 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: BGBG
Date: 2015-07-07 20:14
Sometimes I just cant get reed to play without squawking. Tried a 2, 2.5, 3. Not the newest or best but seem to work better some days than others. May be finger position going from A#4 to D5, C5, B4...back and forth from lower to upper register. Is it best to just switch to a better reed rather than wasting time trying, or to keep on until can improve it? Frustrating.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-07-07 20:32
Have your instrument checked to be sure no pads are leaking air.
If you mean these are all old reeds, certainly try new ones. No brand should squawk uncontrollably, so a different brand won't solve the problem.
Have someone else try to play your mouthpiece on your instrument and see if they have the same problem.
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EaubeauHorn
Date: 2015-07-07 22:07
If it does not squawk when you slow down and make sure your fingers really are exactly in the right place....your problem is well defined. I'm at that point now, where trying to go faster results in squawks, and I know I just have to spend more time going across the break as slowly as I have to to get it right. May not be your problem but thought I'd mention it. Sometimes people at the same level can help each other better than those who can't remember far enough back to where they had the problem.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-07-07 22:23
EaubeauHorn wrote:
> If it does not squawk when you slow down and make sure your
> fingers really are exactly in the right place....your problem
> is well defined. I'm at that point now, where trying to go
> faster results in squawks, and I know I just have to spend more
> time going across the break as slowly as I have to to get it
> right. May not be your problem but thought I'd mention it.
> Sometimes people at the same level can help each other better
> than those who can't remember far enough back to where they had
> the problem.
LOL, unfortunately, I'm at the age when some of those problems are coming back, so I can identify with poor finger coverage causing squeaks. That can certainly be part of the problem. But those squeaks tend to happen in specific passages, usually where there's something a little awkward about the fingerings involved like crossing the break. If you find that on bad days the squawks happen no matter what you're playing, I'd look farther than the way your fingers are covering (but don't ignore EaubeauHorn's advice - try slowing down and making sure you're covering everything completely with your fingers).
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BGBG
Date: 2015-07-09 06:56
Part of the trouble is indeed the fingering and going from A4 to B4, C5, D5 in Stranger on the Shore which I transposed to Fmajor this improved when I set metronome to 60 or played slowly without metronome. Troble getting fingers in right place.
But I was keeping reeds dry like I read and only dipping them when putting it on mouthpiece. That is when all squawked no matter what. Today I put them butt down in small amout of water ro soak just the bottom 3rd of reed for 5 hours. Then I dipped the tip, wiped between fingers, and this time there were no squawks. I have read reeds should not be too wet, but perhaps they aca also be too dry. IMHO.
I am going to slow down the speed and spend more time with scales and improve the accuracy of fingering.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
