Although the clarinet and saxophone both have a single reed attached to their mouthpiece, the playing technique or embouchure is distinct from each other. The standard embouchures for single reed woodwinds like the clarinet and saxophone are variants of the single lip embouchure, formed by resting the reed upon the bottom lip, which rests on the teeth and is supported by the chin muscles and the buccinator muscles on the sides of the mouth. The top teeth rest on top of the mouthpiece. The manner in which the lower lip rests against the teeth differs between clarinet and saxophone embouchures.
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Multiphonic played on an oboe using alternative fingering. The frequency spectrum of this sound. On woodwind instruments—e.g., saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, flute, and recorder—multiphonics can be produced either with new fingerings, by using different embouchures, or voicing the throat with conventional fingerings.
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Skilled performers can use their embouchures to considerably alter the tuning of individual notes or produce vibrato, a pulsating change of pitch often employed in jazz. Vibrato is rare in classical or concert band literature; however, certain clarinetists, such as Richard Stoltzman, use vibrato in classical music. Special fingerings may be used to play quarter tones and other microtonal intervals.Lawson, pp.
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His reproduction of an original Hotteterre baroque flute for the Museum of the State Institute of Music, Leningrad, was displayed at an exhibition in the US in 1980. Ravdonikas donated a set of wax toneholes and embouchures of flutes to the Museum of Musical Instruments in Leningrad. Some of his instruments belong to the Library of Congress. Throughout 1970s Ravdonikas continued his father's studies of the Onega Lake rock carvings.
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Los Angeles, CA. Timbre is what makes a particular musical sound different from another, even when they have the same pitch and loudness. For example, a 440 Hz A note sounds different when it is played on oboe, piano, violin or electric guitar. Even if different players of the same instrument play the same note, their notes might sound different due to differences in instrumental technique (e.g., different embouchures), different types of accessories (e.g.
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A variety of transverse flute embouchures are employed by professional flautists, though the most natural form is perfectly symmetrical, the corners of the mouth relaxed (i.e. not smiling), the lower lip placed along and at a short distance from the embouchure hole. It must be stressed, however, that achieving a symmetrical, or perfectly centred blowing hole ought not to be an end in itself. Indeed, French flautist Marcel Moyse did not play with a symmetrical embouchure.
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Broken Embouchures Generally speaking, the best way of overcoming swollen lips is to refrain from playing, or to practice for a shorter period of time and with a good warm-up in the days following any period of extensive playing. When a player is deprived of the opportunity to recuperate after a period of extensive playing, the simple matter of swollen lips is not allowed to heal, and the player is forced to work harder to compensate for diminished lip strength. Eventually, the player's facial muscles may collapse under the strain of playing.
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The end-blown xiao, kaval, shakuhachi and hocchiku flutes demand especially difficult embouchures, sometimes requiring many lessons before any sound can be produced. The embouchure is an important element to tone production. The right embouchure, developed with "time, patience, and intelligent work", will produce a beautiful sound and a correct intonation. The embouchure is produced with the muscles around the lips: principally the orbicularis oris muscle and the depressor anguli oris, whilst avoiding activation of zygomaticus major, which will produce a smile, flattening the top lip against the maxillary (upper jaw) teeth.
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Because the player of a brass instrument has direct control of the prime vibrator (the lips), brass instruments exploit the player's ability to select the harmonic at which the instrument's column of air vibrates. By making the instrument about twice as long as the equivalent woodwind instrument and starting with the second harmonic, players can get a good range of notes simply by varying the tension of their lips (see embouchure). Most brass instruments are fitted with a removable mouthpiece. Different shapes, sizes and styles of mouthpiece may be used to suit different embouchures, or to more easily produce certain tonal characteristics.
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The design of the saxophone allows for a wide variety of different approaches to sound production. However, there is a basic underlying structure to most techniques. The most common saxophone embouchures in modern music use are variants of the single-lip embouchure, in which the mouthpiece position is stabilized with firm pressure from the upper teeth resting on the mouthpiece O’Reilly, J. and Williams, M. ‘’Accent on Achievement Book 1 for Tenor Saxophone’’(1998)Alfred Publishing Co., USA (sometimes padded with a thin strip of rubber known as a "bite-pad" or "mouthpiece-patch"). The lower lip is supported by the buccinator and chin muscles and rests in contact with the lower teeth, making contact with the reed.
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The manner in which the lower lip rests against the teeth differs between clarinet and saxophone embouchures. In clarinet playing, the lower lip is rolled over the teeth and corners of the mouth are drawn back, which has the effect of drawing the upper lip around the mouthpiece to create a seal due to the angle at which the mouthpiece rests in the mouth. With the saxophone embouchure, the lower lip rests against, but not over, the teeth as in pronouncing the letter "V" and the corners of the lip are drawn in (similar to a drawstring bag). With the less common double-lip embouchure, the top lip is placed under (around) the top teeth.
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A bassoon reed An oboe reed The orchestral double reeds all employ a similar embouchure. Players pull their lips over their teeth to protect the reed from their teeth, and then excite the blades of the reed by blowing, while controlling the timbre and pitch with constant micromuscular pressure adjustments from the muscles of the mouth and jaw. Articulation is achieved by occluding the mouth of the reed with the tongue and then releasing it, with extended techniques such as double tongue, flutter tongue and growl all possible as on the other woodwind families. The principal difference between double reed embouchures – both between and within instrument families – is in the positioning of the rolled- in lips, and the musculature employed to control a sound.
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With woodwinds, it is important to ensure that the mouthpiece is not placed too far into the mouth, which would result in too much vibration (no control), often creating a sound an octave (or harmonic twelfth for the clarinet) above the intended note. If the mouthpiece is not placed far enough into the mouth, no sound will be generated, as the reed will not vibrate. The standard embouchures for single reed woodwinds like the clarinet and saxophone are variants of the single lip embouchure, formed by resting the reed upon the bottom lip, which rests on the teeth and is supported by the chin muscles and the buccinator muscles on the sides of the mouth. The top teeth rest on top of the mouthpiece.
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