 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2018-07-11 06:36
An interesting thing happen to me today;
My son showed me an app on his I pad. It's called N-track tuner.
It has a number of functions but the important aspect, at least for me, was the use of the spectrometer.
You can play a tone and it shows you the strength of each harmonic. So it's possible to compare the relative 'darkness/brightness' of two players by having them play the same tone one after the other. It's still a bit of a complex issue (saying player 'A' has a bright sound and player 'B' a dark one) as each tone can have a slightly different balance of harmonics.
None of this is new information, but here is the interesting thing; As you play a diminuendo the strength of each harmonic changes. The first to go are the higher harmonics thereby giving you a 'darker' tone.
It is possible to keep the relative strength of the harmonics by manipulating the shape of the oral cavity. Interestingly this was easier with the throat tones and harder with the upper register.
I had previously suspected that changing the colour was more in the imagination of the player and just the changing of dynamics.
It seems it's a complex bit of many factors.
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2018-07-11 07:14
There is a whole school of clarinet playing based on this phenomena/technique. The app lets us explore it more. Spectroid is another app that helps us as teachers and players see or sound quality.
Post Edited (2018-07-11 16:53)
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2018-07-12 20:51
I used the technique of viewing the harmonics and the strength of each one with an advanced student. That person's sound was very good overall, but got thin in the upper registers. We experimented with seeing if the student could move different harmonics until getting a fuller and warmer tone. What seemed to work was to emphasize the alternating strength of the higher harmonics, that is they tend to have (if I remember correctly) the odd number harmonics stronger than the even numbered ones.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2018-07-13 11:34
I found the Portnoy article:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/123095324/the-embouchure-and-tone-color
His main theory is:
"All of these tone colors, ranging from extreme mellowness to stridency, and the dynamics of the tone, ranging from pp to ff , are controlled mainly by the muscles in the lower lip and the wind pressure."
This was the thinking in the 1950's (And by a few today!).
These things do come into it, but shaping the oral cavity seems to give more change.
I found if took a surprising amount of effort to change the tone quality in the upper register without using a diminuendo. But it could be done.
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Author: donald
Date: 2018-07-13 15:12
Of course, move either your upper or lower lip and your oral cavity changes too.
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2018-07-14 09:59
Donald, do you think this movement of the lips would give more of a change than say; lifting the soft palate or changing the tongue shape?
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