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Re: attack and decay

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-08-12 23:35

There is a long tone exercise that was handed down by a principal clarinet of the Chicago Symphony that is good for developing dynamic range and the necessary control.

Start to play a low E, but begin the note as a whisper coming from nothing. You do this by blowing with an embouchure looser than what will give you the note and bring the embouchure in slowly until the note sneaks in. NOW, once the note is started start crescendoing slowly, counting SLOWLY (about 54 beats to the minute each count). At "four" you are about half as loud as you can play, continue to count "eight" where you are playing as loud as you possibly can. Then count back down to "one" getting softer and softer until you fade to nothing at count one. In summary you are counting 15 counts in ONE BREATH, moving from silence to the loudest sound you can produce and back down to nothing. You can initially make the exercise easier by making the tempo faster (60bps etc).

THEN

you do that again on Low E, twice on low F, twice on low F# and twice on G. After those eight iterations you'll feel like you've run around the block a few times but you'll also feel more in control of your sound and have a better sense of control over dynamics (including the decay thing). Try that for a week and see what ya think.

....................Paul Aviles

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