Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2022-05-23 00:01
SunnyDaze wrote:
> Karl - Thanks so much for your thoughts too. I will put the
> Clark Fobes on my list to think about too. The problem I'm
> trying to solve is that the muscles in my cheeks (I presume my
> masseter muscles) hurt if I play single lip, and so I changed
> to double lip, which I'm very happy with. I can't play for long
> before the muscles just run out of stamina and go all floppy. I
> was trying to find a way to exercise them to make them
> stronger, but having a softer setup sounds a much nicer option.
Jen, it makes a big difference here to know what your current setup is. If you're trying to play on reeds that are too hard for your current mouthpiece, just lightening up on the reed strength could help. If you're using your muscles to force a really resistant reed into producing a serviceable tone, whether you're playing single or double lip, you will tire.
Check, using your current equipment to see if the reed vibrates at all without embouchure pressure. Place the mouthpiece/reed on your lower lip, close your lips **lightly** (without pressing) to prevent air from leaking out and blow open G. You should get a very diffuse, probably out-of-tune, soft G-ish sort of sound. If all you hear is breath and no tone, it isn't fundamentally an embouchure problem, it's the reed that doesn't want to vibrate easily on the mouthpiece facing. Adding pressure from the lips refines/clarifies/focusses the sound and firms the pitch, but it shouldn't be necessary simply to get vibration.
The best exercise to build embouchure strength and/or endurance - if that's indeed what is needed - is to play, but in short enough spurts that the muscles can recover in between. I suspect you've gone down some kind of rabbit hole with respect to the resistance in your setup. How long have you been experiencing this pain? You've been playing for quite a while.
Karl
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
