 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-02-07 05:05
I know this has been talked over at length here, but I just had to interrupt my practice session to say- I was just imagining an extra key on the side of my clarinet, that would squirt some alum into my mouth (from behind the reed? - access seems an issue) on demand. To make the excess H2O suddenly return from whence it came, kind of like in the old Looney Tunes. (Who can forget "Figaro... Figaro... Figaro figaro figaro figaro...")
Seriously, I have one song in particular I have a problem with. And now it's probably got a psychological aspect in that I expect spit and it comes.
So my approach now is not to stop and swallow, I couldn't do that in a live setting anyway. I keep playing. And I strive to ignore the extra puddle I feel below my tongue. I'm getting better at it. Eventually it won't matter. Right?
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-07 06:23
You suck out saliva from the mouthpiece and swallow it, along with whatever saliva is in your mouth before starting?
No place in your piece with a large enough break to swallow?
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-02-07 10:08
Dave- indeed I clear things out every chance I get. But the excess liquid (no polite way to characterize it I guess) happens in mid phrase and I have to play through it if I don't want to leave a musical gap. In past I would get gurgling, or just be afraid that was about to happen. Now I keep playing and mostly it's OK, just a bit awkward and disconcerting. And it makes me mad, not the first or last thing about clarinet playing that does THAT.
Any psuedo scientific psychological tricks I could use, like imagining eating salty crackers or getting a mouthful of dry sand? Or would that work in reverse?
Back to my "invention"- think I could patent it, and make a fortune licensing to all the clarinet makers? Shark Tank here I come. First thing I'd need is a memorable name for it- any suggestions?
Here's the "Figaro" clip- supposedly this is the result of a quick throat spray of alum. Ah- the good old days of quality cartoons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcMdAcxKw1Y
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-02-07 13:53
Hey, just wondering,
Do you think more of an "AHHH" position or tongue 'back' position? I was just sitting here pondering why I don't have the problem and thought perhaps it is partly because my tongue is already filling most of that space already being FORWARD (or sitting naturally as it is now) when I play.
............Paul Aviles
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-02-07 19:07
Paul, I'll check that out and report back- maybe yet another adjustment will help me. The extra slobber is (as I recall) a fairly recent phenomenon. So perhaps my more recent embouchure adjustments that helped my play in general, had this unwanted side effect. Very hard to know. 3 steps forward, one back- still means progress.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-07 23:02
Though not my business to expect you to reply to in public, some of us 50+ ers find ourselves on a series of common medications for cholesterol, blood pressure, sugar, beta-blockers, tryglycerides, etc., that in combination, lead to dry mouth.
Accordingly, it's quite common for Internists to prescribe medicines to address the dry mouth symptoms of these meds.
Your a smart man Stan. I have to presume that were you on such meds for dry mouth that you'd have already factored that in, but I feel compelled to point it out.
Are you particularly hungry when you perform? Are the smells and sounds common associated with food within your midst at performance, causing your mouth to "instinctively" salivate?
Do you normally chew a lot of gum?...another thing that could get the salivary blands working. Has your clarinet already seen much play for you take on these pieces and could benefit from a swabbing?
Does your problem happen across the board or only a select pieces of music with particular long periods where there's barely time to breath, let alone swallow? Are these pieces written for clarinet, (where composers are sometimes cognizant of a player's instrument's limitations) or more pieces you've adapted for clarinet. I seem to recall you play clarinet within a gospel genre, where you've adapted known works to clarinet, correct?
If it's limited to particular pieces, maybe you want to share that music so others can see what happens to them. Suggestions might be made on phrasing, or comparisons made to just how much other players mouth water, and how well they tolerate it, so as to establish of baseline for your own degree of salivation, and mental tolerance to it.
Whose mouthpiece do you play, and do you take it in almost to the point of squeaking, and then back it on down a bit?
Rate your own gag reflex? Are trips, say, to the dentist difficult because of it?
Do you have sore throats that make you want to swallow more frequently? Allergies?
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-02-08 00:06
Hey Dave,
All good questions. I didn't really want to have to investigate, as I said it makes me mad this has risen to the point of needing attention. I'll think my way through your whole list, just maybe something will stick out.
I really do think it's mental, or has become that way. Expectation becomes reality, and that's hard to fight in any arena. I even wonder if I'll cause some of you a problem by making YOU think about it while playing... sorry.
Whatever the cause or cure, my pressing need is for advice what to do in mid phrase when I suddenly get a flood of saliva. I'm trying these days not to shift anything, just act and play as much as is possible as though it isn't happening. Mixed results so far, but as I said, I'm having less trouble playing through it than I used to. Like many other things (and people!) in life, I'm hoping that if I ignore it, and give it no power or influence, it will go away.
I'm looking for something like, "Tense your lips tighter and cross your eyes." (totally making that up)- something that players have determined by experimentation will short circuit the salivation cycle, even reverse it (?), that can be done mid phrase, without stopping. Does such exist? Surely somebody who regularly plays the Mozart Concerto in front of huge crowds- has to occasionally deal with a spit problem at critical musical moments.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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