The following article sample was reprinted from American String Teacher, vol 72, issue 4 with permission from ASTA and the author.
The inspiration for this article was a session at a recent Midwest Clinic for band directors who also teach strings. So many string specialists have been incredibly generous to me with their advice and help over my years of youth and university orchestra conducting—this is a humble expression of gratitude from a woodwind specialist to the string community for such valuable advice and support over about three decades.
While it may seem obvious to any woodwind player, it may not be quite as clear to others that the four principal woodwinds in any orchestra sitting near each other serves a specific purpose. They hear each other well, and so the pitch center of the wind section is found right in the center of the orchestra, in front of the brass, within the other woodwinds, and within and behind the strings. The first job is to get these four players in tune with each other.
Pitch tendencies are the first great concern. The overall pitch on brass and woodwind instruments will always be higher when warm and lower when cold.
- Brass instruments with valves will be sharper when more valves are down. For example, low D (1/3 valves) and low Db (123 valves) will be sharp to the rest of the scale and are corrected by pushing the third valve slide out (away from the player) with the loop or hook on the third valve slide. French Horn will be the same but the presence of the right hand in the bell allows for an additional control, by narrowing the bell opening to flatten the pitch or widening it to raise it.
- Brass instruments often sound flat at soft dynamics and sharp at loud dynamics.
- Woodwinds tend different directions at different dynamics. At soft dynamics, clarinets (and saxophones) go sharp and the other three orchestral woodwinds go flat. At loud dynamics, the opposite happens. For this reason, do not allow your wind instruments (woodwinds and brass) to tune at the soft extreme of the dynamic scale—tune mezzo forte, or in the middle for the most reliable average pitch. We often advise wind players practice “long tones” with a tuner, working to keep the pitch consistent as the dynamic changes.
Tuning at different pitch levels (e.g., A 440, 442, 444) presents complicated problems:
- Generally brass instruments play with the tuning slides pulled out somewhat to arrive at 440 (though the pitch rises as the instruments become warmer). They all have considerable flexibility to play sharper by pushing the main valve slide in. Each individual valve also has a tuning slide, so considerable flexibility is available.
- Flutes generally play with the head joint pulled out slightly. Pushing in all the way allows for higher tuning. However, higher-end flutes can be ordered at specific pitch levels—it is possible that when a student buys a better flute, she or he is unaware if the instrument is designed for A440 or A442. So, some variation of pitch level may be experienced due to this variable. The other flute variable is the position of the head joint cork, which can be checked by finding the line on the end of the cleaning rod in the exact center of the blowhole. If too far toward the crown (far left from the player’s perspective), the overall pitch will be flat and if extremely out in either direction, the scale will simply not be in tune with itself.
- Oboes are also designed at different pitch levels. A high-end oboe can be specified at 440 or 442. The one variable that can be controlled is the reed. Generally American oboe reeds (440) are built on a 47 mm staple (the metal and cork part to which the wood part of the reed is tied), resulting in a 70 mm overall reed length. In all, 45 mm staples are available, which will allow a 68 mm reed and thus a sharper pitch. If a student is forcing the pitch higher than the reed wants to play, the third-space C will sound obviously bright and sharp, in which case the student should be asked to find a shorter, sharper reed.
- While the pitch is affected by the reed as on oboe, bassoons and English horns are somewhat more flexible because the bocal comes in various sizes. Generally, a no. 2 bocal is used for both oboe and English horn. However, a no. 1 will be sharper and a no. 3 will be flatter. Forcing the instrument to play at an uncomfortable pitch level causes considerable tonal and response sacrifice. (Fox bassoon bocals are slightly shorter than many other bocals, so do not assume that one no. 2 bocal will play at the same pitch level as another).
- Clarinets are the least flexible in the upward direction. An instrument that is built to play at A440 will only push upward slightly and with great effort. The barrel joint (just under the mouthpiece) is the key to upward flexibility.
Learn more by accessing the full article at www.astastrings.org. ASTA Members can take advantage of this incredible resource and more: https://www.astastrings.org/site/resource-library. Become an ASTA member TODAY! https://www.astastrings.org/site/membership