 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Laura
Date: 2001-05-11 17:51
I am a 15 year old high schooler in Fairfax County (the big band one), and my director has just told me that if I don't fix my tone that I won't move up to the top band, even though there are places open, and I'm first chair in the second band. I have swithched mouthpieces(it was a gigilotti and my director hated it so much that he bought a crystal one for me) and that worked for a while, but apparently it is coming back again. I have a very strident, piercing(brilliant?) sound, so when the clarinets play together, I stick out like a sore thumb. any ideas to soften that? I have a traditional embrouchoure, top teeth on mouthpiece but it isn't a biting problem. I find that when I change my airstream it seems to help. I also have a problem tounging fast, ecspecially in the high range(120-chalmeu, throat 110-clarion, altissimo) , and my tounging technique doesn't sound like anything else i've read about. When I first began playing I wasn't able to do anything but squeak until i put my toungue on the reed, so to toungue i put maybe the top quarter inch of my toungue on the reed and the remove everything but the tip. I don't think that is anchor tounging, but... I currently don't have acess to a teacher.
PS if this helps any, I have a long tongue
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Author: Laura
Date: 2001-05-11 17:58
I almost forgot. I had taken apart and put back together my E-11 so that I could polish it, and I don't think that I did the screw adjustments very well, because when I play chalmeau, the poles that keys rotate on vibrate hard enough to hear, and when I play clarion B, it is hard to get out if I am not pressing the C key.
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Author: David Kinder
Date: 2001-05-11 18:09
What is your mouthpiece, reed, ligature setup? I've been very happy with the tone that my Vandoren M13 produces as well as the darker Eddie Daniels II Rovner Ligature.
Just my $.02
David
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Author: Kim
Date: 2001-05-11 18:32
The E-11 is really a "step-up" clarinet from a beginner student clarinet. Because you are improving and your embouchure is better formed, you are producing a brighter sound. If the mouthpieces you are playing on aren't the answer, you might need a more advanced clarinet such as the R-13, LeBlanc Opus/Concerto, or Selmer Signature. These clarinets are more resistant and would help you produce a darker, mellower tone- exactly what your band director wants. However, I would not go to a new clarinet until first seeing that it is definitely the clarinet that is the problem. Test mouthpieces first to see which best fits your E-11. If you don't like anything, then go to a new clarinet.
Good luck,
Kim
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Author: Dan Oberlin
Date: 2001-05-11 19:50
Laura,
Mouthpiece and instrument issues are tough enough for people who
have been playing many, many years. If you have a chance to consult
an experienced clarinetist-an established clarinet teacher or perhaps a university
performance major-it might be helpful.
Good luck,
Dan
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-05-11 20:06
Laura,
I live and work near Fairfax County (Virginia, I assume?) and I play in a few musical groups in the county -- Please contact me offline and perhaps I can take a look at your setup and help you out.
Email: spiegelthal.dave@orbital.com
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-05-11 20:20
Have a good tech fix your horn. That's no way to get anywhere.
Get a good teacher *ASAP*.
Playing long tones sometimes helps if your sound is too bright. Subconsciously you start to adjust to get a more mellow tone that your ear and mind like.
Locking the tip of the tongue onto the reed is something that I have never heard of but I suppose one could classify it as an unusual form of anchor tonguing (normally defined as the tip of the tongue locked behind the lower teeth). I suspect it would share the disadvantage of slowing your tonguing and making it kind of "thud" sounding. In addition, since part of your tongue is always on the reed, I would it expect it to have a very significant (probably detrimental) impact on the overall vibration of the reed.
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Author: Laura
Date: 2001-05-11 21:06
I have a poly crystal mouthpiece, a bay covered ligature, and a vandoren V-12 reed. I have been playing for four years, so if I have a thudding sound when I toungue, it is slight.( I think that youu are right, though becuase I sometimes get a subtone on the higher notes. I am trying to get a teacher for the summer, and I heard the Dr. Robert Little was good.
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Author: Bob Curtis
Date: 2001-05-14 02:46
Laura:
Get a good teacher as soon as possible!! Listen to some recordings of good clarinetists and see (hear) what they sound like. Compare your sound with theirs. The private teacher is the only one who can really help you at this stage because if you try to do it yourself it is only going to be guess work along with trial and error and that will take too much time. On site, visual instruction is the only sure way to get where you want to go, because it might be only a minor flaw easily corrected, or maybe a major job requiring some drastic alterations of playing techniques -- only by having a COMPETENT instructor check you out can you get the desired results.
Believe me, it can be done IF done correctly. I know, having taught the instrument for over 50 years!!
Good luck!
Bob Curtis
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