Volume 33 Number 3 June 2006 - International Clarinet Association

Readers of the previous issues of
The Clarinet know that this is the
15th part of a series of articles
based on materials from which Keith Stein
(Professor of Clarinet at Michigan State
Uni versity from 1934 to 1975) planned to
create a how-to book for those who had no
access to a clarinet teacher. I have attempted
to put those materials into prose form,
and a little fuller explanation of the circumstances
surrounding that endeavor is
given in Part One in the Volume 29, No. 4
(September 2002) issue of the magazine.
This article opens our look at Stein’s
materials dealing with the great subject of
clarinet tone quality. This is yet another
aspect of clarinet playing in which Keith
Stein was a great master.
* * * * *
Roughly speaking, tone is generated by
means of a balanced control of air-flow,
correct support and an appropriate ar rangement
of larynx, jaw, tongue and the shaping
of the front portion of the mouth. The
last-mentioned may loosely be termed
“Ton al Voicing.”
“The primary purpose of the air stream,”
says my colleague Larry Teal, “is to set
the reed in vibration.” A player feels he is
blowing directly through the clarinet when
playing well, yet there is actually little forward
force of the air beyond the reed. Mr.
Teal’s convincing demonstration on saxophone
applies equally on clarinet to dem -
onstrate that breath transforms reed vibrations
into sound waves, setting up a nearly
ethereal vacancy inside the clarinet tube.
To demonstrate this phenomenon, first
put a reedless mouthpiece into the top of
the barreljoint of your clarinet. Then cut a
one-and-a-half-inch square piece of paper.
Next, sit in a chair and tip your head back
until your face is on a level plane looking
directly upward at the ceiling. Insert the
reedless mouthpiece and barrel combination
in your mouth with the piece of paper
sitting on the upturned, open end of the
barreljoint. Observe that the slightest puff
of air will send the piece of paper floating
to the floor. But now do this same experiment
again, this time with a reed and ligature
attached to the mouthpiece. Apply as
much blowing pressure as possible, and
you will note that the harder you blow, the
more the paper adheres to the end of the
barrel. The first question asked is where
does the air go Observe that some air does
Page 32
escape from around the vibrating piece of
paper, perhaps the needed amount to satisfy
bodily needs in expiration and at the
same time sufficient to stimulate the reed
in playing.
It is correct for players to sense a wellfilled
tone as an integral part of good clarinet
sound though the previous experiment
proves that air does not actually pack the
clarinet tube. The experiment substantiates
that a relatively small amount of breath is
needed to vibrate the reed at its maximum.
Nevertheless, continue encouraging the stu -
dent to fill the instrument as a teaching
measure, but help him find that balance of
breath and support that will offer him the
same sensation instead of merely overloading
the wind channel with air. Proper mixing
of breath with support is similar to a
balancing of air with gasoline in a carburetor.
When that is correct, clarinet sound
speaks efficiently and with little effort as
does an automobile motor with air and
gasoline correctly mixed.
SUPPORT
by David Pino
A key to tone production with minimal
effort lies in learning to generate the support
from an exact location which some
professionals feel sufficiently important
to call it the center of tone. Location of
this so-called tonal center, at the extreme
lower groinal area, is quickly sensed by
the player when each new air-load seems
to impact into this terminal of the ab do -
men, provided that he is sufficiently re -
laxed for it to take place. A sudden distension
is felt, caused by the lung sacs filling
and pressing downward, in turn displacing
the lower internal organs and the surround -
ing muscularity until the chain reaction
reaches the groinal depths. This accounts
for the impossible statement some players
make that they blow breath from this ex -
tremely low location. Stated more accurately,
muscular support is applied to the
breath-line from the lower abdomen,
THE CLARINET
where as more delicate breathing controls
are manipulated by the diaphragm and
upper abdominal musculature.
Learning to gather the musculature
around the extreme lower back (sacroiliac)
as prescribed earlier also helps pinpoint
the depth from which the lower front -
al abdomen applies support. To the degree
that support is not fully applied to the
breath, the embouchure must make up the
difference with double duty, a reason why
embouchures are often declared faulty and
blamed for a poor result.
Conversely, exhalation takes place from
this groinal region by a reverse chain reaction
of each distended component. Each
presses upward against the other until the
diaphragm and the immediately surrounding
musculature make contact against the
lung sacs to expel the air with proper drive.
Muscular contraction may be applied also
from this upper area provided it is gentle
and does not cause tensing up.
Players will notice improvement in tone
quality when attention is concentrated upon
full continuous support of the breath. Take
time, in practice, to apply support fully with
each new breath intake. Under the stress of
performance, especially when only a fraction
of a beat is allowed for breath intake
and support application, it becomes a habit
for the player to continue with only partial
support applied. Take the time to renew
full support often.
VOICING THE TONE
There is another location where tone is
basically determined, and that is at the ex -
treme front of the mouth where tonal characteristics
are created through reshaping,
rerouting and realigning the breath. This
takes place in a flash at that point just prior
to the air impacting against the reed. “Ton -
al voicing” is a general term embracing
this extreme frontal breath treatment. The
larynx, throat, jaw, tongue, sinus and nasal
areas also figure in tonal formation but