Spectral Analysis of Bb Clarinet Multiphonics and Other Extended Techniques

Encouraging a Productive Discourse in the Contemporary Clarinet World

Vashawn Arora
Arizona State University
Fall 2019

Introduction

For this project, I will conduct spectral analysis of Bb clarinet multiphonics and other extended techniques and create an online resource to encourage a productive discourse regarding a pedagogical/educational and conceptual outlet for contemporary techniques. My intended audience for this project includes myself, the clarinet studio at Arizona State University, and fellow clarinet colleagues and enthusiasts around the world. Myself because I am looking to exercise my current acoustical understanding of the instrument and witness a representation of my theoretical knowledge in action. This includes how clarinet multiphonics and extended techniques are mechanically accomplished through fingerings and embouchure voicing. In addition, I am looking to exercise my own findings and analysis in contemporary repertoire performances. The clarinet studio and others around the world are my primary audience in creating this online database/foundation for clarinettists to communicate and share ideas. This database will include components for clear interpretation and manipulation in addition to a set of comment thread to encourage posts on personal findings and additional information. Feel free to comment below any thoughts or questions you might have!

Equipment and Materials


Brief History of Bb Clarinet Multiphonics and Exploration of Extended Techniques

The first entry for multiphonics was by Antonio Ferrannini in Ancie battenti (1943). A more detailed exploration of multiphonics came from Bruno Bartolozzi in New Sounds for Woodwind (1967). One of the first recorded uses of multiphonics in performance is from Eric Dolphy and his work in the jazz bebop and free jazz eras of the mid-20th century. While not notated and used in improvisational contexts, this sparked interest for composers on how to attain more notational and acoustical control of such unpredictable sounds. Difficult to notate, many composers choose a fingering diagram positioned vertically above or below the set of sonorities and the indicated harmonics to produce above the given fundamental.

Flutter tonguing, a popular contemporary technique used in solo repertoire, has been notated before the 19th century, with Johann Strauss II’s Don Quixote and Pytor Llyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. This technique is typically notated with an expression text abbreviation of fltz. or multiple slash marks on the stems. Effective uses of flutter tongue achieve a greater intensity in the phrase or a blurred, fleeting texture. Teeth on the reed is a non-traditional effect first seen in Donald Scavarda’s Matrix for Clarinetist (1962). One option for notation of teeth on reed includes Helmet Lachenmann’s slashes on the stem and a “z” for the notehead. In William O. Smith’s Epigrams for Clarinets, he notates for teeth on reed at the end of movement one as an open triangle with a footnote. The glissando/portamento/pitch bend is a popular extended technique that has existed for multiple musical eras of the 19th and 20th century. Ronald Caravan defines this as “the connection of two tones by a smooth slide which passes through all of the possible pitches or frequencies between the two tones without interruption”. Notational possibilities of glissandos/portamentos/pitch bends can include relative duration and pitch accuracies. Popular use of this set of techniques include George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924) clarinet opening or anywhere in Scott McAllister’s Freebirds for Two Solo Clarinets and Wind Orchestra (2009). Slap tongue is an effect originating from the traditional jazz era. The first record of this technique was by Stump Evans, a saxophone player in King Oliver’s Creole Band. While this traditional era of jazz was in the 1920s, bebop and free jazz woodwind musicians, such as Coleman Hawkins and Eric Dolphy, included slap tonguing in their improvisational toolbelt. Notation for this extended articulation includes a wide range of symbols positioned vertically above the note or a visual alteration of the notehead, such as an “x” as the notehead or a plus sign “+” positioned above the note.

Respective joints are contemporary techniques that show a manipulation of the effective tube length. This includes playing the upper and lower joints of the clarinet separate and together. In the appendix on William O. Smith’s inspiration for entering the contemporary composition field, a performance of Berio’s Sequenza I for flute, where a dyad multiphonic was used, sparked Smith’s interest in the creation of multiple sonorities on clarinet. Pieces using these techniques include William O. Smith’s Epigrams for Clarinets and Four Duets for Four DemiClarinets.


Production of Single Sounds and Multiple Sounds on Bb Clarinet

To understand how contemporary extended techniques are produced, we must first understand the acoustics of a Bb clarinet and the production of single sounds. The clarinet is a closed cylindrical system with an open (bell) and closed (mouthpiece) end. The reed, located at the closed end, acts as an oscillator and allows energy to be released into the system. After the initial energy reflects back onto the reed, a low energy closes the reed inward and shut. Another repetition of this cycle allows a high energy to reflect back to the closed end of the system and open the reed. This system repeats.

The harmonic series are a set of sounds that naturally occur in nature, where the frequency of each sound in the set is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. Single sounds on a clarinet are determined by two factors: the effective tube length in which the air/energy has to travel and the vibration modes that are created by oral cavity or vocal fold manipulations along the vocal tract, known as voicing. Multiple sounds or other extended techniques include an physical/mechanical alteration to either of these two factors. With the Bb clarinet being a closed cylindrical system, only the odd harmonics acoustically exist in the production of sound. This allows the partial above the resonating fundamental frequency to sound a Perfect 12th higher, skipping the Perfect octave partial that naturally occurs in the overtone/harmonic series.

Below are examples and analysis of Bb clarinet extended techniques from popular contemporary composers and pieces.
Pieces listed in alphabetical order by first name:


Bb Clarinet Multiphonics and Extended Techniques


Final Thoughts

Currently, I am pursuing a double major in Clarinet Performance and Music Theory and Composition at Arizona State University. This final project is greatly relevant to my undergraduate studies as frequently asked repertoire for the clarinet studio includes contemporary pieces that explore flexibility on the clarinet through use of multiphonics and other extended techniques. Having extensive knowledge of how multiphonics and other extended techniques work on an acoustic level is essential to the success of the performance; these findings serve as a conceptual tool for approaching what the composer is asking and how to effectively produce these multiple sounds and extended techniques with consistency and clarity. On a pedagogical/educational note, the visual and appealing aspect will allow readers of any skill ability to understand, clarify, and reproduce these techniques on their own instrument. This mainly pertains to younger clarinettists looking to dive into the contemporary repertoire world. In addition, composers can visit this open source database to inform different decisions when writing, such as mechanical possibilities and timbral outcomes. This research project complements and synthesizes existing scholarship and research in the field.

Interpretation of the spectral analysis is an essential component. Spear: Sinusoidal Partial Editing Analysis and Resynthesis, allows for the recreation of an inputted track with individual sinusoidal tracks/partials. The respective axis of the graph: pitch in hertz on the y axis and duration in seconds on the x axis. The spectral analysis allow a visual medium of analysis for pitch manipulations/alterations from the extended techniques. The partials/harmonics reflect the acoustical changes that sound with the fingering and notational changes. This can better inform composers and clarinettists on how different upper partials function dynamically and acoustically in reproduction, consistency, and intonation.

The composers and their respective publishing outlets used in this project retain full rights to these excerpts and the compositions themselves.


Sources