 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moolatte
Date: 2010-03-27 03:17
I used to have a half-decent embouchure, but during marching season, you're not gonna have the best reeds, of which I changed my embouchure for the reeds to sound the best.
I went from probably proper embouchure to biting my lower lip. Now, it's concert season, and our music calls for high notes, Eb and above, which biting causes them to not speak.
I would like to get a proper embouchure so that my lip isn't destroyed so much.
The problem is, I'm not sure how it should feel. I'm doing the milk-shake like face, but my embouchure gets really tired after maybe 30 minutes, and everything goes flat. We have UIL soon, and we just can't have a flat sound, which leads me to continue biting during rehearsals. Summed up, I'm not making progress.
I'm trying to go back to fundamentals by doing just the mouthpiece and barrel. When I tongue on that, my throat moves, which I was told in beginning band, should never happen.
I feel bad. I made all-state, yet I can't even do the embouchure right. hehe
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2010-03-27 04:21
I recommend you use synthetic reeds on the field. They tend to hold up to the rigors of the outdoors in extreme conditions better, and shouldn't require as much accomodation with the embouchure as a "warped reed on the field."
I used to work full-time as an army bandsmen, and this was the best solution to the parade field I could find. In military ceremonies, the band is required to stand for extended period of times without playing, and then play cold. Obviously, after 20 minutes of speeches, my reed was totally dry even if I snuck the cap onto it. With the synthetic reed, no wetting was required. It was a god send!!!
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-03-27 06:51
When I was in the Air Foce band in DC, most of the players used plastic reeds, for playing outside in the cold. It got pretty cold in Washington. Most of the wood reeds didn't survive the cold.
You have to adjust the reeds, they are far from perfect.
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Author: Eddydavik
Date: 2010-03-27 11:59
Aside from the reeds (which I agree with the posts above)...
You shouldn't have to change your embouchure for marching band.
A clarinet is not a bell-front instrument, so no matter how hard you blow (which is what we tend to do because our sound feels so small in a marching band), you're not going to play louder, and it is usually the wanting of playing loud that makes us bite harder.
My opinion is that it's all about using the diaphragm properly. So I would suggest working a lot on long tones with some sort of a structured routine of dynamic changes and register changes to help exercise the diaphragm for better control and comfort. This should also help your "flat" problem in the concert band... though it's not an overnight fix.
I was in competitive marching bands on clarinet for roughly 6 years, plus another 6 years (on and off) of drum corps on brass, so I hope this can be useful to you.
Congratulations on your all-state seat, by the way.
Edward Escobar
Suita City Wind Ensemble
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-03-27 15:53
One of the things I've always suggested to help alleviate biting is to practice double lip for several minutes a day to help strengthen your the rest of your embouchure. Of course us a mirror too to make sure you're shaping your embouchure properly. Taking lessons with a qualified teacher helps too. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: mrn
Date: 2010-03-27 21:51
Synthetic reeds are a good idea. Another alternative (which is what I did when I was in high school) is to use really soft reeds for marching band (e.g., using a 2.5 if you normally play on a 3.5 for concert band). With softer reeds, you don't have to worry about keeping them moist--in fact, they actually play better a little on the dry side because that makes them act more like the stiffer reeds you're used to.
I sort of discovered this by accident--I had a old box of unused 2.5s lying around at home and--not wanting to waste my good reeds on marching band--I started using the 2.5s for marching band instead. Turns out, they were easier to deal with.
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Author: moolatte
Date: 2010-03-28 01:34
I'm attempting to relearn the embouchure when I'm not practicing by tightening my lips around the diameter of a pencil. It sorta feels uncormfortable.
My embouchure just kinda wiggles around randomly once every 1-5 seconds. Is that bad?
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Author: cjshaitan
Date: 2010-03-28 04:51
moolatte wrote:
> I'm attempting to relearn the embouchure when I'm not
> practicing by tightening my lips around the diameter of a
> pencil. It sorta feels uncormfortable.
>
> My embouchure just kinda wiggles around randomly once every 1-5
> seconds. Is that bad?
That just cant be good unless you are going to use it as a party trick
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Author: kdk
Date: 2010-03-28 13:22
"My embouchure just kinda wiggles around randomly once every 1-5 seconds. Is that bad?"
What does this mean? Can you explain in a clearer way? It doesn't seem as if anything should be happening "randomly" when you play. It does seem, as a knee-jerk reaction, that a pencil is a little small to use for this, closer to an oboe aperture than a clarinet.
Karl
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