Author: kehammel
Date: 2020-12-07 22:50
I'm an amateur bassoonist, and awhile ago I decided to learn the B flat clarinet just for fun. I like Balkan music, so I got started communicating with some of those folks who play with very short barrels and soft reeds. I did the same and eventually got to the point where it's easy to play my old Albert system horn in tune using, for example, a 56 mm barrel, a Fobes 2L mouthpiece, and a #2 reed.
Then I decided, why not educate myself about what skilled clarinetists do? So I've been trying some mouthpiece exercises, where the aim is to produce a C or C sharp by correct tongue placement and without biting. I've had a little vocal training, and it was not hard to figure out how to produce an "ee" while keeping my jaw down and using good abdominal support. Getting a C sharp is no problem, and I realized I had been playing all along with my tongue much lower than I thought. Especially the front of my tongue.
Then I tried the same technique on the horn, using its original 67 mm barrel. I was still crazy flat, like maybe 30 cents. With a 62 mm barrel, I can play in tune voicing this way, but I'm nowhere close with the original barrel. So here are two questions for those of you who know more-
1. Presumably, the original barrel is the length it is for a reason, so what am I still not doing, despite the successful mouthpiece exercises?
2. Do traditional Balkan clarinetists tend to play without "classical" voicing, or is this generally considered important even while playing, for example, with a #1.5 reed and a barrel less than 60 mm?
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The Clarinet BBoard
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