 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: icmusicman
Date: 2016-04-12 22:59
I know long posts are rather boring and people are likely to look past it, but please hear me out. I'm quite stuck and deliberating a change in profession.....
I have even playing clarinet for 12 years, and have been experiencing this problem for roughly 5 years.
I am currently wrapping up my Bachelors in Performance and heading to CMU for my masters this upcoming fall, so my concern is becoming a huge burden..
My equipment at this moment in time: Grabner G11* mouthpiece, Fobes African Blackwood Barrel 66mm, Vandoren V12's 3 1/2 & modified 3 1/2+'s, Buffet R13 nickle plated bought in 2008.
A walkthrough of what happens every time I play, practice setting:
I will warm up with long tones, usually only lasting 2 minutes because I will already have acute airleak out of the corners of my mouth. I've recently noticed that my upper lip is unable to seal after two minutes of long tones. 2 minute break. I do my Klose or Jettel scales and arpeggios. Takes about 10 min, due to many pauses with breathing and not being able to make as long of phrases gradually down the page (meaning i can do a whole scale up and down in one breath, by the end I have to breath every measure)
30 min break. Going into my solos I will have to stop periodically. My upper lip will no longer seal over my teeth and will "flare out". My biting is uncontrollable, and my corners will not seal, allowing so much airleak that the clarinet isn't audible. My practice session last no longer than 45 min of playingl and I am pretty much shot for the day.
Band setting: we do chorales and f Remingtons which feels fine. Let's say the program order is to tocatta marziale, only light (perrine), moorside suite, and Hindemith metamorphosis symph. I can play most of tocatta, missing the last half of the last page usually. Only light, I need to breath almost every mesaure, complete airleak. Moorside: I'm playing eb, so lots of breaks, embouchure is fine. Hindemith:I am not audible for the whole last mvt.
Sorry for the novel above, I just wanted to give an ideal timeline of my endurance.
TL:DR
What usually happens is that I notice my top teeth start to clamp down within 15 minutes. My upper lip begins to flare forward (away from my teeth) and my corners aren't sealing, allowing all the air to leak. During this time I also have very shallow breaths, my hand get really cold and tingle from time to time, with lightheadedness probably twice a semester.
I've been told to go see a respiratory specialist and possibly a neurologist, but financially that isn't possible at the moment. I was thinking of taping a practice session and linking it here if anyone is interested.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do, who I should see, etc? I really would like to find a solution, as I really don't want to give up this profession.
Note: I have a wind-o and a breath builder that I currently use. I have noticed any progress, however.
EDITS: Some autocorrect issues.
On the way to great embouchure!
Post Edited (2016-04-13 00:43)
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-04-12 23:17
You need to see a good general practitioner or internal medicine MD now and get referrals if necessary to the proper medical specialists to diagnose and treat your conditions. Mere clarinetists (unless they are also qualified medical doctors) will not be able to help you. The longer you delay medical consultation, the more serious your problems are likely to become. The shortness of breath you are experiencing definitely calls for medical attention now.
Post Edited (2016-04-12 23:42)
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-04-12 23:22
This sounds abnormal, especially for an experienced player.
Do you get any symptoms from other types of physical exertion? - shortness of breath, loss of strength, lightheadedness? Did a doctor advise you to see the specialists? Your situation may or may not have a medical basis, but I'd seriously want to find that out first. If you haven't consulted a doctor, please do so. Payment can be arranged, and hospitals maintain funds to cover people who otherwise can't afford treatment (note, there's a process involved in the latter.)
If it turns out to be non-medical, and something about technique you've unconsciously learned to do wrong, your teacher ought to be able to help fix it; if not then a different teacher.
Trying to diagnose and fix this over the internet might be interesting, but I'd call it iffy.
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2016-04-12 23:47
I am very sorry to hear about your issues, and understand you want some support and advice from this community. However, you MUST go see a doctor about this.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: icmusicman
Date: 2016-04-13 00:36
Seabreeze/Sylvain: I just contacted the RIC for a consultation and assessment. They can't get me in until the end of May, but I am hoping that there will be answers. For the time being, I am hoping my appointment at the university hospital tomorrow has some leads and referrals.
Phillip: I do actually. I was in a lifting program last fall. Every time towards the end of my workouts, I had trouble breathing normally. My right ear did this thing where every time I breathed in, my ear would "close" and when I exhaled I could hear normally. I consulted my doctor about this and he just blamed stress and that I'd feel normal once my stress levels drop... How vague and unsatisfying is that? Like I said to above, I am hoping my university doctor can refer me to someone who is capable of diagnosing me. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until my RIC appointment.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-04-13 02:53
Don't worry about the med bills. Get your health in check. Do you keep your mouthpiece clean? Lots of interesting stories of fungus lung infections come from mouthpieces and reeds.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: lagatitalila
Date: 2016-04-14 02:40
I'm not a doctor, but I've had quite a few health issues for a variety of reasons, so I have experience dealing with weirdness that affects playing.
When I was a kid, I had what I called "bad air days," which turned out to be related to heart problems I didn't realize I had then. I have an arrhythmia and bradycardia (slow heart rate) and my "bad air days" were related to cardiac episodes. So you might want to get checked for an arrhythmia. You can do this yourself by checking your pulse over a full minute when you have are experiencing the shortness of breath. It will be obvious since you are a musician and can distinguish changes in tempo.
The loss of control over your embouchure is likely the result of some pinched nerve somewhere, considering you have hand tingling. If you still have your wisdom teeth, they can be impacted and interfering with the nerves that control the muscles in your face. If you lift, you might have a pinched nerve that is affecting your embouchure.
I once had a pinched shoulder nerve from running around town with clarinets, a ton of books, and a bass clarinet. I had tingling in my right hand as well as loss of feeling. The fix for that was simple, since it wasn't long-term damage I was dealing with. I found a good chiropractor who put things back where they belonged so they would stop pinching the nerve, and changed the way I carried around my junk.
If you've been having this problem for a while, it may take longer term chiropractic care as well as massage therapy to resolve this issue. But luckily, that's still cheaper and more direct than the route you are currently on, what with waiting for an appointment and referrals, as well as other bureaucratic crap that dealing with a GP entails.
DO NOT WAIT. Do your research, find a good chiro and make an appointment. Tell them what is happening, alert them to your financial situation, and see what can be done for you. You'd be surprised at how your quality of life improves with good chiropractic care. A good one is always more concerned with helping you than with taking your money or wasting your time.
Good Luck!
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