 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: nisharae18
Date: 2016-03-23 21:24
So I am currently returning to playing the clarinet after a seven year hiatus... I am preparing for an audition in may. I have been practicing anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours/ day. I've notice towards the end of my practice session when my embouchure has about had its match, and I begin leaking air ( just because my mouth hasn't quit adjusted to my practice routine yet) I actually really prefer my tone, and I feel that I sound the best that I have the entire practice.. Trying to figure out what I am doing differently with my embouchure to create such a tone change-- when i get tired the sound has a much more mellow, pure sound as opposed to the brighter sound I have when I am fresh... I know not as much air is getting through the horn but not sure how to change this as a whole.. Not sure if it is the air flow that creates the tone change or if perhaps when my embouchure is weaker (maybe I'm not biting as much) As I know I can have a tendency to do this especially when reaching altissimo.. I dont know, any thoughts or tips how to achieve this much nicer tone? Willing to try different ideas/ exercises etc.. Thanks!
:)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nellsonic
Date: 2016-03-23 21:33
Have you tried working with a double lip embouchure? That's where I'd start. It's very easy to try, but requires patience to build up. You should hear a difference immediately and easily be able to discern if this might a path for you - assuming that your fundamentals are reasonably sound. Plenty of information available here on this board.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-03-23 22:31
Good self-observation. I don't think it's a case of too much air flow making your sound bright when you start out. It sounds more like something (muscular) is relaxing toward the end. It's probably something you would rather not, in terms of tone quality, keep too tense anyway. I've noticed that the difference between leaking and not leaking amounts to a small, or subtle, difference in effort.
If, like me, you don't have a teacher to ask, then try to "take a picture" mentally of what is happening at the end of the session, and then when you're fresh again (preferably a short while later,) try to reproduce it - air leak and all. Try and discover what muscle(s) is(are) involved, and how much. Then try to engage the muscle(s) just enough more to stop the leakage. Take plenty of "pictures".
Educated guesses are helpful before experimenting, but be ready to modify your thinking (often toward more specificity.)
Patience. There's a lot of muscles potentially involved, and their use is frequently cross-linked and hard to isolate. As Ricardo has said, you never stop learning about tone. However, you might well be able to discover something helpful in a reasonably short time.
Btw, I think trying to switch to double lip in the time frame before your audition is risky (assuming you currently use single lip.) Switching takes tweaking and conditioning and time - not infinite amounts or even very large, but you may be wanting to focus on the audition material.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-03-24 02:48
I too agree that you have made a very important self diagnosis. I would further agree that your sound should sound better with a less tense embouchure. Even though we all know the "smile" embouchure is taboo, many still tend to think of upward corners (of some sort) and then battle that with opposing muscles. I would say that it is much better to think of the "corners" of the mouth going down, and back. This gives you a better "wrapping" sort of embouchure around the mouthpiece and you don't fight yourself to "seal" around the mouthpiece.
The embouchure should be thought of more like a rubber band encircling the mouthpiece. You must engage your cheek muscles (to 'bring it it'), as well as the upper lip muscles too.
You may also experiment with using a lighter strength reed. As long as the tone doesn't become too flaccid, I find a host of benefits to experimenting with the lightest reed strength possible as opposed to the other way around.
.................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2016-03-24 03:12
What Paul said.
Explore the possibility of being able to loosen up on the embouchure from the first moment of practice such that it doesn't affect tone or pitch.
As a side benefit you may last longer practicing too.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nisharae18
Date: 2016-03-24 04:25
Thanks for all the help everyone! I will definitely experiment with trying to loosen up my embouchure a bit, as long as I can still hit those altissimo notes anyway.. (Playing Brahms Sonata Eb) So there are a few places that I need to be prepared for that. Unless you have tips on hitting those without "lipping up" so much?
I've tried the double lip embouchure and cant seem to make my top lip stay in place.. Is it possible by teeth are too big or my top lip too small? LOL.. But seriously, because I would work on that.
If i get into school in the fall its definitely a conversation I will be having with my professor, I love that warm pure sound when I can get it... Thanks so much for all the help.. I will try all these out.. Although I have to wait at least 5 days.. Just had a wisdom tooth out :/.. But as soon as I can I'll be sure to be back at it..
Thanks again!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-03-24 04:42
I believe I've read in this forum that some people are anatomically unsuited for double-lip. If memory serves, Tony Pay wrote about it. It's probably not uncommon. If the upper lip won't stay without a lot of effort, and you can't see or determine a good way around that, then go forward with single lip. You won't lose a thing. A future experienced teacher can offer better observation later.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nisharae18
Date: 2016-03-24 04:49
Yeah I mean my lip can cover my top teeth but it just doesn't stay if any pressure is put on it. It could be that I am doing something wrong, I'll try to educate myself a bit more, if not I can always wait and ask an experienced teacher at a later time.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk
Date: 2016-03-24 05:07
I think Gigliotti said something like this in a column he wrote for Clarinet Magazine published shortly before his death.
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nellsonic
Date: 2016-03-24 08:31
Sorry - I missed the part about the upcoming audition. I certainly wouldn't advocate extensive double-lip playing for your current situation, but a few minutes of it a day might still be helpful, if it works for you. Some people are indeed anatomically unsuited to double-lip - you might be one of them. Just be thankful that you live in a century in which the clarinet is played with the reed on the bottom. It wasn't always everywhere so.
Generally *less* pressure and more mouthpiece are helpful with altissimo issues you might encounter in the Brahms (not super-altissimo). It's easy to close up the reed with too much pressure and then the notes don't speak. It can be somewhat counter-intuitive until you get it. If you are not already using as much mouthpiece as you productively can - try that.
Anders
Post Edited (2016-03-24 08:36)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-03-24 09:07
Mitchell Lurie had the same problem of too short an upper lip to comfortably pull over the teeth for double lip playing. His teacher, Hugo Raimondi, played double lip and encouraged Lurie to do so, but anatomy just got in the way.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
