 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ito
Date: 2010-03-24 11:36
I am having some air leakage sound coming out from my right side when i am playing the clarinet,what are some of the ways that i can try or do to get rid of this problem?it is getting irriatating as the problem is always there
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2010-03-24 15:44
You've made the first step towards solving the problem, REALIZING it's a problem! Many players play with air leak, for any number of reasons. A former teacher of mine said "I've never heard someone sound better with one than without".
The problems that cause it can be:
1) Fatigue, caused by playing too much, or too resistant a setup
2) Embouchure is too "smlile" and not "ooooh" (as in loop)
3) The mouthpiece is sitting on the left side of your mouth (thus, air leaks out the right)
There are more, but these are the main ones I have encountered.
The solution is simply do the opposite. If the reed is hard and resistance is high, try softer reeds and your embouchure will be able to hold around the mouthpiece easier.
If your embouchure is too far back in a "smile" style, try a more forward and inward style with the lips (as you would blowing into a straw, for example).
I too leak on the right side only. Every time it's because my mouthpiece is slightly off to the left (must be because of my front teeth height or something). Realizing this by looking in a mirror and moving it back close to center usually stops the leak.
Someone is going to comment that no one hears air leak in a hall. I've heard it for myself in some very large halls with very large halls, as well as in solo and chamber situations.
Few things are more frustrating than playing next to someone, trying to match, and all you can hear is air leaking! The clarinet functions much more efficiently when air leak is not present, if for no other reason than you hear the sound more easily!
Good luck!
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2010-03-24 15:47
This will sound trite, but, ...
Think of your mouth as the opening of a bag with a drawstring closure.
Tighten that drawstring to pull your mouth completely around the mouthpiece and reed. When you can manage to do that, you'll have about the same lip pressure on the sides of the mouthpiece as you do on the reed.
Be patient because the muscles you need to do this may need some real workouts to become strong enough to pull this off.
Bob Phillips
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Author: mrn
Date: 2010-03-24 17:49
Make sure you are playing on reeds that are neither too hard nor out of balance. If your reeds are making you work too hard (e.g., by making you bite), you will tire out quickly and start to leak air.
Even if you have been playing for a while, you may be surprised to discover how much better your reeds can be and what a difference a really good reed can make.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-03-24 21:32
This is not an uncommon problem but in most cases it can be corrected. You have some decent suggestions above but I'll add this to them. Practice playing double lip for several minutes at a time. You will probably have to keep your lips sealed on both sides to play so while you're doing that concentrate on how you're sealing that side of your mouth and then try to copy it playing single lip. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-03-24 21:54
Sometimes the lower lip muscles have developed really well, yet the upper lip muscles can be a bit weak. So the question may be how to develop a stronger upper lip. Playing with a double lip will surely help correct the muscle problems. A cool exercise and very simple, is to play long tones from PP to FF then back down to PP. Afer doing this for a week or 2, for maybe 15 minutes a day, you should be fine. Start off at low E and work your way up the scale. I would think that after just a few minutes you may experiece some muscle stiffness. This will also go away after a few days, as you develop your muscles properly.
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2010-03-25 00:56
I have the same problem, leaking air from the right side. It started a couple years ago, about the time of the right eye not completely closing during sleep. It's not severe enough to search out a neurologist but specific exercises for the right side seem to help somewhat.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2010-03-25 09:22
If it is because your embouchure is too smiley, and it is difficult to do otherwise, a muscle exercise you can do any time, without the clarinet:
Put lips into an extreme smile position. (You need not involve your cheeks though.)
Then put them into the complete opposite, with the "corners" of the lips pulled as close as possible to each other.
Keep alternating, quite quickly.
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Author: RoBass
Date: 2010-03-25 12:58
Full ACK to the remarks above.
I had a leaking problem with one of my MPCs. This was, before I investigated MPC-problems more, and later I found out this MPC's curve was very long - too long for me. The measure of a comfortable in-mouth-length should fit to the gap between reed end end of table.
Mine was to wide open and I blowed many air through this gap between table end and lip position. Harder bite leaded to a musty tone, less lip pressure produced any squeal. Shifting of MPC or lip came uncomfortable and tired me fast.
My (simple) solution was a shorter shaped MPC wich fitted well with the tongue-tip position AND the lip geometry. My length is medium to short...
Of course you have to adjust your setup anyway ;-)
And a second problem could be the breath pressure. Could seem easy to blow for you, but the higher resistance of the setup and/or wrong breathing mode causes a higher air pressure to move the breath through the MPC. The increased pressure looses your lips a little bit and vents out as a audible whoosh. A small decrease of pressure could help to fit the lips better to the MPC - without any tonal limitations.
But this needs a lot of concentration and training.
kindly
Roman
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Author: vrufino
Date: 2010-03-26 20:24
I studied with Joe Allard for 10 years, during that time I had air leaking from the corners. His solution was an exercise that allowed the lupper lip to drop down and form the seal while the bottom lip was kept firm and straight.
To accomplish this he had me hold the clarinet with the bell between both knees; form the embrochure and using both the right and left index finger placed near the reed gently pull the bottom lip away from the reed. This will cause a greater leak in the beginning, but as your upper lip drops lower the leak will stop.
This cannot be done for long periods of time in each practice session. It is boring and requires patience ( and of course, you will only be blowing a g.
Dr. Vincent J. Rufino
Professor of clarinet and saxophone
St. Elizabeth University
Morristown, NJ
Post Edited (2010-03-26 20:26)
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