Bassoon Embouchure
Forming the correct bassoon embouchure is key to having characteristic tone on the instrument. The following is a step by step method to forming the bassoon embouchure correctly.
Forming the Embouchure
- Place the tip of the reed on your lower lip.
- Draw the reed into your mouth taking the lower lip with it.
- Bring the top lip down slightly over the top teeth and place it on the top of the reed. When the reed is in your mouth, the top lip should be almost up to the first wire with the bottom lip slightly behind it (overbite).
Considerations
- Do not think of rolling the lips over the teeth, as this usually results in too much lip over the teeth. The slight amount rolled over the teeth when whistling is enough.
- When too much lip is rolled over the teeth, the result is a hard jaw-supported embouchure.
- The bassoon embouchure is a soft, lip-supported embouchure. This is why the jaw should be dropped. The muscles of the lips support the embouchure, not the teeth or the jaw.
- Most people have a natural overbite where the top teeth come down over and in front of the bottom teeth. Because of this, the top lip usually rests slightly farther forward on the reed than does the bottom lip.
Air/Embouchure Balance
The air/embouchure balance is the amount of pressure exerted on the reed by the lips as it relates to the amount of air pressure pushed through the reed. This balance affects intonation, tone quality, and dynamic capability.
Intonation
To obtain a clean understanding of air/embouchure balance as it relates to intonation there are four basic axioms that one must consider:
- If you increase air pressure, the pitch moves higher.
- If you decrease air pressure, the pitch moves lower.
- If you increase embouchure pressure on the reed, the pitch moves higher.
- If you decrease embouchure pressure on the reed, the pitch moves lower.
Tone Color
When playing with the correct balance of air and embouchure pressure, there should be an acceptable bassoon tone quality. To have a better, more warm and vibrant tone quality, the player should play with as much air pressure as possible with just enough embouchure pressure to bring the note up to the correct pitch level. Too often, a player will not have enough air pressure and will compensate by increasing the embouchure pressure to bring the pitch up to the correct level. This will, however, create a thin, pinched tone with weak volume. Instead, increase the amount of air pressure to fix any notes that sound flat before adjusting the embouchure and listen to the tone quality of that note.
Dynamic Contrast
For the dynamics to increase, the air pressure music increase, which will bring the pitch up, so the embouchure must compensate by relaxing to gain the correct balance. This is true of the contrary, where decreasing the air pressure require the embouchure pressure to increase to maintain intonation and tone quality at a softer dynamic. Most students will make the adjustment to play louder naturally, but more struggle when it comes to playing soft, where they will use too much embouchure pressure and play mostly sharp.
Testing the Embouchure
Crow the Reed
The crow is the sound the reeds makes when it is vibrating freely. There are two ways to produce a crow. The first way is to place both lips in the wires without any pressure on the blades of the reed and blow with a full airstream. The second way is to form the embouchure and blow with a full airstream and find the correct air/embouchure balance. For this test, make a crow with the embouchure.
- The crow is a sound made when all the pitches (low, mid, and high) are produced simultaneously.
- This requires a very loose embouchure and an open throat.
- If a single pitch is sounded, the embouchure is too tight.
- This will take some practice to be done correctly.
- This is excellent practice to gain the correct "feel" of the embouchure.
Reed and Bocal Exercise
Place the reed on the bocal (do not put the bocal on the bassoon yet) and blow a note with full air. If the embouchure is correct it should produce a slightly flat C. If the pitch is higher than a C, the embouchure is too tight.
Bassoon Tone Production - Problems/Remedies
High Pitched Crow with Too Few Sounds
Causes of Problem:
Embouchure is too tight, pinched. Reed is too stiff, closed off. |
Remedies:
Decrease pressure in embouchure, more relaxed. Check thickness of reed, balance in cane. |
Low Pitched Crow
Causes of Problem:
Lack of air and embouchure support. Reed too long and/or too wide. |
Remedies:
More support to dampen the reed. Change length and/or width of reed. |
Unsupported Sound on Low F
Causes of Problem:
Lack of support from lower jaw. Lack of air column support from diaphragm. |
Remedies:
Slightly increase lower jaw support. Use faster airstream. More support from diaphragm. |