Author: kehammel
Date: 2020-10-08 06:39
Thanks for the tips, everyone. I got started on clarinet by corresponding with some people who play Greek/Turkish clarinet and, like them, I tend to use #1.5 reeds, open mouthpieces such as the Fobes Jazz, and very short barrels. Sometimes I even use #1 reeds. No doubt this causes all kinds of acoustic problems. It doesn't bother me too much, because I mostly play baroque bassoon, which could be described as an intonational nightmare, and I'm used to supporting/lipping notes into tune as needed.
I did try to go as far as I could in the direction of a "normal" setup for the tuning tests I described: #2 reed, Fobes 2L mouthpiece, and 60 mm Muncy synthetic diamond barrel. I don't have a longer barrel, and I tend to be slightly flat even with the 60 mm Muncy I have.
That tendency to be flat probably indicates that the way I play is somehow different than what classical clarinetists do. Yet it works pretty well except for the problem I contacted the forum about. The issue may be that I like the instrument to be as free blowing as possible. I'll do anything, repeat anything, to avoid the extreme sense of back pressure that a harder setup can give. I hear that some saxophonists who double on clarinet also complain about this.
So when I read nellsonic's comment that the altissimo is where one really learns to play clarinet, I thought aha, looks like I'm screwed; the clarinet is just a different beast and I'll have to carry on without actually learning it properly! I am doing this just for fun, you see.
Paul, the idea about a mismatch between the mouthpiece and the instrument is interesting. I also have a vintage Fontaine mouthpiece that gives exactly the same altissimo problem, but I don't know if it's necessarily a good acoustic match with the horn. It's very open at 1.4 mm. I'm also wondering if the barrels are contributing to the problem. Yet I suspect it's mainly how I play, as if the mouthpiece were simply a large bassoon reed.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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