 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: DaphnisetChloe
Date: 2016-10-29 04:01
Dear Clarinetbboard friends, I would be very grateful if you could have a listen to my recording of the solo from Respighi's The Pines of Rome (3rd movement). As a student clarinetist any comments I can get on my playing are immensely helpful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP21I_JWfnQ&feature=youtu.be
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-10-29 06:19
Overall a nice sound. It's a scary piece. The upper register is brighter than your lower register. Probably a horn, barrel and or a mouthpiece issue.
When playing the long notes perhaps do something with them. You are kind of playing them at the same volume. Feel the woods, The Pine trees. Rome. This is why I think the long notes should move a shade.
An update - After reading some of the comments about intonation, I turned on my tuner, which I haven't done in many years. Actually, I had to find some batteries first! The tuner did not show any serious issues. Most of the time all of the notes were dead on. Your low E was a shade under 440, nothing to worry about, maybe 5 cents. When you blew hard a few notes went sharp as a whole pattern, not just one note. So again, your horn played in tune pretty much all of the time. I wouldn't worry about the intonation.
For 18 years old, nice job.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2016-10-30 15:28)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2016-10-29 08:25
Well, the notes were correct.
Overall, the tempo is too slow. Listen to a few recordings and you'll notice that it's faster than the speed you've chosen.
The phrases need to be shaped better. Think of them as sentences, making a whole paragraph. Just holding long notes with no sense of movement or forward motion makes for uninspired playing.
Your connections between the wider skips are still too bumpy. Think 'fingers ahead' as Robert Marcellus would preach.
Your throat tone A is flat. Either find a different resonance fingering, or don't use one at all, to bring up the pitch on your horn.
Your piano and pianissimos are too soft. You'd never carry over an orchestra at that volume. Raise your overall dynamics by at least two degrees.
Post another video when the above suggestions are incorporated.
...GBK
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2016-10-29 09:18
Overall, good job. Here are my thoughts.
Sorry it's late so I'll just list off some thoughts in bullet form.
You should try to ease into the notes a little more, especially the entrance on the A and the High D.
There is an audible slapping sound on many of the notes that distorts the smooth articulation you are attempting. In particular the first finger on your left hand is going WAY too high and when it returns to its position after the D it's rather jarring.
Nice diminuendo, but watch the pitch doesn't go sharp as you get softer. Probably got a little too soft. Is it niente? I don't recall and will have to check.
Second entrance better overall. A bit slow here (in general actually), but better tonal colour.
Have you considered using resonance fingers on the middle register A?
Hmm... I know some people breathe there at 1:44 there. Different ways of interpreting that phrase I guess. I feel like that phrase needs to push through there and you'd have an easier time with it at a slightly faster tempo.
There needs to be much more energy as far as the tempo, rubato, and direction of the phrases, especially towards that low note in my opinion.
Overall, great job. Especially for 18! Best of luck.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
Post Edited (2016-10-29 09:20)
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Author: DaphnisetChloe
Date: 2016-10-29 12:13
Thank you all so much - very helpful advice! I put down too many fingers on the throat A so hence the flatness of pitch.
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Author: brycon
Date: 2016-10-29 20:22
Dude, be careful of the advice you get here; a lot of it will steer you in the wrong direction. The throat As, for example, aren't out of tune. The F#s, however, are flat (especially when you push the volume--maybe add the Eb key), the high As start sharp and settle into the pitch, the high Bs are sharp, and the high D is a little flat (you need the Eb key).
It is too slow. You begin around 30bpm; most people in auditions play it in the upper 40s. Maybe because the tempo is too slow, you then push and pull quite a bit.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2016-10-30 01:08
As far as tempo is concerned, better to be prepared to play it that slowly than to be squeezing out your last drop of air because the conductor wants it slower than you practiced it. I have heard recordings that took very similar tempos. The conductor will have something to say about it.
It's hard to know whether the second entrance is too soft, because dynamics can be dependent on hall acoustics (and because I don't know anything about the mic and recording equipment you used or how far away the mic was). So, again, being prepared to play it at an extreme pianissimo isn't such a bad thing. Just realize you may not need to be that soft in an orchestra in a large hall.
The end of the third passage (6 and 5 before 14) is too soft. I would agree with others here. You still are playing through strings, and the end of the passage needs to be heard, so it's likely you'd need to play louder than you do in the recording. There is no dynamic marking at the end, so pianissimo is probably not appropriate.
Same a bar before 15. I know there are really well known clarinetists who don't really seem to care if anyone can hear them in the low chalumeau or not, but IMHO the ending shouldn't disappear under the strings. There's only so soft the conductor can get the violins to play, and they're above you pitch-wise. You're in the same range as the violas. You need to come through.
I have heard recorded performances of really excellent orchestras with excellent clarinetists in which the large intervals weren't as clean as yours. I'm not sure I agree with the comment about making the long notes go somewhere - the entire passage, I would say, is about moonlight and gently waving (pine)treetops and the timeless temple of Janus. It isn't, I don't think, meant to be active or forward-drawing. So long notes that just exist without "going" anywhere seem OK to me *in this specific context*.
I've offered these comments because I think your playing on this passage shows a great deal of skill and control but maybe not so much awareness of the context that surrounds these solos. So much needs to be judged in the context of a particular orchestra with a particular conductor in a particular hall. I think you sound well-prepared to play the piece if you have the opportunity.
Karl
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2016-10-30 04:50
I wasn't talking about tuning on the throat As (assuming you're talking to me), it was the quality of the sound which can be affected by resonance. fingerings.
Regarding the tempo, it didn't occur to me last night that this may be a practice speed. In this case your discipline over the slow tempo is impressive.
I agree about taking advice here with a grain of salt. But also asking for advice is a BRILLIANT way to get feedback so great job.
When I was in my undergrad I posted some of my junior recital videos on here and people said I should take them down to avoid "jeopardizing" my career (or something). But I think that the magic of the internet is that you CAN reach out for this kind of feedback. So don't worry. Nobody's going to judge you 10 years from now how you played today (while you were in school no less!). I sure wouldn't want to work with those who do either! haha.
Great work overall.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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