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How can I improve my range and tone quality?

How can I improve my clarinet tone quality?

  • I've been playing the clarinet for almost 6 years (I'm a sophomore in HS) and not that I have awful tone quality, but i have heard a lot better. It's mostly on the high notes that don't sound as nice as I'd like. I'm using a 4 reed and don't think I'm an amature that doesn't know what I'm doing. I'm in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, so I do kind of know what I'm doing. Thanks :)

  • Answer:

    The tone depends a lot on your clarinet and reed. A wooden clarinet, such as Buffet R13, will give you the best tone verse and cheap wooden one or plastic. Mouthpieces and barrels also affect this, but only slightly. Decent reeds are always required for a dark tone. I assume you are using Vandoren? This is the best brand for tone; quality in general. Although alot of new ones from the box are stiff, almost all professionals slightly sand their Vandorens. From my experience, I used Vandoren 3.5 for a time and tried out 4's for a while. I found that I liked 3.5 better and when I looked into it, professionals acually only use 3.5 and sometimes 4. So make sure 4 is the size you want, I know you may be comforable with them but you many find it better to use 3.5. Again, its all personal preference. I advise you to check out sanding the reeds with fine grit paper. Someone mentioned breath control and second that. But since you seem to know what you are doing, you probably already have that figured out so I am pretty sure it is a matter of accessories. Hope I helped and best of luck! Best Regards, Fellow Clarinet Player

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My best suggestion would be to play long tones. My friends and I do it and it works wonders. I play oboe as a primary instrument and just about every other instrument as secondary. When i first started clarinet, my tone was horrible too. So all I did was play long tones on the higher notes and it has done really well.

Louie

Tone is 90% breath support. If you're not blowing enough air, you won't have a good tone. BUT, if you just blow a lot of air, it won't help. Blow the air through your mouthpiece as if you were blowing into a straw. Also, be aware that the higher you get, the more likely you are to bite on your mouthpiece. Don't let this happen. This is probably one of the problems. Try loosening your embouchure in the upper register and blow a thin but fast column of air, and you should be good to go.

m17701

You may want to try a different brand of reed, or even a softer reed :) Many people will call that cheating, but it improved my tone BIG TIME :D I'm in my state's All-State Band and I really feel that the main reason why I made it, was because I played on a slightly softer reed which made my tone sound awesome. Just be sure to not let your sound get too thin (don't let the reed be TOO soft). Good Luck!

REd HeaD

Make sure your ombecheure is correct (i cant spell)...also your posture is everyhting...do you slouch? you should sit up straight..also when was the last time you got it checked up?

Scat

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