 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetdaddy
Date: 2008-10-10 19:33
Hello All, My mind has seemed to have left me. So I'm going to ask this question. When someone next to you playing in the clarinet section turns to you and tells you that you are playing "high" what do you need to do?
clarinetdaddy
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing".
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2008-10-10 19:39
Pull out a little on your tuning barrel (the short section just past the mouthpiece). This will lower the pitch a little. The longer you make the instrument overall, the lower the pitch. You can also pull out at the middle joint.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-10-10 19:46
clarinetdaddy wrote:
> When someone next to you playing in the clarinet section
> turns to you and tells you that you are playing "high"
> what do you need to do?
Shake your head and say:
"No... you're playing too low" ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2008-10-10 22:42
Pulling out your barrel a couple of millimeters is a good short term solution.
Longer term you need to learn to listen, and adjust as you go, usually by blowing higher or lower on the notes that need it. ( Actually tightening or loosening your embouchure as needed.) No clarinet plays completely in tune across the whole range, and no group plays in constant tune with the initial tuning note.
As the esteemed Conductor of our Wind Symphony says "Listen down" and "When in doubt, pull out."
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-10-11 00:07
Is he referring to your drinking or smoking something? OK, you’re talking about the pitch of you clarinet, just checking. One of my teachers used to say too, when in doubt, pull out. He was talking about pitch of course.
First, you should get a tuner so you can check your pitch. That way you can find out if the group is playing flat or you’re playing sharp. In any case you have to learn to adjust to the common pitch. If you are just a little bit sharp pulling out the barrel and bit, and the middle joint if needed, is the best solution. If you are more than one MM sharp constantly you should purchase a larger barrel. Get a tuner first and play test your instrument on a regular basis to learn its tendencies. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457 Listen to a little Mozart
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-10-11 06:18
>> When someone next to you playing in the clarinet section turns to you
>> and tells you that you are playing "high" what do you need to do?
Tell them you are not 'playing high', but if fact you are, and go smoke another.... 
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2008-10-17 00:43
Smile and say, "Thanks! I've been working really hard at it!"
(As I said in another post, I often use my clip-on mike and tuner to check out my intonation while playing if the clarinetists surrounding me don't sound right. I want to be sure I'm not the offender!)
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Author: patrickryan04
Date: 2008-10-17 06:40
Being concertmaster for the 1st Armored Division Band I have the joyious responsibility of ensuring the band is in tune. So not only do I provide the intial pitch but I'm held responsible if the band doesn't play on a common pitch. We are playing alot of gigs outside in temps exceeding 100 degrees. The band as a whole tends to play 25 to 40 cents sharp! The solution I've found is to adjust the whole band to 441-444 as needed. Does anyone have any better reccemendations on how to attack such a problem?
1st Armored Division Band
Clarinetist
Dixie Band
Woodwind Quintet
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2008-10-17 12:27
"Does anyone have any better reccemendations on how to attack such a problem?"
Play in the Navy band.....
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-10-17 16:04
Good suggestions for responses. But GBK does have a point. How do you know the person complaining is in tune unless you have a tuner handy to check him/her. A tuner is a "must" to have on your music stand.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Tom Puwalski
Date: 2008-10-17 19:09
If you're sitting in a concert band you turn to that person and say: I'm in tune with someone, in a band this large you might not be able to identify who they are but they exist and you are participating in a "faith based intonation program"
Tom Puwalski
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-10-17 20:53
' A tuner is a "must" to have on your music stand [when playing in a band].'
Really? So how many of you habitually have a tuner on your stand when playing with others?
With the exception of the player responsible for setting the tuning note for the band, I have never seen anybody keep a tuner on their stand in a rehearsal. For private practice, sure.
In my opinion, to do so would be only slightly less provocative than ostentatiously using a metronome to check the conductor's tempo.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-10-17 22:12
Tuners are nice--I use one (not while the whole ensemble playing, though)--but being in tune with the tuner doesn't get you off the hook. Tuning is all relative. If the whole ensemble is playing sharp, being the one person in tune with the tuner makes you the culprit.
The best thing to do, I think, is to sit down with the tuner, get your open G in tune using the barrel, get your 3rd space C in tune by adjusting the middle joint, and then use the tuner to figure out the tuning characteristics of all the rest of the notes on your instrument. For some notes (like altissimo notes) you can adjust pitch with a change of fingering. Others you'll have to lip up or down to get in tune. But then you'll have an idea of what you need to do when you get back together with the ensemble. You still need a good ear for pitch when playing in the ensemble, of course, because you'll still have to lip some notes up or down on the spot to match the ensemble's pitch, but at least you'll have a better idea what you need to do.
I think that, except for the altissimo register, the usual problem (for me, anyway) is sharpness.
Post Edited (2008-10-17 22:42)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-10-17 22:28
I think playing in tune means more than just playing at the same pitch. It also means to play in the same timbre/colour as your neighbours, so that in the end you can't hear yourself out.
"Pulling out" or other means is the ultima ratio, when embouchure alone fails to achieve the correct pitch and timbre. (of course, one should roughly be in the A=44x neighbourhood in the first place, before attempting to play in unison)
--
Ben
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-10-18 11:33
"Really?"
Norbert you take my comment out of context. The original post was about a s challenge to one's being "in tune" . In such an instance a tuner could help to clear up the matter. The challenge was the provocation....not the tuner. No one ever pays any attention to the Conductor anyway so your metronome illustration is in left field......a gun, maybe!
Bob Draznik
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-10-18 12:32
BobD - you said that a tuner was a "must". I think that could be taken to imply that most people keep a tuner on their stand. I don't believe that to be true. If you had written "To deal with this sort of situation, I keep a tuner on my stand," then I wouldn't have queried it.
As for your statement that no one pays attention to the conductor, I can only conclude that you play in some pretty weird ensembles.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-10-18 15:10
Thanks for the help,Norbert, I'll do it your way next time.
Bob Draznik
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