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Re: How do some players make their sound carry, though they have a smallish tone?

Author: Agomongo
Date: 2019-03-29 16:49

From personal experience I appreciate the small sound much more. I've gone through every phase. Dark, warm, and bright. No overtones, some, overtones, lots of overtones. When I was younger my teacher that I studied with pushed me to get a BIG tone with lots of darkness to it. Once I went to college my teacher changed it to the total opposite. Small with lots of brightness. My heroes are people like Martin Frost, Nicholas Balderyou, and others like them. So, with that I've always preferred that bright sound with lots of high overtones, core, and focus. I've changed mouthpieces to a VD Traditional 3 with the D'Addario X15E. I would like to get the Aria reeds, but I'm still a poor college student.

Personally, I think the "small" tones do project a lot better. I mean that's why the French, Germans, and Spaniards still play that way. That's why Judith LeClair plays that way too. That's not to say that people with BIG tones can't project, but I remember when I was listening to my old teacher play that that was the first time (prior to traveling through Europe) I had ever heard a clarinet still being heard when the entire orchestra was playing double FF in America. I think the trend towards a big tone with darkness to it is because it helps them blend better and to their ears that has more core with plenty of ring, but not too much ring.

I agree with Ed when he says that the large sound eventually diffuses in a hall. If something is already as big as it can get then it's going to keep expanding until it disappears before it hits the wall. As opposed to something that is small and can still keep expanding and bounce off the walls. I know I've heard some people cite Bob Marcellus as someone with a big tone, but the funny thing is that Larry Guy, who has heard him live, said that up close he had a small tone adorable tone, then expanded the farther away you got from him. That was the same with my previous teacher. Even Andreas Ottensamer has a bright tone and when he came to do masterclasses at NYC people who saying, "Oh his reed is way too thin. That's why he sounded bad and bright." Uch... disgusting attitude. Just because something is different doesn't mean it's bad

It is the amount of overtones and core that help project. Dark tone quality CAN have that too, but not as much as a bright and flexible sound.

Post Edited (2019-03-29 16:51)

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