Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-09-20 21:38
Paul Aviles wrote:
> I try to be aware of the fact that there is a difference in air
> intensity moving from the chalumeau to the clarion, and another
> furthering of intensity from the clarion into the altissimo.
>
> I would defy you to say that altissimo notes "just happen"
> without doing something.
>
We all have our own witchcraft in dealing with altissimo and moving from one register to another. For myself, I find it more effective to avoid any change other than moving my fingers when playing over the clarion-altissimo break. But I say that with caveats:
1. I do try consciously to prepare ascending over the break by setting my embouchure and the inside of mouth as I will need to have them for the altissimo notes **while I'm still in the clarion area.** What I find important isn't that the altissimo notes require anything different, it's instead that I don't want to make any needed change **as I go over the break.** Ideally, with a good reed, the differences for small intervals - e.g. stepwise passages - are minimal and I'm accustomed enough to accommodating them that I no longer do it consciously.
2. The greater the interval, the more conscious I am of the preparation while playing the lower (clarion) note. It's changing things too late that causes more trouble than not making the needed changes at all.
3. Descending over the break, in my experience, is even more dependent on not changing anything while making the transition. Again, I won't insist I *don't* do anything, but any change is subtle enough that I don't notice or feel it. Any *conscious,* deliberate change in air or embouchure or even internal mouth shape is, I find for myself, more likely to cause a change in sound, a break in legato and even potentially a squeak.
What the reed needs most for any interval is steadiness and consistency from one note to the next. Making deliberate changes **as you change from one note to the other,** regardless of register, is in my personal experience better avoided as a general rule.
Karl
Post Edited (2019-09-20 21:43)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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