Anyone play(ed) the clarinet and can help me with a story I'm writing?
It involves someone returning to high school Band class after the long summer break. I want something that would tell the teacher that she hadn't practiced the entire summer.
All I've come up with so far is that she lost the strength in her embouchure and air is escaping from the corners of her mouth causing a fuzzy sound. (I don't even know if that makes sense.)
Thanks.
Yes, makes sense. I played saxophone in school band in early 70's. (Nothing since then - I ain't got talent.) One must develope strengthened breathing, lip, diaphragm. Clarinet and sax have similar mouthpieces, but oboe and bassoon use a double reed, and of course flute blows across the hole. All these are grouped into "woodwinds".
Also count in control of notes. Yes, any teacher will notice lack of practice, especially a two month break.
Yes, makes sense. I played saxophone
Thanks.
I found a Q-T exercise on YouTube to strengthen the embouchure by making a Q and T with your lips. From what I read, if the embouchure isn't strong (and it's not naturally strong because the jaw is more used to chewing than playing the clarinet), air escapes from the corners of the mouth (the embouchure?) and it affects the sound. Makes the sound fuzzy. Something the teacher would catch right away.
Thanks again.
Clarinet and sax have similar mouthpieces, but oboe and bassoon use a double reed, and of course flute blows across the hole. All these are grouped into "woodwinds".
Wouldn't the sax be brass rather than woodwind?
Wouldn't the sax be brass rather than woodwind?
I googled it and it said woodwinds are not only made out of wood and a sax, for example, is a woodwind made out of brass.
To follow up Switch Blade's answer, the reason that a Sax is considered a woodwind is because there is a reed in the mouthpiece that is necessary to produce sound. True brass instruments have no wood or reed in them.
Also, brass instruments produce a directional sound. A trumpet will be louder directly in front of the performer than at the same distance behind. Woodwinds are typically non-directional; a flute's sound will be the same no matter where you stand relative to the flautist.
There are also differences in technique and other areas, but the above two are what will be most obvious to non-players.
a Sax is considered a woodwind is because there is a reed in the mouthpiece that is necessary to produce sound. True brass instruments have no wood or reed in them.
The flute doesn't have a reed and it's a woodwind. Per britannica.com:
woodwind, any of a group of wind musical instruments, composed of the flutes and reed pipes (i.e., clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone). Both groups were traditionally made of wood, but now they may also be constructed of metal.
I suspect a large proportion of the population considers the saxophone to be a brass instrument because it's usually found in brass instrument settings and it sounds brassy.
Like the fruit v vegetable issue, where it's used is important.
AJ
woodwind, any of a group of wind musical instruments, composed of the flutes and reed pipes (i.e., clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone). Both groups were traditionally made of wood, but now they may also be constructed of metal.
I don't think I've ever seen a wooden saxophone. I don't think they go back that far.
ETA: Found a bit of interesting history on the Saxophone.
https://www.wwbw.com/the-music-room/history-of-the-saxophone
The saxophone is a relatively new instrument that was invented during the 1840s and patented in 1846 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian musician and instrument maker. A member of the woodwind family, saxophones are usually made of brass, and are played with a single reed mouthpiece, similar to that of the clarinet. The sax is used in many genres of music including classical, military and marching bands, jazz, and contemporary music, including rock and roll.
As a youth, Adolphe Sax studied the flute and clarinet at Brussels Conservatory of Music. His father was a musical instrument maker and Adolphe apprenticed in the shop, where he was given not only excellent instruction, but also the freedom to develop his own ideas. While at the Conservatory, Adolphe began to observe the balance of brass and woodwind instruments in musical composition and performance. Eventually, he came to believe that there was a missing range that a hybrid woodwind and brass instrument might be able to fill. Sax's experimentation with the bass clarinet led him to a design that combined the projection of a brass instrument with the agility of a woodwind and the saxophone was born.
So, per it's inventor, the sax is neither a woodwind nor a brass, but a hybrid of both.
Wood part of it is the replaceable reed that vibrates to make the sound. The performer will have several spare reeds. I suppose the flute is added to the woodwinds section due to blowing across the hole. The woodwinds have leather pads fingers press to open/close holes.
I suppose the flute is added to the woodwinds section due to blowing across the hole. The woodwinds have leather pads fingers press to open/close holes.
There is also the fact that while modern flutes are generally metal, flutes were originally made of wood.
Woodwind vs. brass: Classification isn't based on the material of the instrument, but rather how it makes sound and changes pitch. In a WW instrument, you blow into it, causing the instrument to vibrate; in a brass instrument, it's your lips vibrating and the instrument amplifies that. To change pitch on a WW, you cover holes to change the effective length of a fixed tube; in brass instruments, you use valves or slides to change the actual length of the tube.
Cheers
RS
So how does something like a bugle fit into that?
It doesn't have a reed, but it's a fixed tube with no mechanism to alter actual or effective length.
The vibration is produced by the lips, so it's a brass instrument on that count.
The different notes on a bugle are produced via overtones for the fixed tube length, something which can be done on both brass and woodwind instruments for any given length. Just happens that in a bugle you only get one length, so you only can play a limited set of notes. If you wanted to play different notes with a bugle, you'd pick up a different one with a longer or shorter length. Or, you'd add valves (which would give you something like a trumpet) to change the length. But you would definitely not drill holes in the bugle tube and try to finger them.
Therefore, brass.
Cheers
RS
something very simple. the student still had a full supply of reeds. I'm sure some of them would of broken over summer
something very simple. the student still had a full supply of reeds. I'm sure some of them would of broken over summer
I wanted the teacher to call her out while playing the first day of school. The embouchure thing works.
Thanks anyway.
She keeps telling stories begining with 'One time at band camp', which if added together means there was no time for blowing on her instrument.
Band geek - check
Reed player (sax - badly) - check
Music teacher - check
Sorry I'm a week late to this.
Embouchure for single reeds (clarinet/sax) is simple compared to double reed (oboe/cor anglais) so that's not what would tip the teacher off.
More likely, shit breath control (can't get through a phrase with a consistent tone) would be clearly audible. Same for any instrument using the lungs (brass/winds/voice).
In addition to the above, she could just have a filthy reed. I've seen students not practice for a few weeks and then pull out their instrument to find their reed discoloured from being put away wet and left like that.
Embouchure for single reeds (clarinet/sax) is simple compared to double reed (oboe/cor anglais) so that's not what would tip the teacher off.
I only know what I found by googling. I found a video on the Q-T exercise to strengthen the muscles in the sides of the mouth to prevent air escaping which makes a fuzzy sound when playing.
In my story, the student went the entire summer without practicing. Are you saying the teacher couldn't hear a problem with a clarinet player after a summer without playing it?
There's a second part to this in the story. After the teacher calls her out and teaches her the Q-T exercise, she later goes on a bad date and gets punched or slapped in the mouth. That cuts the inside of her lip which causes a problem again in class. The teacher thinks it's the same problem and gets furious. Would a cut on the inside of her lip cause the same problem?
I've never played an instrument. When I was in elementary school, they called us into the auditorium and one-by-one, they played a high note and a low note on the piano. They sounded the same to me so I never ended up in band class. LOL
Your scenario as outlined above would totally make sense from a musical point of view.
Mouth changes cause big issues. I have had students who suddenly were rubbish for a week or two after their braces were removed whilst they got used to the new mouth mechanics. They got better over time, but again practice.
Your scenario as outlined above would totally make sense from a musical point of view.
That's music to my ears. LOL
Thanks.
I suspect most readers would accept whatever rationale you provided if it were at all plausible.
NB
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At least you wouldn't be the first to use that word in a SOL story.
AJ
To use it as many times as possible in a story BUT not relating to musical instruments at all...