 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2011-10-12 16:14
My teacher (who is excellent) is concerned about the wobbly sound coming out of my clarinet (not always, I hasten to add). She has suggested the following:
- too soft a reed (no, that's not it)
- too little mouthpiece in mouth
- bottom lip trembling (because of nerves - I go with this one)
- gripping the mp (biting?) -
- not feeling clarinet is secure (she has suggested a sling).
Any thoughts?
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-10-12 16:51
It could be nerves or it could be a weak embouchure. One of the first auditions I played behind a screen, about 46 years ago, I got so nervous that during the Mozart Concerto I had a very uneven and uncontrolled vibrato. As I was playing I began thinking to myself, why am I even here. I was able to overcome that in future auditions, good thing too. Question, do you have the vibrato when you practice alone? ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2011-10-12 16:59
In my experience this results when the muscles in your embouchure are tense or contorted into a position that they don't have the strength to maintain (which, I think, is generally true of any muscular quiver or tremor). The most likely reasons are reeds that don't vibrate easily, reeds that are too soft (both of which can cause unnecessary tension in your lip muscles), or anxiety-induced nervous tension. An unresponsive reed can cause biting. I would think insecurity about supporting the clarinet would only be a likely factor if the tremor happens mostly on throat notes or clarion B5 or C6, when the support comes mostly from your right thumb.
Do you have the same problem when you practice in private away from your teacher? If not, lesson anxiety may well be to blame.
Otherwise, the cure, most likely, is to have your teacher check to be certain your reeds are as responsive as possible. It might be helpful to try a double-lip embouchure for awhile. This is actually how I first was introduced to double lip. My teacher only meant it as a corrective technique for some embouchure contortions we couldn't otherwise get at which resulted in a quiver and uncontrollable chirping on chalumeau attacks. It worked so well that I continued with it. But at any point I could have (and several times did) go back to single lip. The original problem never returned, so the cure worked. In the process I found I was more comfortable with double lip and ended up coming back to it every time I tried to return to single lip.
(Sounds like Mark Twain's line about smoking - "I can give it up any time I want to...I've done it a thousand times.)
Karl
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2011-10-12 18:38
Having played a little today, I think I have traced this to notes which are kept quite long, an e or f for example, on the stave....
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Author: FDF
Date: 2011-10-12 22:32
To me, your description indicates embouchure muscles that have tired and you are producing vibrato then a wobble. Nothing to worry about. Time, practice, and greater control will conquer. Continue to enjoy playing the clarinet.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-10-13 04:39
You could do what I'm doing.
I go to my teacher every week and he beats the crap out of me. Then, I go home and try to stabilize my tone.
MY PROBLEM is a lack of air support, and your noticing that you wobble after using a fair amount of your air makes me suspicious that that could be the root of your challenge --or a contributor.
Try standing on one foot (seriously) when you have an unwanted wavering of your sound. To do that, you'll have to tense your abdominal muscles; and that will improve your air support.
If it were failing embouchure, you'd realize the correlation.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2011-10-13 21:19
Try using a neckstrap.
Freelance woodwind performer
Post Edited (2011-10-13 21:21)
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Author: Buster
Date: 2011-10-14 03:32
something not mentioned but raised a bit of a notion with the mention of sustained notes/ "support". A simple tensing of the abs does not equate to air support, as I have found, unless that "tensing" (contracting is a much better verb perhaps) is consciously done to achieve certain ends.
Think of how a vocalist, or flautist, generally produces a vibrato and you may find your answer.
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