend on whatever clarinet he/she is playing. It's about shaping the colour of sound in your mouth cavity and not so much the instrument as such.
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Ben
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2009-03-31 07:22
TRUST ME, I've played these other beat up instruments and I find it totally impossible to produce the same tone, or even an acceptable on for myself, as I do on my own setup. I was implying that having instruments built with similar characteristics would be another step toward homogenization of sounds and tone...maybe not even the same brand (sorry i am biased toward Buffet) but as long as the instruments are good quality, and in working order. Our problem is that we can't send everyone out to buy a new instrument.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-03-31 07:55
> I've played these other beat up instruments and I find it totally impossible
> to produce the same tone, or even an acceptable on for myself, as I do on
> my own setup.
You're sure these beat up instruments were in good repair?
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Ben
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Author: William
Date: 2009-03-31 14:05
Blending in any ensemble situation is all about intonation and balance. Everyone has their own tone quality because of a variety of factors, many beyond our control--our own particular oral configuration, for ex. If you play in tune with your partner/section/ensemble and try to match their level of volumne (loudness, softness, nuance, etc), your different tone qualities will blend and produce the "ensemble sound" that will define your group--somewhat like the "Philadelphia" strings or the "Chicago" brass. It's all intonation and balance, assuming of course your individual sound is already acceptable or "good".
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2009-03-31 14:37
Ensemble playing is hard, especially when most players don't really know they are part of a whole.
Your two basic tools here are, as suggested by others, intonation and relative dynamic level between each player (balance).
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Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2009-03-31 15:00
Have you tried your mouthpiece / reed on their clarinets? I'd be very surprised if you could tell a huge difference unless there were repair issues. Having said that, tuning in the altissimo /is/ expected to be instrument specific and you may end up all playing from different fingering charts.
Setting that aside, the most important contributions to sound from equipment are first the reed, then the mouthpiece (which is a very personal choice), and then the instrument itself last. So a /degree/ of uniformity in style can be obtained for minimal expense by all sitting down and agreeing to play the same make of reed, e.g. Vandoren Traditional. It might be no-one's idea of fun but for the purposes of tone there's a chance it might pull you all a bit closer.
*
Supplemental: Blending clarinets /in unison/ is notoriously difficult. Is this what you mean? The only way forward there is sectional rehearsals...
Post Edited (2009-03-31 15:05)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2009-03-31 21:48
Homogeneous instruments without intonation and balance will just give you a more uniform smeary "within the same vicinity" clarinet section tone, like the 98% of ensembles out there who never spend time actually learning to blend. Until a person's heard it done properly, it's quite likely that they don't even know what a properly blended clarinet section sounds like. Good recordings of well respected wind ensembles very often don't have clarinet sections that blend well.
The problem is that the conductor simply assumes that the musicians (this is in no way unique to the clarinet section, but an unblended clarinet section is a particularly unique sound, which becomes more unique as it becomes more unblended) all more or less know how to play in tune and to blend, and never actually gives them direction to fixing it, often because he doesn't know how to fix it himself.
People play too loud, because they want to hear themselves. Or they play too sharp, because then they can hear themselves. The #1 biggest way to fix blending problems is to have people try to fit into other people's sounds, such that their sound either becomes part of a new combined sound, or such that they can't hear themselves play any more. The only time you should really hear yourself playing completely clearly, especially in a wind ensemble, are when you're the only one playing the part you're on.
Putting a lot of air through a horn and not being able to hear yourself clearly is a very unnerving sensation if you're not expecting it, and people will subconsciously settle a bit sharp or flat because it feels more comfortable. But once you realize that it's a GOOD thing, and that it means you're actually blending, it's spectacular.
This often requires a significant hit to the performers' egos, and many have trouble coping with this. It also requires people, especially when you're first trying it, to play things significantly softer than marked, and lots of people really like to play loud.
It's not nearly as painful for me, though, as having to choose which of 8 different people's intonations to try to meld into.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-04-01 00:56
Alex,
that's exactly what our director is preaching and doing over the first 20 minutes of each rehearsal - have us blend in, teach us how not to hear ourselves, create a homogeneous sound.
Spectacular indeed.
--
Ben
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