 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2014-11-08 15:45
Which set up (clarinet, mouthpiece, reed etc.) do you think is best to make it easy for bending notes and glissando?
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The older I get, the better I was
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-11-08 18:11
I use to think that more open mouthpieces with weaker reeds was the best approach. Mainly I stick with a standard orchestral set up and don't really allow myself much glissandi. But recently I (purely by accident) found that smears are much easier using Legere reeds (I use a one to one strength relationship to my Vandorens with a Quebec cut Legere).
And finally some mouthpieces are so stable that they allow you more 'wiggle' room. I have been having some fun with a new brand of mouthpiece (to me), the ESM or Ernst Schreiber Michelstadt and have for the first time EVER accomplished the seamless smear at the end of the Artie Shaw concerto from the "G" four ledger lines above the staff to the "C" above (using good ol' real cane reeds). This one is a pretty atypical glissando.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2014-11-08 20:01
What Paul said.
Use any clarinet you want. The more ergonomic the instrument, the better--you'll be shading tone holes and gently nudging trill keys. Carefully consider spring tensions, ring heights, and the heights of your "sliver" keys.
Post Edited (2014-11-08 20:16)
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2014-11-13 15:33
So bore size and mouthpiece facing don't affect the ease and amount of note bending you can do? It's purely down to the player?
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The older I get, the better I was
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-11-13 17:56
Nope. Didn't say that. I assume mouthpiece/reed if someone refers to "set-up."
Clarinets with undercut tone holes and the more conically shaped bores are better suited as well, which were historically speaking the Selmers.
But when you really get down to the nitty gritty, yes, it is up to the player to do this NOT the equipment.
............Paul Aviles
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2014-11-13 19:25
Sure, the clarinet doesn't bend the notes on its own, but do you find it easier to bend notes with an open/closed mouthpiece or a narrow/wide bore?
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The older I get, the better I was
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2014-11-13 19:44
For me, bore size has never mattered when it came to flexibility. A Selmer 10S (small, reverse conical bore) works just as well as a Selmer CT or BT (large).
Likewise, mouthpiece doesn't matter much either. Close facings, open facings...meh. They all work. Reeds, if too stiff, will begin to impeded. But they have to be pretty hard to cause trouble.
Never had problems on B&H, Selmer, Leblanc, or Wurlitzers with that sort of flexibility. Could certainly do things on Buffets, but they were by far the worst in the altissimo. (The timbre differences in the altissimo on Buffets--almost note to note--caused problems with seamlessness.) But it might have been the horns I had.
Eric
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The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2014-11-14 06:43
Smearing can be done on any setup (thinking rhapsody in blue style, up or down)
Bending one note up or down without the use of shading can benefit from changing the setup.
I think it was Ken Shaw who had a great post on here on how to learn a good smear. In a nutshell, it's easier to smear higher notes, so practice smearing B to C. Then A to C. The G to C, etc etc. crossing breaks can be done but its darned hard. And regardless of setup, blow a strong airstream and having a loose embouchure should help.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2014-11-15 02:23
When I say "bend" I don't mean smearing or glissing notes, I mean being able to play a note and change its pitch without fingers. Is there a configuration of mouthpiece and bore width that makes this easier?
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The older I get, the better I was
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2014-11-15 03:21
Well, your original question mentioned glissandi, so that's what I was answering.
If you're real question is related to intonation flexibility, I say large bores are easier for me. But each player needs to find their own way in this sort of thing, IMO.
Eric
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The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2014-11-15 11:06
Jon- I don't believe that Ross Gorman would have been able to do the gliss at the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue just using his fingers. He would have had to do a lot of the type of "note-bending" stuff with his embouchure/oral cavity in combination with his fingers to achieve a gliss like that. And if you listen further into the clip you'll hear that he does quite a lot of note-bending.
Anybody know what Mr Gorman's set-up was?
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2014-11-15 18:36
Ditto what Liquorice said. I don't hear Gorman bending the low register with the oral cavity, but with fingers. After that -- oral cavity.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2014-11-16 02:48
WARNING - The following post is going to be very heavy on my opinions, and everything is personal opinion, and it may differ greatly from yours!!!
bending one note without using fingers can be significantly altered by a setup. Some mouthpeices and clarinets are known to be very "stable" in that you can loosen your embouchure quite a bit before a noticeable bend in pitch. In general, the narrower the bore and closer tip mouthpiece, the more "stable" a pitch you will have. So in marketing terms, the selmer recital with an M13 or M15 should be a VERY stable setup. Whereas a Leblanc Pete Fountain (or other big bore clarinet) combined with a very open mouthpiece (vandoren 5JB) would be a very flexible setup made to take a pitch and allow you to manipulate it MUCH more.
I personally got to preferring I guess would be a "medium-open" to "open" mouthpiece for all my playing. I like the sound (a little less "focused", but still very nice - I imagine it gives me a slight nod towards a ricardo morales sound and takes me away from an Anthony giglioitti sound) and I like the flexibility to play in different styles and manipulate sound and pitch without having to fight a mouthpiece.
The main drawback to an open mouthpiece IMO is the stability of pitch, particularly as you go higher on the clarinet. Hitting altissimo notes spot on and keeping them at a specific pitch is harder on an open mouthpiece than on a closed one. An open mouthpiece lent me to have a tendency to hit the note and slightly scoop up into locking in a pitch, or it allowed the pitch to change VERY easily with the slightest movement of jaw or embouchure. This (I think) is one of the reasons people might be drawn to close tip mouthpieces. Popping out an altissimo E, or slurring up to one from any other note is just way easier, and the stability of the mouthpiece allows that pitch to be the same pretty much every time.
But don't be afraid of a more open mouthpiece. They put out a really nice sound, and with enough work, you can control those altissimo notes just as easily as with a closetip. At first, I had to REALLY REALLY concentrate on locking in a pitch going to the altissimo, but now I hit the notes with much more precision than when I first started using it. However a BONUS to having an 'unstable' mouthpiece is the ability to match pitches to different sections. For example, in my band, if playing with the trumpets or playing a leading tone resolving to a tonic, pinch that reed and raise my pitch. If playing with the upper woodwinds, relax and just be stable. If playing and holding out a 3rd of a chord, slightly loosen and allow it to be JUST a little flat, etc. etc.
BTW, if you are thinking of switching from a very close tip mouthpiece to a fairly open one, don't do it suddenly. It'll just frustrate you. Make it in about three steps. For example, in Vandoren terms, if you're on a Vandoren M13, go to an M15 for a month or two. Then maybe a 5RV Lyre. And then try something much more open. No reason to shock your whole world when you can make subtler changes and adjust quicker while still allowing you to play well. And you may find that the M15 or 5RV Lyre type mouthpiece is more than enough for your needs and stop there.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: DSMUSIC1
Date: 2014-11-16 06:50
In my opinion, you will get the best results bending notes or when playing glissando with the reed and mouthpiece combination that you presently play......as long as it is the set-up that you get your best overall results with and are comfortable and happy with (a good teacher can help you with this).
It is a very individual thing. There is no one reed/mouthpiece combination that will work for all. That being said, I can glissando and bend notes with a close/long or a open/short facing mouthpiece, however It is easiest for me to achieve the results I am after by playing a medium open mouthpiece with an opening of around 113 and a 32-34 length.
For me, bending notes and glissando are achieved by a combination of proper voicing manipulation, finger movement and air speed.
In the link below you will find an example of Rhapsody in Blue. You can see where I smear notes without using my fingers. I am playing a Pomarico Black Crystal mouthpiece (if I remember correctly) with the above measurements. I am pretty sure it would sound similar if I played it on any of my Vandoren mouthpieces, my Chedeville, Kanter, or anything else I may have in my mouthpiece drawer, with subtle tonal differences.
The important thing to remember is to keep the airstream very fast and well supported. For learning voicing manipulation practice chromatically from high C descending chromatically, first using your fingers, than by voicing the notes only and not moving your fingers: C-B-C (fingers), C-B-C (voicing), C-Bb-C, C-A-C, etc.
Hope this helps and good luck!
-Dennis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3GbAKww1KI
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2014-11-17 14:52
Thanks for everyone's varied advice, and apologies for the confusion between glissandi and purely bending, still very much a beginner with respect to both technique and terminology
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The older I get, the better I was
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