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Re: Lower Clarion Problems

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-12-19 22:10

Clarinettti wrote:

> I just got the horn
> readjusted a week ago, which is why I’m now looking for other
> answers.

A lot depends on the competence of the repair person who did the readjustment. Did he/she know specifically about this problem you're asking about? If not, something small that may have seemed insignificant and not worth pushing up the price of the work may still be there.

> And I’ve been playing bass clarinet for a while
> (actually won Washington state solo competetion last year), but
> I recently picked up clarinet; the transition for the
> embouchure and tongue position has been difficult, so I was
> hoping that there were just some lingering problems there.
>

What did you change in your embouchure and tongue position?

> Additionally, I’ve had a
> long time problem where I get a clarion G when trying to make
> leaps larger than a sixth into the low clarion notes.

> P.s, I meant leaps down e.g G5->B4. It seems to just be this
> specific range. G6->B5 for example is no problem
>
So, as examples, leaps from F5 to B4 or G5 to C5 are not problems, nor are A5 to D5 or B5 to E5, but A5 to C5 or B5 to D5 cause the lower note to sound as a harmonic (G5)?

How easily do the upper 3 clarion notes speak? How do they tune? What kind of facing are you playing for Bb clarinet? What reeds?

"Voicing" is mostly an issue of tongue position, so it's possible you've overcompensated for whatever difference you felt or expected between bass and soprano clarinets. But, without hearing you, I suspect the problem is something in the physical setup - a small, still undetected leak somewhere in the middle of the clarinet, or a reed-mouthpiece mismatch. You may be taking too much reed in your mouth, especially if you're using a soft reed on a close-tipped mouthpiece. You could also be missing a tone hole (by a sliver around one of your fingers) when you move all those fingers together (since you're used to the larger bass finger spread), creating your own leak.

An experienced player who can hear and see you in person could tell you much more than we can.

Karl

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