 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: TomA ★2017
Date: 2009-11-22 18:56
I play soprano clarinet, having picked it up again 2.5 years ago at age 60 after too many years' hiatus. Occasional squeaks are part of my repertoire, and they occur with different reeds, mouthpieces, and even instruments, so it's pretty clearly my own doing.
However, I have noticed that when I play on Legere reeds (both original and Quebec cut), I almost never squeak. In fact I have to really abuse the reed in order to squeak (e.g. pinching on throat tones).
I also can't reach a note higher than altissimo G with Legere reeds, maybe that has something to do with them not squeaking (which is not a problem, as I don't have a real need for such notes).
So I use Legere when I absolutely can't afford to squeak, and privately work on my technique with cane reeds. I prefer the sound of cane reeds, especially in the lower chalumeau range, so that is why I still struggle with them.
I am curious if anyone else has observed this phenomenon, and also whether anyone has wisdom to offer on what this might suggest about minimizing squeaking with cane. I have tried things like rounding off the corners, which seems to help, but does not eliminate the problem.
Tom
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Author: TianL
Date: 2009-11-23 02:42
yeah, i have had similar experiences.
I found that, though ultimately it has to do with the player, but with some equipment (especially mouthpiece and reed) it's more likely to squeak than others.
I found that those mouthpieces that feel kind of "shallow", "immediate", and "powerful", together with the reed that is either unbalanced, or the tip is too thin relative to the middle part of the reed, would really cause squeaks, especially when going from throat notes to clarion notes.
However again it still has things to do with the player, especially if your tip of the tongue is not close to the tip of the reed and/or if the tongue/internal volume in the mouth changes too much during the transition of notes.
I observed similar things with Legere (that is, squeaks don't occur with Legere). I think it's due to the fact that they are well balanced, and some other reaons that are hard to describe.
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Author: stevesklar
Date: 2009-11-23 13:22
I've been using the Quebecs for some time now as a primary reed - Quebec 3.0
I initially used them for doubling as they are "on" all the time
then for repair testing
then they moved into a primary role for me.
I have squeaked with them. But then I also rarely squeak on cane anyways so for me there's no real advantage there.
I have been able to get to double A altissimo without much of a problem, right from the get-go.
But recently I stopped using the Q 3.0 as a primary and went back to the Vandoren Traditional 3.5 - 4
reason - the tone simply wasn't what i wanted. I was getting a more fuller tone with the VT 3.5s
But, i figured the Quebec 3 had something to do with it as even softer reeds have the same issue of being thinner sounding,etc. So I ordered a 3.25 and 3.5 Quebec. I should be getting them any day now then I'll be able to better test A to A on tonal quality, etc I figured I'll be getting a Quebec 3.75 and 4 too sooner or later
I'm figuring the squeaks were from the reed being too soft and I was pushing for more excessive dynamics. I also had to change the angle of the clarinet to accomplish that ... thus part of the identifying issue. But we'll see with the harder Quebecs
==========
Stephen Sklar
My YouTube Channel of Clarinet Information
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-11-23 13:57
The inability to play high in the altissimo register and lack of propensity to squeak you're experiencing might both be related to reed strength.
Every reed has its own natural resonant frequency, which is usually quite high compared to the normal range of a clarinet. Generally speaking, you need the resonant frequency of the reed to be higher than the note you are trying to play in order for the note to play properly.
When you squeak (most of the time, anyway), what happens is that you lose control of the reed's vibration and the reed tries to vibrate at its own natural frequency (way up high) rather than the frequency you're trying to impose on it with the clarinet. (See this website, look under the heading "The reed controls the air flow")
This natural resonant frequency of the reed goes up with reed strength (all other things remaining equal). (See equation 4 of this paper, for example) That's why it's so hard to play altissimo with reeds that are too soft. You need the natural frequency of the reed to be higher than the notes you are trying to play.
So it might be that the Legere reed you are playing on does not have a sufficiently high natural frequency to allow you to play above high G. That might also explain the lack of squeaks because the reed, having a lower natural frequency, could potentially have less of a tendency to fight the frequency-pull the clarinet imposes on it--it naturally wants to vibrate at a frequency relatively close to what the clarinet is playing, so that's what it continues to do--therefore, no squeaks.
We'd probably have to do some kind of scientific experiment to know for sure what's going on, but this is what I think is probably happening. So my guess is that if you moved up a quarter strength or half strength in Legere reeds, the high notes would come out more easily and you'd probably also experience a squeak or two.
On the other hand, one difference between cane reeds and synthetics is that the synthetics shouldn't have the same kinds of variations in the material and balance problems that cane reeds have. It could be that synthetics are just inherently more stable. That probably wouldn't explain the lack of altissimo range, though, because a well-balanced reed generally speaks well past a high G. (In fact, when I test cane reeds, I play an altissimo A to see if it speaks well, because it's a sign of a balanced reed.)
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