 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Yangz
Date: 2013-01-06 15:00
Greetings,
I am a Clarinet performance major and have been frustrated with the issues of 1, air support and 2, tone of what I've produced from the clarinet.
In the case of issue 1, air support, it was largely link to issue no. 2, tone production of me playing on my clarinet, where I am often receiving responses heard that it is "bright", "weak with no air support", "weak on high notes", "bad tone"
As much as I've tried to improve them via embouchure, tongue placement, using the "aaahh" "eeee" "ooo" and et cetera, it was after a year and a half, still being greeted with comments that my tone was not fantastic enough.
Another 3rd issue is the issue of me constantly squeaking, especially during the large breaks, e.g (space E to altissimo range of any notes or a high C above the ledger line)
The fourth issue of air leaking from (especially my right side) of embouchure is slowly adapting well to trying having it not leaking.
I would really kindly like to seek any kind assistance and advices on what I should do to improve these issues, especially on my tone production. I understand everyone defines sound and tone as individual, but it somehow got to the state that even when I tried methods and felt that I had slowly gain a respectable tone, that it was largely not well received by some lecturers or learners in my surrounding.
Thank you very much and Have a nice day ahead.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-01-06 15:29
Those are some big issues you bring up and I don't think anyone can find a cure for you without working with you on a one on one basis. With that said, my suggestion is that you need to look for the mouthpiece reed combination that gives you the best result that you're looking for as a beginning. If you have a certain tone quality in your inner ear that you want to sound like than you need to have the equipment that most closely matches that. You have to find your voice and that begins with the MP and reed combo. Then you need to experiment with your tongue position, work on breath support, keeping your throat open, free from stress. There are so many factors involved here. Your embouchure, muscle strength, teeth formation, tongue size, throat constriction and diaphragm support.
As far a the other problems you have it may be your finger position, how high you raise them, what part off the fingers cover the holes, the curvature of them etc.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-01-06 16:11
Saying that you are a "Clarinet performance major" implies, I think, that you're studying at the college or university level with a clarinet teacher who works with you on a regular basis. These are all areas in which this teacher should be in the best position to offer help.
One problem that seems to come through in your post, which underlies the rest, is that you don't seem to have a concept of your own of what you want to or should sound like. You're experimenting with "embouchure, tongue placement, using the 'aaahh' 'eeee' 'ooo' and et cetera" and are "still being greeted with comments that my tone was not fantastic enough." What is "fantastic enough?" Your own ears are often your best teachers, but only if you have a fairly clear idea of what you're listening for. You write that "even when I ... felt that I had slowly gain a respectable tone, that it was largely not well received" by your teachers and fellow students. Are you striving toward a different ideal sound and are maybe in the wrong school environment? Or are you simply trying to satisfy various, perhaps even conflicting, demands by others (hopefully you're listening more to the teaching staff than to other students) without having formed a clear concept of your own that you want to achieve? Changing things without a goal is a blind path that prevents you from ever knowing whether you've succeeded or not. Changing too many things at once risks having a destructive change cancel out a beneficial one.
Squeaking isn't a surprising outcome when you start to make many changes in your blowing technique. Something you've changed may have caused tension and inflexibility (making the change probably destructive). Air leaks in my experience come from fairly specific approaches to embouchure formation (unless they're just the result of fatigue late in a playing session). This should again be between you and your principal teacher, but I don't think it should generally take months to cure a leak that results from embouchure formation unless you have a serious muscular weakness on one side of your mouth. Of course, some clarinetists, including major performers, don't consider a slight air leak to be a flaw so long as the sound doesn't reach the audience.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-01-06 19:19
I want to apologize in advance for the "boiler plate" response I usually give concerning sound but it's my personal favorite.
AIR ..... AIR ..... AIR !!!!!
To achieve a good, FOCUSED, STEADY stream of air, you need to 'push' with your abdomen. I like to draw the analogy to you setting yourself upon saying "Go ahead, punch me in the stomach." Your stomach area will be OUT (not in) throughout your breath, and there will be an active amount of 'tension.' This allows the stream of air that comes out of your mouth to be STEADY (and fast).
The other part is FOCUS. Try (for a few weeks as a minimum) not really trying to put your tongue anywhere in particular. Just kinda leave it sitting there as you would at rest watching TV. The problem with "AHHHH" (if you really think about where your tongue is when you do this) is that the back of your tongue actually rests OVER the top of your throat when you do this BLOCKING the free flow of air !!!!! So, as John Yeh used to say about "AHHHH," "Open throat is CLOSED throat !!!"
That last part will give you FOCUS.
To check if you've got this all right, you should feel the clarinet vibrate under your fingers at ALL volumes in all but the highest altissimo notes.
................GOOD LUCK !
..........................Paul Aviles
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-01-07 03:31
You've been given some good suggestions. Another thing to try is practicing harmonics. If you search the archives, you'll find quite a bit including this:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=150381&t=150225
Don't worry if you can't do all of these overtone exercises immediately. Working on long tones above the staff--without the register key--is a great way to start.
Post Edited (2013-01-07 03:40)
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Author: Yangz
Date: 2013-01-07 12:31
Thank you very much everyone, it was valuable advices to me. I'll pick where I've fallen to serve to strive, and not to yield!
Thank you and Have a nice day ahead.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-01-08 21:38
Long tone practice every day could help.
When taking breaths, try taking a deep breath, then another breath on top of it, and a third breath again, all without releasing air. When you put this air into your clarinet or saxophone, it will be high pressure, and the instrument has to respond regardless of the mouthpiece cost.
After studying for years with two legendary teachers, I did not study for a few years. Then, I went for lessons with a fine Hollywood studio player. He said, "You don't know how to blow!" He was right but I could not seem to fix it to make him happy. It took years more before I could relax and let the air come from the bottom of my torso. Even that little thing in the rear of the mouth that hangs down has to get out of the way. I suspect that the air passages and mechanism of the throat develop and change in a permanent way over the years to allow air to be available at the reed
The late Bill Green said that it takes at least ten years to learn how to breathe to play the saxophone. The clarinet is so easy to get a sound on that many players don't really provide high pressure air to it in order to sound pretty good. Perhaps that is why the mouthpiece business is so active.
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Author: Paula S
Date: 2013-01-09 19:30
Hi Yangz,
I am just a serious amateur but these two exercises are some of the most valuable I have ever tried. Although the lady demonstrating has a very different sound to the one I strive for, I think her exercises would work for anyone regardless of their sound concept.
Firstly the position of the clarinet in relation to tone is an eye opener as I find optimum is different on each of the clarinets I own. It is well worth it for me to re-establish this at the start of each practice session.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFJR_M8kHlg
This whisper practice is absolutely great for setting you up for moving air properly before you even play a note on the clarinet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9nd2wLMBOA
The high notes and the overtones exercise is useful too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaDJbypAN34
Michelle, If you visit this board I would like to say thanks so much for these exercises :-)
Good luck Yangz!
Post Edited (2013-01-09 19:42)
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