 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Arthur Jacob Arshawsky
Date: 2013-12-12 23:21
Hi everyone, I am currently playing in a big band for high school and to be honest, I feel like the clarinet section doesn't sound much. The reasons for that is that
1. Most of the clarinet players are beginners so they play very soft.
2. Clarinets are not as loud as saxophones or trumpets.
So I am wondering if there is some kind of special mouthpiece, special barrel or even an special clarinet to somehow play louder. I am currently the loudest player in the section and even I can hear my self over recordings. I saw not long ago on ebay this barrel called the "Doctor's Power barrel" which is supposed to increase your sound by 15 decibels. Is that even possible ? I know there might be something out there for this sort of issue so please I need opinions from experienced players.
Thank you all in advanced !
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Author: saxlite
Date: 2013-12-13 00:19
Clarinets not as loud as saxophones? That is precisely why the French Military Band requested Adolph Sax to develop the saxophone!! They wanted a woodwind instrument that could play as loud as the trumpets. Sax's invention came pretty close, and the rest is history.
Concerning Doc's Power Barrel: really am not sure about this one- the guy next to me in my big band has one, and I play way louder than he does on my stock Centered Tone setup.
Jerry
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-12-13 02:48
Concerning the Power Barrel, I'd say that because it emphasizes certain harmonics this barrel can give you a bit more 'presence' but I wouldn't say it's as dramatic as 15 db or anything like that.
The "secret" is NOT a particular barrel or mouthpiece. It is using air properly. Proper support engages the CORE !!!! It is taking a full breath and always engaging your core such that you are always actively pushing (at any dynamic) and always keeping your stomach out as you breathe out.
And also focusing your airstream using the "EEEEE" configuration avoiding the "AHHHH" configuration which is mistakenly thought to be more open. "AHHHH" actually brings the back of your tongue down into your throat.......CLOSING OFF your airway.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-13 03:20
I recommend the swab-up-the-bell exercise.
Stuff a cotton swab tight up the bell, finger third-line B (with the register key open), take plenty of mouthpiece, loosen your embouchure and blow like the wind. You'll get a weak 4th space Eb. Blow harder and harder until you get a decent volume.
Then find the Bb above. You do this by raising the back of your tongue and lowering the tip, lowering your jaw slightly and raising your soft palate. It's easier to do than to describe -- the same thing you do when whistling. Find the Eb, G and Bb above. Play bugle calls to learn where the various resonance points are.
When you pull the swab out and play, you'll suddenly find that you're at least twice as loud as before. This comes from using less embouchure pressure and more air. By doing the exercise many times, you'll get the feel of opening up and letting go.
Ken Shaw
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2013-12-13 03:22
Young clarinetists still developing their embouchure ought not to be burdened with having to play loud. They should be working instead on a characteristic clarinet sound that blends well with other instruments and is not forced. Mature clarinetists in situations that require increased dynamic range do have equipment that will give the result and still sound musical. For instance, most players can produce a bigger, musically acceptable, fortissimo on a Vandoren 45 than a Vandoren M15. This doesn't make the 45 "better" than the M15, and, in fact, the 15 is much better suited to most players of middle school and high school age than the 45. It is not unusual to find an orchestral clarinetist who usually plays a Vandoren 13, 13 lyre, or 15 switch to a 45 when extra volume and energy are called for in the music. Players who can afford high-end mouthpieces can consult makers like Robert Borbeck in Las Vegas or Brad Behn concerning models that have enhanced dynamics and core size. The Borbeck 13 and Behn's new Arrtist II model are two examples.
There is also a big difference between playing loud and being heard. Some mouthpieces seem to have a great deal of volume but they do not carry very well and the sound is washed out before it travels 20 or 30 feet. Other mouthpieces seem to have a small concentrated sound close up but fully "bloom" into a large, penetrating sound from a distance. A very good and affordable mouthpiece of this type is the Rico Reserve model. The Reserve in either its close 0 facing or its medium 5 facing would be a wise choice for young players who want to play loud enough to be heard in a concert hall from a distance without sounding strident or forced.
Post Edited (2014-09-09 10:11)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-13 04:29
I was at an Anthony Gigliotti master class where he played the nightingale solo from The Pines of Rome. Although he played pppp, he was clearly audible at the back of a very dead hall.
This is because he cultivated an energetic high-frequency "ping," sometimes called an "edge of reediness." It's like a golden thread, glimmering at the center of the tone.
In 1958, Keith Stein taught me an exercise that I've used ever since. Face into the corner of a room and play a fortissimo low E. Point your chin, stretch the skin taut below your lower lip and pull your lower lip out so only half the red part is over your teeth.
Gradually decrescendo to nothing, constantly thinking of and bringing out third-line B above. By the time you get to mp, you should hear the B clearly, and eventually you will learn to keep it going with almost no low E.
Then do the same on low F, and on up the chromatic scale.
This produces an extremely energetic tone that does not work well in, say, a woodwind quintet. Whenever I did it, the other members complained that I was too loud. The solution is to use it where you need extra power -- where you have the melody in the low register or in the throat tones. Where another part is what's important, I often do just the opposite, rolling more of my lower lip over my teeth.
Also, this tone does not record well. Players who use it, including Gigliotti and Alan Hacker, sound great in person but overly bright on recordings. Gino Coffi was a master at varying the amount of ping to match the music and how dominant he needed to be.
Ken Shaw
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Author: William
Date: 2013-12-13 14:23
Yes, to the above advice of Phil & Ken. Also, try putting a bit more of the beak in your mouth. It is a common error for young players to try playing with too little mouthpiece inserted which simply closes the tip of the reed and restricts tone production. I always tell beginning clarinetists to take in as much mouthpiece as they can short of producing the unwanted squeak. Another help is to use adequate upward right hand thumb pressure to keep the mouthpiece in your mouth and help firm up your embouchure. So much to think about, but give our suggestions a try and use what works--best of luck with your big band.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2013-12-13 15:58
Issac Roginsky, for many years principal clarinet with the Leningrad Theater Opera and Ballet Orchestra (not the Leningrad Philharmonic--I was wrong about that), belonged to what might be called the heroic school of Russian clarinet players. He had one of the widest dynamic ranges in the business. His sound was a remarkable combination of lively luminescence and well-projected shadowy darkness (a feat seldom accomplished by other clarinetists). His recording of the Manevich Clarinet Concerto with the Leningrad almost does justice to his hall-filling resonance. The performance is available on youtube.com under the tag Isaac Roginsky Manevich Clarinet Concerto. One drawback of habitually playing in this extremely dynamic style is that it may not fit well in many orchestras. Reportedly, when Roginsky left Russia and took up residence in New York, he had trouble finding work. Caveat emptor.
Post Edited (2013-12-25 00:44)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-14 02:09
I got the Roginsky Manevich LP back in 1961 and have been amazed every since. I've been told that he was barely 5 feet tall, couldn't find work in NYC and died in poverty.
seabreeze - Do you mean the Leningrad Philharmonic (conducted by Mravinsky), or was there also a Leningrad Symphony?
Does anyone know of recordings where Roginsky plays?
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2013-12-14 02:09)
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2013-12-14 06:09
Note: After an e-mail exchange with the Russian clarinetist Vladimir Gensler, I am correcting my erroneous statement that Roginsky was principal clarinet with the Leningrad Philharmonic. Gensler has kindly told me that Roginsky was principal clarinet from 1939 to 1974 with another Leningrad orchestra, at the Mariinsk Theater (Kirov Theater)--The Leningrad Theater, Opera, and Ballet Orchestra.
I seem to recall someone playing a recording by the Leningrad of the Rachmaninoff Symphony 2 in the 1960s and telling me Roginsky was doing the clarinet solos. Though I searched for other recordings featuring him, I could never find any. I also heard that he may have been playing Oehler clarinets made by Franz Koktan. Koktan instruments were favored by Victor Polatschek (clarinet in the Vienna Philharmonic and later in the Boston Symphony) and Leopold Wlach of the Vienna Philharmonic, Polatschek's pair of Koktans was recently donated to the Boston Symphony by Dr. Vincent de Luise, who got them from Eric Simon.
(De Luise's blog shows a couple of photos of these instruments. The blog can be accessed by googling Koktan Clarinet Donated to Boston Symphony or The Long and (Wood)Winding Road of Two Clarinets.) Dr. de Luise confirms that both Polatschek and Wlach played Koktan instruments but says nothing about Roginsky or Valery Bezruchenko, who was principal in Leningrad some time after Roginsky.
David Hite once mentioned that older Oehler clarinets often had a bright sound toned down by fitting them with mellow-sounding mouthpieces to produce very strong fundamentals. Both Wlach and Polatschek had covered sounds produced by such mouthpieces paired with very thick reeds. I have heard that Polatschek used to ask other clarinetists to give him all the reeds they found too hard to blow; he would slap them on his mouthpiece and easily manage them with little or no effort or adjustment. There is an old recording of the Stravinsky Octet for winds in which Polatschek produces a dark as night sound, almost like a wooden flute. Roginsky got quite a different sound, deep and cavernous but with a ping like a church bell. Maybe he used a brighter mouthpiece or just managed to voice the tone up to the rafters. I have never heard anybody else play quite that way; his crescendos go up to ffff and the tone doesn't break or go strident. I wish there were more Russian clarinetists following this list who could say if Roginsky made more solo recordings.
Post Edited (2013-12-25 00:51)
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