 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: karlbonner82
Date: 2010-05-02 09:46
Today I noticed that my tone color was nicer than it was only a couple days ago. The throat and upper chalumeau (Bb down to D or so) came across as very smooth and resonant, and there was little hiss even for the Bb. In the clarion register, the clear and rounded timbre extended all the way up to A when I was paying close attention to the sound. Up until now, F seemed to be the highest clarion note that sounded clear. Even the low clarion notes had more richness to them today than the past several days!
The interesting thing is that I was using a Mitchell Lurie that came with the instrument, and I quickly found out that a 10 pack costs less than $15 and that it didn't have a wonderful reputation among clarinetists. So I'm skeptical as to whether this could have accounted for the improvement.
It's also possible that the change in tone was my ears playing tricks. Perhaps the sound was no better but my ears thought it was for whatever reason. But barring the reed and my ear, the only other explanation is playing technique. Either I was having a really lucky embouchure day or the long tone exercises are already starting to have an effect. It's amazing because I've only been taking about 3 or 4 minutes on them, and only for the past 3 days or so. My routine has been to hold the note for 15 seconds and go from pianissimo to fortissimo to pianissimo. I ascended from bottom E up to Bb chromatically, and only sounded each note once on the way up and once on the way down.
I wonder if the payback has already begun? If so then it's very inspiring news.
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Author: weberfan
Date: 2010-05-02 12:24
Hard to tell if your long-tones are paying off. I hope so.
As for the Lurie reeds, my experience has been that they play pretty well right away and often produce a very nice tone. But then they get soft quickly.
I normally play a Vandoren blue box 3.5 or V12 3.5. With Luries, I take a 4.5.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2010-05-02 14:20
My experience is that ML reeds are often popular with students. In fact I still get one out from time to time, they can be fun. No.4 ML = No.3 Vandoren Blue.
But yeah, once you 'get' embouchure things can improve very quickly.
Post Edited (2010-05-02 14:20)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-05-02 18:05
I agree with Weberfan, they get soft very fast. There could be many reasons for your positive result but remember, a good reed will sound a whole lot better then a bad one no matter what the brand name. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-05-02 19:49
I admit it, I'm still a Mitchell Lurie fan. They're cheap, consistent and sound very good. I can't really say they're wearing out quickly, I think it's a function of how much fff you play with them, somehow. On certain occasions I can shred one in a single day, while in a different setup (more symphonic) they last quite long.
Next best thing I've encountered are Selmer Primo / Gonzalez. Very consistent as well, and I just love unfiled cuts.
--
Ben
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