 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2026-08-12 04:28
A couple of years ago, I think during COVID, I tried making the transition to double lip embouchure (from single lip.)
I liked how the change gave me more control during softer play. I feel like my sound is better using it, although it may be all in my head, as I think I can get pretty close to the same sound using the principles I learned playing this way, to single lip play as possible.
The transition was slow. Boy did the inside of my upper lip hurt, it not having the necessary thickness as the inside of my lower lip did from years of single lip play. But eventually, that pain went away.
What didn't go away though is face muscle fatigue. While I can play longer stinks double lip than months ago, I have to stop and take a break or switch to single lip, where such limitations aren't present.
In an effort to build up these muscles outside of play I acquired Yehuda Gilad's Wind-o product https://www.thewind-o.com/, but what I seek is something that more targets these (buccinator) muscles.
In my opinion the side wings of the Wind-o don't come out far enough to maximize the buccinator training I seek.
TIA
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Author: Alexey
Date: 2026-08-12 13:58
I think the best way to develop the embouchure, whether single or double, is simply to play the clarinet. Long tones and intervals are probably more useful for this purpose than just playing pieces and etudes.
The thing is that playing the clarinet requires us to develop and coordinate quite a lot of muscles that pull and push in different directions at the same time. At the same time, the embouchure needs to remain flexible so that it can adjust to changes in register and dynamics.
I don't think there is a device, or even a combination of devices, that can reproduce all of these aspects of playing.
In fact, if we want to work on the embouchure but can't play the clarinet for some reason, I sometimes think that simply forming a proper embouchure and blowing through it may be more useful than using any device.
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Author: farabout
Date: 2026-08-12 15:45
SecondTry wrote:
> Yehuda Gilad's Wind-o product
>
Another quackery.
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Author: GoldhawkRoad
Date: 2026-08-12 17:10
This might be a similar product, but I remember reading Larry Guy's Embouchure book, and in it he mentions a device that works the embouchure muscles. He tells you where to buy it as well. I used it for a bit. I don't remember if I found it so helpful or not, but if you're curious, I'd point you towards that book; regardless it's an interesting read.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-08-12 19:29
SecondTry wrote:
> A couple of years ago, I think during COVID, I tried making the
> transition to double lip embouchure (from single lip.)
>
> What didn't go away though is face muscle fatigue. While I can
> play longer stinks double lip than months ago, I have to stop
> and take a break or switch to single lip, where such
> limitations aren't present.
IMO, the most important part of double-lip is the support you're providing for the clarinet. It's more critical than with single-lip, where there's no soft tissue under the upper teeth. The pain in your lip, unless you're biting fairly hard, comes mostly from the weight of the clarinet causing the mouthpiece beak to press against the upper lip. You can hold the instrument up with your R.H. thumb, use a neckstrap, or sit and support the instrument on your knee. You may unconsciously be using the facial muscles to minimize the direct pressure against your upper lip. If you can use other means (RH, strap, knee) to hold the clarinet up, the facial muscles only need to control the reed, which involves much less effort.
So, I don't think you need so much to build the buccinators. I think you probably need to figure out how to take the clarinet's weight off them.
Karl
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2026-08-12 20:19
Karl:
I think poster farabout needs to be reeled in; talked to in private, etc.
Farabout:
First off, I stand to neither gain nor lose from the sale of Gilad's Wind-O product.
That said, in a sea...and I mean a sea of clarinet products that don't live up to their stated expectations, the Wind-O product is anything but that.
It is an excellent tool for developing both embouchure strength and wind resistance. And as Alexey has pointed out, while few things beat actual clarinet play for developing that our bodies needed to play clarinet, our stamina to play 5 hours a day, let alone our available time, or even, say, when traveling gets in the way of our ability to get to the instrument, find the Wind-O an excellent way to train face muscles when, say, sitting at the computer and dressing down people who act like trolls, as you have the past 2 weeks here.
My skepticism at clarinet gear solving problems over putting in quality practice time with a metronome finds me regretting less clarinet purchases, but rest assured, I'm not someone who buys into confirmational bias. If I product I purchased stinks I'll say so. And that the Wind-O product, *for me* didn't help with my particular need doesn't preclude it from being an excellent product. And if there are cheaper devices out there that accomplish the same thing, that still doesn't preclude the product from being good, just, perhaps, pricey in its market. I would have never purchased if if not for the endorsement of Burt Hara. And is it possible he's incentivized: sure. But few players I know endorse crap.
In the future you might try adding "in my opinion" to critiques of products, and equally important, say nothing unless that opinion is truly informed and you express, up front, how it is informed.
Post Edited (2026-08-12 20:29)
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