Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-06-06 21:38
Hi Valencio,
It's great to hear from you again. I see what you mean about your lockdown being so strict. That sounds hard.
Well done for having a go at Bb. That's a really interesting note on a clarinet isn't it? The reason why it is so quiet is because the vibrating air column only goes down a very short way in the clarinet, so it doesn't make a very resonant sound. The other holes further down are all open and the air is leaking out everywhere, so you can only use that tiny short column of air to create your sound, along with the vibrating air column in your mouth and chest. I find it really hard to get that note to sound in tune, let alone to sound really resonant.
When you say about the more expensive mouthpiece and reed making the sharp sound, do you mean that you get more squeaks? The thing with reeds and mouthpieces is that different reeds and mouthpieces suit different people. Just buying an expensive one doesn't necessarily mean you get one that will suit you better. (sorry - I know you spent a lot on those.)
Mouthpieces in particular are quite complicated. The main things that you need to know are how "open" it is and how long the facing is. By "open" I mean how big the gap is between the tip of the reed and the tip of the mouthpiece. The gap is measured in mm or in the chart below it is shown as 1/100mm. An open mouthpiece has a big gap and a closed mouthpiece has a small gap.
https://vandoren.fr/en/clarinet-mouthpieces-comparison/
I play a 1.05mm tip opening which is quite a closed mouthpiece, which means I don't need to squeeze the reed very hard to get a sound.
The length of the facing also matters. To measure that, you put the reed on the mouthpiece with no ligature. Then you look for the place where you can first see light between the reed and the moutpiece, and measure between that point and the tip of the mouthpiece, like this:
https://www.kurtzweilcustom.com/mouthpiece-selection.html
Usually when people buy a new mouthpiece, they would want to try 10 or 15 of them in a shop and see which suits them best. You could measure yours and tells about them and we might be able to explain what effects the measurements will have.
Reeds are also a bit complicated because in a box of ten you are likely to get 3 great ones, 4 okay ones, and 3 that will never work. So if your expensive reed is causing you problems, you could just put it to one side and then try the next one in the box. The next one might be great. It's also possible to adjust reeds, if they just need a bit of work.
I wrote a short bit of text on how to adjust reeds in this blog post below, in the paragraph starting "4. If that doesn't work, take a new reed out of the box and try it instead of the first one." It might be worth just having a look at that and checking if your reed seems to be in need of a bit of sanding.
https://lovelyoldclarinet.blogspot.com/2021/05/and-now-i-am-going-to-play-it.html
You're doing an absolutely brilliant job there. I didn't get near all this stuff for ages.
Are you not allowed our of your flat then? How long have you been stuck in?
Best wishes,
Jennifer
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The Clarinet BBoard
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