 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Andy
Date: 2001-02-17 12:53
Well...erm...I just picked up playing the clarinet about two years ago and experience some problems which I hope that advanced clarinetist out there would give me some advice....
1)My clarinet tends to sound rather bad in terms of projection and intonation whenever I play in air-conditioned room, but when i was in normal room temperature, my playing sounds great.My clarinet response greatly to temperature, so how should I fix this problem?
2)I have listen to several clarinetist and each one has a unique tone...some are brighter and some are darker, thus is brighter tone better or darker tone better?
3)I tend to have clarinet squeaks here and there whenever I perform in concerts. How are squeaks produced? And how can I do to prevent squeaks when playing?
4)My open throat notes for example the open G sounds rather buzzy, how can fix this problem
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2001-02-17 14:43
Hi Andy I can't help you with your first question.. but I'm interested to find out some answers to it too. Every player has his or her own sound. If each persons tone was just the same, then music making would be rather boring and you wouldn't be ablt to tell the difference between one player and another. Some players prefer brighter tones, others like the dark sound. Neither is "better" than the other, it's just personal preference.
As for your squeaking, clarinets are meant to squeak. My teacher who is a professional often tells me that he has never gotten through a complete symphony without making a squeek. If the music was played perfectly without any squeeks or slight mistakes at all, you'll often find that it can be boring. I guess what I'm saying is that a bit of squeeking is normal. If you are going to squeak, don't try and cover it up. Make it a good squeak, and let everyone hear it
The Buzziness is probably from the reeds you are using. You'll probably get other replies to your 1st and 4th questions. I mainly wanted to reply to the 2nd and 3rd.
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-02-17 15:17
Hey Andy!
I'm entering my second year of playing, and have many of the same problems...
1)My clarinet tends to sound rather bad in terms of projection and intonation whenever I play in air-conditioned room, but when i was in normal room temperature, my playing sounds great.My clarinet response greatly to temperature, so how should I fix this problem?
The Barrel is rapidly expanding as it warms. Here in the cold Northeastern US, my teacher has me carry the barrel in my hand or shirt pocket until it warms.
This helps shorten the initial 'tune-in' time and stabilizes the tone.
When waiting between phrases, she recommends holding the horn by the barrel.
Synthetic barrels are less effected by temperature changes.
2)I have listen to several clarinetist and each one has a unique tone...some are brighter and some are darker, thus is brighter tone better or darker tone better?
Why did the clarinetist cross the road? He heard the sound was darker on the other side. I love the bright, piercing sound of Dixieland, but orchestral stuff stresses the burbling legato of the mellow sound. I find that when I play double lip, my sound is most unique and naturally darker than single lip.
I think that by darker, we refer to a more freely vibrating reed. Pinched=brighter.
(Then again, there are no little letters behind my name and I don't play with any world class orchestra. Take my opinion for what its worth.)
3)I tend to have clarinet squeaks here and there whenever I perform in concerts. How are squeaks produced? And how can I do to prevent squeaks when playing?
I'll take a flyer on this one, excitement (and fear) on the bandstand can lead to biting, or taking in too much mouthpiece. You may actually need to go up a 1/2 strength in your current reed choice.
4)My open throat notes for example the open G sounds rather buzzy, how can fix this problem?
As in number 3) you may have a reed lacking sufficient heart for good open tones.
I would recommend a thick blank reed of the same strength or 1/2 strength higher in the same blank to address 3) & 4).
A good reed is a joy for about 3 weeks. A bad reed should hit the 'storage' bin ASAP.
Congrats on your efforts, I'm trying out for my first Community orchestra post this Spring.
anji
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-02-17 16:47
Anji wrote:
> I think that by darker, we refer to a more freely vibrating
> reed. Pinched=brighter.
And I think that we mean a clarinet with less overtones (a lower cut-off frequency, if you will). Which is why those words are so ambiguous. Someone once said that someone played "with chocolately tones". I listened to the same recording, and chocolate would have been the <b>last</b> thing that would have come to my mind.
It's hard when our frames of reference are so totally different.
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-02-17 17:01
Here's a tired out old music joke:
How do you get a clarinet player to jump off a cliff?
Tell him or her it will give them a darker sound.
Darker is usually considered to be better.
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Author: Rene
Date: 2001-02-17 20:12
Have you ever listened to your clarinet play recorded? If so, you will find out that your sound is different from what you think (usually you'll be surprised how good it is, but you will discover a lot of things you can improve in your play). I, e.g., always thought my throat tones sound so different from the clarion register, but it is not the case. On the recording, everything blends just fine. However, I found out that I need a lot more air support for a convincing play and for a good attack.
The moral is: Do not think your sound is inferior, but do keep prevectioning your play in terms of musicality, rythm and beauty.
Rene
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Author: Rene
Date: 2001-02-17 20:15
Sorry, prevectioning = perfectioning (I will never learn to proofread |-)
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2001-02-17 21:00
If you clarinet is specifically playing up in airconditioning it is probably caused by the drying/ de humidifying effect of air conditioning. If you clarinet is wood one thing you should look at is giving the bore a good oil either with a commercial bore oil or preferrably with almond oils or even linseed.
On both wooden and plastic instruments you should check the tenon corks to see that they fit properly. Leakage through the tenons will cause both bad intonation and excessive squeaks. A moderate number of squeaks are normal but if they are excessive the above might help. A common cause of fuzziness in the throat tones is the use of reeds that are unsuitable, generally too hard. Some teachers recommend particular reeds or strengths based on what they use rather than the needs of the student and their mouthpiece etc.. A reed that is too hard may be as a result also of a hard reed on which you try to overblow and caue your embouchure to malfunction even temporarily and stop sealing. I hope these thoughts help you somewhat.
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Author: Keil
Date: 2001-02-18 00:52
Clarinets NEVER squeak, we just overblow and hit the wrong partial!! hehe!! :-)
I used to have MAJOR problems with squeaking too but i've found that relaxing really aleviates that problem. As mentioned before a "squeak" or actually overblown partial comes from excessive pressure via pinching or an inbalance in the reed. Double lipping has proven to be the best remedy for pinching. One does not have to use a double lipped embouchure forever in order to benefit from it. All you have to do is practice it for 5 minutes a day this will help you feel the pinching thereby teaching your mouth what it has to do so that you don't pinch. To say the least pinching when playing double lip is painful but once you learn this and you train your embouchure single lip playing becomes a breeze and the risk of "overblown partials" is greatly reduced!! I hope this helped!
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Author: Willie
Date: 2001-02-18 01:52
You didn't state what mouthpiece or reed you're using. I would try some different strength reeds with the mouth piece you have and then maybe try some other mouthpieces too. This is something that varies for all of us as our chops are all different as well as our horns. I agree with a good seal at the tenons. A minute leak at one of the upper tenons will give you fits even with the best pad job available.
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Author: Henning
Date: 2001-02-19 18:11
Hi,
my advice for question 4) is to cover the right hand holes.
Usually this improves the tone quality and intonation.
I cover averything above F (although with some minor changes here and there to make it sound really good... ;-)
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Author: Keil
Date: 2001-02-19 20:18
Open throat notes.... hehe... learn resonance fingerings and remember to open that throat and you'll be good to go!!!
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2001-02-19 20:53
Another possible source of squeaks is accidentally hitting additional keys or not having tone holes fully covered. I bought a new bass clarinet a couple of years ago, and it squeaked occasionally until my hands got used to the slightly different key positions.
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Author: George
Date: 2001-02-20 15:08
I had an experience last night which speaks to your "buzzy open G" problem. I was starting to get dissatisfied with all of the throat tones on my R13, but especially the G. I removed the A, and Ab keys, and took off the F ring and pad, and cleaned out the holes with a Q-tip. There was an amount of crud in there which I wouldn't have believed. I have no idea where it came from - probably a combination of bore oil and lint from the swab. Anyway, after reassembling the instrument, these notes were GREATLY improved.
I am a bit ashamed of having let this go so far, but you cannot do anything about these holes without removing the pads. I do clean out the register key regularly, to keep the Bb reasonable.
If you are not confident about removing keys, any repair tech can do this job in short order.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-02-20 20:33
Andy -
If the buzzy sound isn't there on first-space F, but suddenly appears when you play open G, then the skin covering on the pad attached to the left index finger ring has come loose from the felt and is vibrating. If that's the problem, the pad needs to be replaced.
Many players say they prefer a "dark" to a "bright" tone, but too often darkness simply means dullness. You need to make many good tones, some bright and some dark, depending on what the music calls for.
There always has to be resonance in the tone, even at its darkest. There's a wonderful exercise for this, taught to me by the great teacher Keith Stein. Click on this link and go down to what I wrote: http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=32770&t=32692.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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