 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rapidcif
Date: 2013-04-18 00:14
Hello i am a beginner-intermediate clarinet player who is without a teacher for at least another month. I have a problem right now when i play, namely air leakage. Not air leaking out of the mouth but like, air that's seemly not going inside of the mouthpiece, thus leaking inside of the mouth around the mouthpiece, creating a really stuffy,airy sound. The actual sound of the instrument sounds pretty good if i do say so myself, but what it feels like is behind the good tone, air pressure that's makes very loud,hissing sounds. I was just looking for suggestions regarding this problem and i appreciate all help.
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2013-04-18 00:37
Even the best clarinetists leak a little air around the mouthpiece. It can be minimized but never eliminated completely. Your tone will improve even though you don't completely get rid of a mild whooshing sound on some passages. Don't worry about the air sound. Instead focus on pure, unstuffy long tones. Your sound should never be stuffy, even in the worst of the throat tones.
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-04-18 02:29
Garth, I'm not sure how many of the "best clarinetists" you've heard, especially up close enough. Few of the good ones I know leak air around the mouthpiece, and when I did for awhile as a college student, it was certainly regarded as a problem it would be better to fix. Are there well-respected players who do allow air to escape around the outside of the mouthpiece? Yes, I've heard one or two and there probably are and have been more, but it is certainly not unavoidable, something that "can be minimized but never eliminated completely."
To Jimmy, I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean by air that's leaking inside the mouth around the mouthpiece but is, as I read your post, not escaping to the outside. Is it just a matter of noise in your sound like static or "white noise" or the sizzle of frying eggs? That can come from using too hard a reed for your mouthpiece, although there *are* players who accept a certain amount of noise in their sounds in order to allow them to use more resistant combinations that they feel articulate better and allow a quality they hear as "darker." In practice most of the time the noise isn't loud enough to be heard at the distance of the audience (or even the conductor), although sitting next to such a player it is perfectly audible, especially at soft dynamic levels. If this is what you're describing, it's mostly a matter of your personal comfort with it whether you try to eliminate it or not.
But I may not be understanding your question, which may be about something entirely different if air is indeed audibly leaking out around the mouthpiece.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-04-18 09:10
The only thing I can think of is that perhaps you are subconsciously making a grunting or humming sort of sound as you play. Just blow through your lips (embouchure and all) without your horn. You should get a nice, steady, clear rush of air that sounds like air leaking out of a tire and no other superfluous sounds.
Practicing just blowing air out your mouth is also a good way to see if you are producing enough air and enough air that is concentrated correctly. Leon Russianoff suggested taking a piece of notebook paper roughly 6"x 6" and trying to hold it steady against a wall with just the force of that breath (standing about a foot from the wall).
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: Rapidcif
Date: 2013-04-18 19:52
kdk- yes, your description was a very good way of describing it(frying eggs, white noise). What i was trying to get at with the "air leaking around the mouthpiece" was that it's definitely not an air leak that leaks outside of the embouchure, where you can clearly hear a whoosh of air escape through an untightened corner or whatnot. I know this because i used to have these problems. Rather i feel my sound is pure, but behind it, "white noise" emits from my embouchure. As you correctly inferred, the sound i'm describing would not be able to be heard from audience distance; you'd have to be next to me to hear it. However it just plain bothers me and i can't help but wonder if i couldn't integrate that sizzling air into the mouthpiece to create an even "purer" sound.
Thanks for all responses by the way i'll keep all points in mind.
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2013-04-18 20:00
"I've never heard anyone sound better with an air leak than without" - Great quote from a former teacher. Air leak is an indicator of a problem. The problem can be a number of different things.
1) Too much resistance (mouthpiece\reed\ligature) causing the amount of air used to be "rejected" by the setup, but required to make a sound
2) Too much "smile" embouchure where the sides are pulled back far enough to allow air to easily leak out
3) Not enough strength in the muscles putting pressure around the mouthpiece (many times related to (1)
4) Being too tired after a long day of playing.
5) Sometimes this leak is intentional to "make sure the air is moving fast enough". This is fairly useless to me, since the sound of the leak detracts so much from the overall product.
There can be other things as well, but these are some of the major ones. The most annoying thing I hear regarding air leak is " YOU CAN'T HEAR IT FROM THE AUDIENCE". I don't know the physics behind it, but ONE PERSON leaking a small amount of air can be heard over a large band or orchestra.
Again: "I've never heard anyone sound better with an air leak than without"
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Author: Buster
Date: 2013-04-18 20:30
Paul,
How many times do we need to read your "Russianoff great paper blowing escapade"...?
Is that REALLY how you "blow" all of the time? (You sure of it?)
Or is there more to it that might actually help a confused reader?
-Jason
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-04-18 23:35
Dear Jason,
The paper escapade points to a problem many students have which is not producing enough air.
As for the reader. I don't have the clearest idea what the precise problem actually is. So I just tossed out an idea. This may not in itself work, but it might elicit a better response for another try.
The "frying egg sound" affirmation is more helpful. That sounds to me indicative of just enough air to allow condensation to build up in the tip of the mouthpiece.
I'd love to hear your input on this one.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: genekeyes ★2017
Date: 2013-04-20 06:04
"I did not have the misfortune to actually work with Russianoff............"
Jason:
That comment was totally uncalled for. Leon was on the faculties of both the Manhattan School of Music and Julliard and his teaching has been a major factor in the success of many fine players. I studied with him at the Manhattan School for a short period of time and can assure you that the time spent with him was anything but a "misfortune"
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Author: jonok
Date: 2013-04-20 06:34
Something simple to try that helped me with a similar frustration: you may, as I had been, positioning the reed too high on the mouthpiece. I'd been placing the reed so it extended a hair past the top of the mouthpiece. Lower the reed on the mouthpiece. I moved it down so it was a hair below, and the hiss disappeared.
If you place a reed higher, it effectively makes it a stiffer reed. And vice versa.
J
-------------------
aspiring fanatic
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