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Re: Air is not focused/centered

Author: g3clrnt
Date: 2010-10-29 22:35

I have some advise that may help resolve some of the mystique behind some of the concepts in this thread. I heard all of the advise and tried hard to apply what I thought the the techniques (described above) in my playing. I went through school swearing up and down that I was doing everything right . . . I was supporting, focusing my air, tongue in a high position, embouchure picture perfect . . . but the sound still wasn't right.

I must say though when you get it right, the sensation will be as if a sail that has been dangling in the breeze suddenly catches wind, and the more you pull the line in the stronger sail becomes and the faster you go . . .

The reed will suddenly feel too soft as the air becomes supported and focused and the embouchure magically conforms into a rubberband-like shape around the mouthpiece as you try to harness this focus in the air.

Hopefully I can give you some practical tips on how to achieve this. I will refer briefly refer to Ridenour's educator's guide to the clarinet. In it, he describes air concept as one of two ways: 1) like an aerosol can and 2) like a toothpaste tube, with the aerosol can being the desired way of producing air (at least for clarinet players). This concept of compressed air is a wonderful analogy but I think the analogy could be described even further. what compresses the air? is it 'support'?

normal breathing is the answer . . . try this: breath through your mouth, it should feel very normal. In mid exhale, simply hissssss. Don't try to support, or form an embouchure or anything just exhale and feel the resistance on the tongue where the 'hisssss' sensation is. do this several times. Next, I want you to 'hisssss' while exhaling then SUDDENLY allow your tongue to return to a normal relaxed position. The air should come flying out once the resistance from the tongue goes away. If not, you are definitely constricting your throat and obstructing (or subconsciously trying to control) air flow. You must always feel the resistance at the place on your tongue where you 'hissss'. So the trick is, the air gets compressed by your tongue when it's in a high position. Obviously when there are compression systems, we must talk about tension (good tension). how do you control the compression? I want you to flex one of your biceps. while doing this I want you to notice where your tongue is when your mouth is relaxed and your teeth are together. the top back of your tongue should be in contact with your upper molars. allow your jaw to relax and mouth to open. next I want you to push 'up and out' the part of the tongue that was touching the upper molars. basically try to exaggerate what the tongue already feels like on the upper molars. I asked you to flex your bicep because the feeling of pusing 'up and out' with your tongue should feel like the way you flex your bicep. Yes it is that much effort. The tongue should be strong and firm when in the high position, otherwise when you blow unobstructed and supported air, the tongue is going to get blown out of position, it's not enough to simply hold the tongue in a high position, but it must be strong enough to compress the air that you are trying so hard to support (without constricting your throat). Now all of this is done without the mouthpiece which is very important for you internalize before trying on a real mouth piece. which is important when choosing reeds. I want you to recall the feeling of the resistance on the tongue when you are compressing the air. When the mouthpiece enters the mouth, the tongue must adjust ever so slightly to accommodate the mouthpiece. (you really can't hissss while playing no matter what anybody says). Basically the part of the tongue where you were 'hissssssing' drops down a little. The secret is the the tip of the mouthpiece/reed complex when in the mouth should be in roughly the same location in the mouth where you felt the resistance of the hisssing, and furthermore, the reed to mouthpiece relationship should have the same amount of resistance as when you were hissing.
to summarize, air = sound. if the air is diffuse the sound is as well. you focus the sound by compressing supported air with a strong high tongue. (you will notice you can control the size of the air to focus it only if you are not constricting your throat). make sure you remember what the resistance feels like without the mouthpiece so when you choose reeds, they will be appropriate to your compressed air system. when this is right, I promise your embouchure issues (if you had any) will fix themselves or you will notice a greater ease in manipulating the lips. (like tugging on the lines in my sailboat analogy) Sorry this is so long winded, I feel very strong about this because it did happen to me and this is how I described how I overcame it.

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Air is not focused/centered new

suavkue

2010-10-23 14:09