 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-07-30 05:44
I believe I read some time ago about the technique of playing w/o a mouth piece. My son, 11 (who's played clarinet for three months) can make a very recorder like sound by blowing a stream of air across the barrel, similar to (but different from) the old soda bottle whistle. My husband showed him how to play PVC pipes (he plays an ethnic flute that plays this way.) The clarinet sounds like a recorder, in C rather that Bb. Is this the way to play without a mouthpiece or is there some other technique? Any recordings?
Thanks again.
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Author: William Fuller
Date: 1999-07-30 13:08
Unfortunatly, I don't know of any recordings--but I would imagine that if this technique "catches on," a lot of these OVER PRICED mouthpiece makers will start to worry.
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 1999-07-30 14:50
You may try playing it like a trumpet (without mouthpiece).
This could work worse with a clarinet than with a basset horn.
As the postition of your lips then is no more acoustically correct (barrel is too short), it's not in tune playing this way.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-07-30 15:08
My son has tried to play it like a trumpet, it doesn't work. The PVC pipe does fine. It must be a tube width to length thing.
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Author: STuart
Date: 1999-07-30 17:04
Wow! That's fantastic that your son is exploring the extended possibilites of his instrument. It sounds like he's playing the clarinet like a shakuhachi flute. You can do this without the mouthpiece and also minus the barrel. I prefer it with the barrel and recently did a CD using this technique (just a little). The saxaphonist Donald Sinta taught me how while he was getting a cup of coffee between lessons.
The only recording I'v ever heard of this technique is by Eric P. Mandat called "The Extended Clarinet." In his piece Folk Songs he does some gorgeous work using this, and a large vocabulary of other extended techniques. If you can't find his recordings, he teaches at Southern IL. U in Carbondale. He sells copies of his pieces, too.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-07-31 16:50
I've messed with the "pop bottle" technique and can't get it to work worth two cents on a standard wooden or plastic clarinet. It's easier to get a tone by blowing across the top of a metal clarinet because it has a smaler diameter. Old student-grade metal clarinets turn up for not much money (as little as $20 or so) at flea markets and yard sales. Just stay away from the ones with a double-walled sleeve.
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 1999-08-01 18:05
Arnold the basset hornist wrote:
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You may try playing it like a trumpet (without mouthpiece).
This could work worse with a clarinet than with a basset horn.
As the postition of your lips then is no more acoustically correct (barrel is too short), it's not in tune playing this way.
That's a lot of fun on the bass and contralto!
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