![]() ![]() Okay let’s get on with different ways you can use the effect. We did something a bit unusual with the bass clarinet multiphonics, notating the bottom pitch in the bass clef and the top line an octave lower: normally I am very pro treble clef for everything bass clarinet, and pro ledger line, but the sheer number of pitches and ledger lines on each side of the staff made this rather impossible. The multiphonics in the chart were brilliantly illustrated by the amazing Elena Rykova. You can notate specific pitches, you can draw lines to indicate pitch ranges, etc. When it comes to notation, there are of course a lot of different ways this can be done. Practise sweeps from bottom to top and top to bottom, and isolating different pitches and at different dynamics, and you’re set. Once you get some kind of overblown sound it doesn’t take long to learn to control it. ![]() You could experiment with lowering the jaw and changing the direction of the flow of air. I generally have the feeling that I’m creating more space. From here it’s about finding the right amount of space in the cavity of the mouth and throat. Start on the low C (or low E if you don’t have a bass clarinet handy), and start practising them at very loud dynamics. They’re much, much easier on bass clarinet than Bb. Start learning on the biggest clarinet you can get a hold of. If you’re a clarinetist learning how to do these, I’ll try to offer a few tips. If you find this post useful, you might also like that on spectral multiphonics for contrabass clarinet. (Contra multiphonics didn’t fit in the chart below, they’ll be on their way next week!) This is the only way to achieve multiphonics in the lowest register of the clarinet (any clarinet), and the effect is wildly different at different dynamic levels and in combination with other effects, so that’s what we’re going to cover today. I get asked about these multiphonics more than any other thing when people write in about the blog, so this post is very much overdue. The spectral multiphonic: those elephantine sweeps from low fundamentals, easy to play once you’ve got the hang of it, easy to write, very idiomatic (especially for the bass clarinet), and one of the great clichés of clarinet writing in the last fifty years or so. For as little as $1 per blog post you can help! ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |