 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: karlbonner82
Date: 2010-04-27 07:29
I'm quite picky about clarinet timbre, and wish I could go like the professionals. My tone seems quite good for a first-week returning clarinetist playing on a cheap student model. but at times it loses its luster and goes back to that plasticky, slightly buzzy sound.
What are some good exercises to improve tone quality? I'd like to see just how far I can go without a wood clarinet.
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Author: RoBass
Date: 2010-04-27 09:14
1. play longtones
2. play longtones
3. play longtones
...
n. play longtones ;-)
It seems to be stupid, but a good exercise-procedure to hold tones and to modellize it, is the best cure for an instable embouchure and breath.
I recommend to all with intonation problem at first a good longtone exercise procedure and in the second a good sorted book of etudes and throat exercises.
It sounds to be the reason for your problematic effect, if your embouchure is to instable and your tone imagination should be trained more.
Go the way with longtones! That's my opinion ;-)
kindly
Roman
PS: Longtone exercise not only means stupid blow against the clock! There's a lot of variable details inside like slurring techniques, possible scales, loudness variation... a.s.o.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2010-04-27 10:54
I'm glad RoBass added the PS about longtones really being anything NOT broken up with articulations. So doing your Baerman Scales IS long tones!
That said, my favorite typical long tone method is as follows:
Low E; just start a note as quietly as possible, that is, blow with a slack embouchure and begin applying more and more support until a nascent sound begins; once it starts, begin counting SLOWLY from one (usu. around 60 beats per minute) up to eight as you increase the volume from almost nothing to the loudest you can possibly play; NOW count down from eight (yes, repeat eight) slowly diminuendoing to nothing at one. This is all done in ONE BREATH.
Now repeat.
Do this for Low E, Low F, Low F# and Low G.
Now go back down!
You will be exhausted but your sound will be much stronger for the rest of your practice session.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: RAB
Date: 2010-04-27 12:20
It is great to see long tones stressed.
There is a book, CLARINET WARM-UPS, by Dr. Kelly Burke, UNCG, that in my opinion is wonderful and can be used by beginners to advance players.
It has tone building exercised and many technical exercises also. What I like is the detailed instruction that accompany each exercise. They are very straight forward and easy to understand.
I have used this with beginner students all the way to university students.
The store I work at as the repair technician, Muncy Winds, has it in stock but it should be available at other places also.
It is published by:
Dorn Publications Inc.
P.O. Box 206
Medfield, Mass, 02052 USA
I know there are numerous books that work also, I just happen to like this one. Hope this information helps.
Also listen to professional clarinetist and find the ones you like and get a mental image of the sound and strive to reproduce it. Recording yourself can be helpful, but it can also be depressing because the recording point out things that we sometimes do not want to know.
Rodney Berry
Repair Dept
Muncy Winds Music Company
Boone, N.C.
Post Edited (2010-04-27 12:23)
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2010-04-27 12:48
My first thought was long notes (US long tones) too. Very important for building tone, stamina and intonation. As far as I'm concerned every clarinettist should start every playing session with a few long notes, whether they are a beginner or a professional. Obviously which pitch you use and how long you aim to make them depends on what stage you're at.
A couple of variations I would suggest, though, are slow slurred octaves in one breath (again, how high you go depends on how advanced you are but even a fairly elementary player could do bottom E and the two Es above and down up to middle C to the C above the stave etc. Another simple exercise is slurs in a scale pattern played nice and slowly at the top of your range, up and down.
For all of these I use a metronome to keep time.
Another thing is, when practising a piece, sometimes it helps to play a long note the length of the phrase on the first note of the phrase without changing notes. Meanwhile you make whatever dynamic shape you want to play when you play the final version with the breath.
At all times, however hard the notes may be, think in terms of a long breath, even where there is tonguing between notes - we don't want separate "puffs".
Hope this helps.
Vanessa.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-04-27 20:42
The thing about long tones, or 12ths or playing scales slowly or whatever is that it will not improve your tone if you're are not doing things correctly. The mouthpiece and reed combination is more important than the type of clarinet when it comes to basic tone quality. The wrong MP with a great clarinet will not give you as good a tone as the "right" MP, and reed combo with a cheap clarinet. But you have to be playing properly, good embouchure, proper breath support, no constriction in your throat and good tongue placement. You could play long tones till the cows come home and it won't help much if you're not doing those things properly. You may want to take some lessons with a pro. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: CarlT
Date: 2010-04-27 20:52
I am perhaps an "advanced beginner", and for the past several weeks my teacher has been working with me to improve my sound (tone?).
He has me playing pretty much nothing but long tones during this period, using both a metronome and a tuner. I have not even opened the Rubank lesson book for awhile now.
During my last lesson, he said my sound had definitely improved. I asked him if my tonguing woudn't suffer, and he said we'd get back to articulation in due time, but for now, it was more important to improve my sound (as well as the added benefit of improving my embouchure strength, as well) by playing long tones.
BTW, he has me practice long tones, in small groups, from low E to the first D in the altissimo register. Just varies them all over the place (perhaps to keep me from getting bored?).
All this is fine with me, for my embouchure is still very weak after 2 years of playing.
Hope this helps others out there.
CarlT
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Author: karlbonner82
Date: 2010-04-29 05:10
I tried some long tone exercises tonight. Started on low E and went from pianissimo to fortissimo and back to pianissimo, taking about 12-15 seconds for each long tone. I ascended from E up to G and then back down. Next I did another 'ladder' from low G up to Bb and back down to G, then finishes with one last long note on low E.
Could definitely feel my embouchure getting tired, such that by the end it was hard to get a solid fortissimo without collapsing. All in all the exercise took about 4 or 5 minutes.
I should probably do more; either hold the notes longer or play each note twice before moving up or down. But for now this was a good workout, and I look forward to doing more of these on a daily basis. 
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Author: RAB
Date: 2010-04-29 12:20
Sounds Like you are on your way to a better sound!
Don't get discouraged about the time it takes to improve on something like this. I often record my students and when they thing they are getting worse I record them and play the 2 recordings back to back for them to listen to. When I do this they can hear the improvement. It is like walking a long distance, sometimes it takes a lot of steps and you do not get quick results.
When I started to learn the flute my instructor had me do long tone 3 to 4 times a day for 2 to 3 minutes in the beginning. I kept the flute out it was always handy. She had me focus on the correct embouchure, paying attention to when the small muscles started to get fatigued. When I reached that point she had me rest and allow the small muscles to recover, then I repeated the process. It tool a long time until i could sustain the correct embouchure for and extended period of time. But the work was worth the effort.
Have fun and enjoy the clarinet!!
Rodney Berry
Repair Dept
Muncy Winds Music Company
Boone, N.C.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-04-29 14:05
As has already been said - listening to players you admire is probably one of the most beneficial things you can do to give yourself a good idea of the sound to aim for (and add long notes to this). Also listen to their shaping of notes and phrases and emulate that too.
Establish a good solid tone before doing anything extra with it - once you have the foundations laid you can build up from there.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2010-04-29 15:25
Keep your mind from wandering while "all" your doing is holding a long tone. Pay attention to everything --particularly the tension in your belly. Stand up and stand on one foot so that your abdomen HAS to be tense to keep you from falling over.
Do you hear and feel the difference?
Bob Phillips
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2010-04-30 12:51
Chris P came the closest to what I would suggest, which is that you can practice long tones all you want but it doesn't guarantee a nice tone! You need a concept of what a good sound is, and what sound you'd like. This could be listening to players that you like but more than this, see a teacher about what actually constitutes a good tone.
My concept, and many agree, is that your sound should contain lots of overtones. Can you hear any overtones when you play in the lower register? If you can't, do you know how to get them, what they are, and how to bring them out?
See an experienced teacher.
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2010-04-30 12:53
I would spend some time on all the above and even more on what follows here. THE REED If you are in fact "fussy" then the reed is for you. Be fussy with reed selection and be "dogged" in your determination to adjust reeds so they vibrate perfectly for you. You should explore all the techniques...reed rush, reed knife, sandpaper, Ridenour products, Perfecta reed products(forget the name here), handmaking your reeds, synthetic reeds including Legere, Forestone, etc, dial indicators, reed duplicating devices, Dilutis. Here's one site http://www.clarinetreedmaking.com/ and another http://www.wright.edu/~randall.paul/reedmaking.html
Freelance woodwind performer
Post Edited (2010-04-30 13:02)
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