The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: Embouchure question

Author: Clarence Beale
Date: 2016-05-29 08:34

Max, I recommend that you listen to the first eleven minutes of Tape 1 of Robert Marcellus' 28 June 1977 Masterclass taught at Northwestern University which is available online. He says some interesting things about the speed of the wind and his teacher, Daniel Bonade.

For years I stumbled over stories about using the speed of the wind to blow out a candle. Hold a burning candle in front of your mouth and with you mouth wide open try to blow out the candle. You can't. Next close your lips except for a very small opening at the center. Now blow air through the small opening toward the candle flame. Bingo! You blow out the flame. Why? The small aperture allows you to increase the speed of the air enough to blow out the candle. Nice story but no one explained to me how this specifically applies to playing the clarinet.

One day on my own I discovered how the laws of physics explain why air moving rapidly behind the clarinet reed over the flat mouthpiece rails causes the reed to vibrate. And then the proverbial light bulb went on. The opening behind the reed immediately above the flat mouthpiece facing rails is very small just like the opening in the center of my lips was very small when I was trying to blow out the candle. I can use the small opening behind the reed above the flat mouthpiece rails to almost effortlessly increase the speed of the air moving into the clarinet mouthpiece. Assuming the reed is properly adjusted to match the mouthpiece, the reed will start vibrating when the flow of air is sufficiently fast. On that day my mental image of how to produce the clarinet sound completely changed.

Note: I think it is the speed of the air flow immediately above the mouthpiece rails and behind the part of the reed immediately above the rails that is very important.

Clarence

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics

Author

Date

Embouchure question new

maxopf

2016-05-26 08:56