Univ. Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Abstract :
While articulation on the B♭ clarinet has already been a subject of various studies, articulation on the bass clarinet has received less attention. Because of the increasing interest for using the bass clarinet, especially in contemporary music, this instrument is emerging from the shadow of the B♭ clarinet. In order to investigate articulation on the bass clarinet an experiment was carried out in an anechoic chamber at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. A professional clarinetist was recorded performing different articulation techniques on a German bass clarinet under controlled performance conditions. Results show that the attack transients on the bass clarinet were about 0.085 s long in staccato articulation. In comparison, attack transients on the B♭ clarinet are 2 to 3 times shorter. This study especially focuses on the slap tonguing technique. Of particular interest is the reed displacement signal, which shows the movement of the reed. It has been observed that tones articulated with slap tonguing have a significantly shorter attack transient and are immediately entering the decay phase. Such measurements allow an in-depth analysis of player-instrument interactions with contemporary playing techniques and may support the refinement of physical model parameters but may also support music education.