 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Zeldalaina
Date: 2015-03-05 09:14
When I was in High School in the late 1970's our director played clarinet. He even played Bass Clarinet in the Jacksonville Symphony. OK flash forward 30 years later when I joined our Community Band 4 years ago. That first rehearsal the director had us adjusting our tone by pulling the mouthpiece up or down from the barrel to remedy being "20 cents" too flat or sharp. Since he was a brass player I thought he was so wrong. Now I know that he is an excellent director. But is that mouthpiece/barrel thing common? I used to think it was all in the embouchure or a horn being too hot or cold. But now it does seem to make sense. By the way my old HS director retired with a legacy of success with the band, and we always got Straight Superiors at every type of completion, so go figure!
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-03-05 11:23
He's not actually adjusting your tone, he's adjusting your tuning. This is a perfectly normal process. Every band I've ever been with has tuned at the beginning of every rehearsal and performance.
Tony F.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-03-05 19:15
Lisa:
Let me state things that may be obvious to you; I'm not sure....apologies if this is already known to you--I don't want to insult your intelligence:
The distance the sound travels from the mouthpiece to the first opening in the clarinet affects the pitch of the note (as in whether it's not only sharp, flat or in key, but what letter note it is on the scale.)
Only notes like the low "E" or middle "B," where all fingers are down truly use the clarinet's bell as their primary exit point. All other notes emmanate in large part from the next opening in the clarinet's "pipe."
Purists will rightfully say that the full length of the clarinet isn't irrelevant when playing notes with only a few fingers down. Rather, let's just say that said length becomes closer to essential with the addition of fingers.
That said, anyway that we lengthen the clarinet will, all other things constant, lower its pitch. Usually, the first place this is deliberately done, when a clarinet plays sharp compared to either a tuner, or the rest of an ensemble of players is to create distance between the left hand joint and the barrel. But creating this distance between the mouthpiece and barrel, instead or additionally, is valid too. This can be done by creating space between the joints, or in the use of a longer barrel.
When a player is unusually sharp, it is best to create the length in the clarinet by not merely creating additional distance before the left hand joint, but between the left and right hand joints as well. This is because merely adjusting tuning at the area around the barrel more affects notes created with few fingers down than those with more fingers down.
This should be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYx3pj0L790
Glad to hear you've returned to your clarinet studies. : - )
Post Edited (2015-03-05 19:25)
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