 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Wayne
Date: 2000-12-09 23:56
I have been trying to get a sound out of my clarinet for some time now and all I seem to manage is a squeak. I am using rico reeds 1.5 but I think the problem is with me.
Can anyone describe how to place your teeth-do they touch the mouthpiece and should you feel a strong vibration (almost uncomfortable) on the bottom lip?
Thanks!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mrdi
Date: 2000-12-10 00:11
You dont even need to use your teeth. Just put your lips togrther and blow. Most important , make sure the reed is almost to the end of the mpc and screwed down securely. You can even take the mpc off the horn and blow it all by itself until you can produce a consistent sound.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-10 00:25
90 % chance it is the reed. Try to position it a wee bit differently each time until you get a good tone.
The above post sounds like Mae West. Just pucker up you lips and blow.
You may want to buy a different reed. Try a Vandoren 1 1/2 or #2
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Curtis
Date: 2000-12-10 00:32
Wayne:
It spounds like you may have too much of the mouthpiece in your mouth to start off. Try backing out a little and don't put quite so much in your mouth. Let the teeth just stabilize where you are holding the mouthpiece - the lips wrapped AROUND the mouthpiece more like a rubber band will work better. I find it better to place the teeth on the top of the mouthpiece and cover the lower teeth with just a small amount of lip to act more like a cushion. Do you have an instructor? How long have you been playing? What is your age? Let your instructor check you out so they can see what you are doing. In regard to your reed, try a number 2 reed and I believe you will have a little better luck. I personally thing 1 1/2 is just a little too soft to control
Best wishers,
Bob Curtis.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Willie
Date: 2000-12-10 04:28
Make sure when you put the reed on, its wet (slurp it up). Also make sure the reed sides are lined up with the side rails and the tip of the reed comes up enough to seal at the tip of the mouth piece. How much reed sticks over is an experimental thing that you moight try as it depends on the cut of your mouthpiece and the reed you're using. It just will take a little experimenting too with your lips/teeth and their position on the mouthpiece. This is where a good instructor comes in handy as he/she can precheck your setup and make sure its OK then start work on the student. Welcome aboard and have fun. Keep trying.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2000-12-10 05:00
To stop the squeeks: First don't push ANY keys down. (if you create leaks these may make the squeeks.) Now put put less and less mouthpiece into your mouth until you CAN'T get a sound, not even a squeek.. Then put a TINY bit more in your mouth and try again, following the instructions in the last two posts. If that doesn't make any sound put a tiny bit more in and try again, etc. With this process your first sound is much less likely to be a squeek. Once you get a sound that is not a squeek make it sound better by firming your lips more (like a rubber band). THEN try putting keys down.
I think the suggestion that you don't need your teeth (ie 'double lip embouchure') is a silly one for a beginner because to be successful doing this you must have developed considerable strength/firmness in your lips tissue. For most adults and probably all children this is unlikely to be the case.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Christoffer
Date: 2000-12-10 09:57
Been there, done that ... I have been playing for about a month, and in the beginning, I was pretty squeaky. I played on a Vandoren #2 reed, but changed to a Rico Grand Concert, same strength. That suited me much better - I have been told that Ricos actually tend to be softer than Vandorens of the same number.
My experience is that the air support is an exremely important thing to get right. What you do with your diaphragm really affects your sound. You must maintain a stable airstream to avoid squeaks. There is a possible vicious circle here: if you get squeaks, you might get nervous about blowing too hard, and then you will produce an unfocused, wobbly airstream that certainly will cause some nasty squeaks. You shouldn't necessarily blow very hard, just blow in a determined way that enables you to keep a reasonably high air pressure with a little, but focused amount of air ... oh, this is hard to explain in words, but keep on trying, and sooner or later, you'll feel and hear it, when you get it right.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 2000-12-10 12:26
Christoffer wrote:
>
> ... You shouldn't necessarily blow very hard, just blow in a determined way
I like this description!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mary
Date: 2000-12-10 19:46
I repectfully disagree with Gordon's comment about double lip being silly for a beginner. He commented that only adults and people playing for awhile will have enough strength in their lips...but how do you suppose we develop strength in our lips? by playing. I'm an adult who switched to double lip in my adult years, and yes, it was tiring at first, but I know from years of teaching clarinet to both adults and children that their single lip tires easily at first too.
As far as squeaking goes, the comments about reed position, amount of mthpc in the mouth, and starting with an open G and then adding one finger at a time (any leaks caused by a mispositioned finger will also cause squeaks), are all great. Another comment is to have patience- even with everything positioned well, you're still likely to squeak from time to time in your first weeks of playing, as your mouth and muscles get used to this oddball idea of having something in your mouth that you're hitting with your tongue and blowing into. Positioning is of course important, but so is having patience and trust that if you keep trying and having faith, the bulk of the squeaks will go away within a few weeks. Good luck!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-11 04:13
Try putting your thumb in your mouth and see if you get any air leaks. Once you stop the leaks try the same mouth position with your mouth piece and see if this helps. This is my own idea, but I think it will work.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2000-12-11 10:28
In response to Mary:
You acknowledge the tiring of your lip as an experienced player changing to double lip. So why impose this additional difficulty for a beginner. I play with only slight support from my teeth, but beginners, and myself as an experienced player when I am 'rusty', NEED support from teeth simply because the lip tissue cannot cope, or cannot cope for long. As experience and muscles develop, and the lip copes better, by all means reduce the reliance on pressure from teeth. I believe that experienced players forget just how very much they had to rely on pressure from teeth when they were beginners. Even the action of keeping the lips tight like a rubber band is almost impossible for many beginners. They simply don't have the muscle strength, just as much of the population does not have the muscle strength in their cheeks to blow up a balloon without puffing them. To understand what I am getting at try playing double-lip without ANY support from teeth on a very hard reed. That is what a double lip embouchure would be like for a clarinet beginner.
By the way could it be that the claimed better sound from a double lip embouchure is nothing more than an illusion for the player, created by not having vibrations traqvelling directly and perhaps distortedly to the ears via the teeth and bones. I doubt that there is any difference for the LISTENER.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mary
Date: 2000-12-11 15:50
In response to Gordon-
I can't agree with you on either point. Many beginners start dbl lip and don't quit in frustration.
About the "claimed" difference in sound with dbl lip being due to the player not hearing the bone conduction, yes that happens. But dbl lip also opens the mouth cavity up more and changes the position of the tongue. These things factor into differences of tone, however subtly.
I hear and feel a difference when I play dbl lip. If the lack of bone conduction affects my confidence about my tone, and if I feel my tonguing to be a little cleaner and faster and my slurs of wide intervals smoother, isn't that enough reason to continue with dbl lip?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Julia Meyer
Date: 2000-12-11 16:37
Gordon and Mary---
there are debates about the double lip technique, so there's not really any point in arguing about it. Also, you should probably start a new thread if you want to continue this topic...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2000-12-14 14:29
Julie this discussion IS relevant to provide a balance of vies following Mrdi's suggestion "You dont even need to use your teeth" (the very firs advice given to Wayne and therefor rather significant. If I had followed this advise as a beginner with very weak lips I would probably have given the instrument up on account of the ghastly sound I would have produced and the extremely fast tiring of my lips. In dealing with the initial question re getting rid of squeeks the double reed hobby horse was actually a red herring and needed to be exposed as such. I consider squeeks much more likely for an early beginner if they attempt double lip embouchure. (I have nothing fundamentally against double lip, but it surely ADDS to a beginner's difficulties.)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Anji
Date: 2000-12-14 21:04
Hey Wayne,
Did you get anything to work with from this string? Squeaking is normal, keep plugging away dude, you'll get there.
When I started (less than a year ago) I often played several notes all at once.
The easiest advice I had for practice at the onset was to actually remove the barrel and mouthpiece from the horn, hang a reed and practice getting a stable tone that way.
It was the easiest way to hear what different changes produced in the sound.
To repeat some of the above;
Are your reeds well moistened before you begin? Is the reed over tightened?
I took to the Legere synthetic reed as a standard when I have reed problems, I put it on to check when I start squeaking.
anji
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
