Author: Bob Barnhart ★2017
Date: 2022-01-27 18:34
Before making any changes to your sound, you need to have a clear idea of what you wish to achieve. Emulating the sound of specific players performing specific music is a good way to accomplish this. As noted above, recording yourself is essential to evaluating any changes or improvements.
Without changing equipment (i.e., instrument, mouthpiece, ligature), there are several things you can try:
1) Make sure you have a reed brand/cut that is well matched to your mouthpiece and yields the tone and response you are seeking. Just because you have a Vandoren mouthpiece does not mean that a Vandoren reed is best. This may take some experimentation. For example, I've found that synthetic reeds, though expensive, can produce a darker sound as long as they don't degrade response and articulation.
2) Experiment with adjusting reeds to obtain your desired tone. For example, I've found that working the left side of my reeds with reed rush, sandpaper or Reed Geek improves response and resonance, while working the right side can darken the sound, and thinning the tip can improve response and eliminate noise in the sound, which itself can yield a cleaner, smoother tone.
3) Work on [voicing] your air stream. It may be helpful to think of different sounds to voice the tone. For example, thinking of producing an "Eeee" sound can help focus/intensity by concentrating and speeding up the airstream. At the other extreme, thinking of producing an "Ooooh" sound can make the airstream more diffuse and reduce its intensity thus yielding a softer, more "spread" sound. Other syllables such as "Aaaah" can also help to develop voicing abilities.
4) Visualize where you are "pointing" your airstream and use this to alter the tone quality. For example, we can learn to play notes in the high/altissimo register more easily by using the airstream. An exercise for this involves playing a low C, then (without changing fingering) blowing "harder" and more "focused" to "overblow" the C to the G above the staff, then finally to voice a high E above the staff. I was taught a technique that facilitates this exercise in which you imagine pointing the airstream "above" the bore of the instrument, rather than in alignment with it. This has a similar effect to voicing using an "Eeee" sound. Once you get the feeling of manipulating the airstream in this way, you can also imagine pointing the airstream "below" the bore of the instrument. This has a similar effect to using syllables such as "Oooh" and will produce something more like a "sub-tone" sound. If you concurrently increase the strength of the airstream you can change the sound from a "sub-tone" to a proper tone which may well have some of the darker/warmer qualities you wish to achieve.
Improving, changing or learning to manipulate your sound is usually a long-term endeavor that requires dedication and lots of practice, but is a fascinating and rewarding experience.
Good luck on your journey!
Bob Barnhart
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The Clarinet BBoard
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