Lesson 6 Discussion - Melody in the Wood-wind

[marnen]

The point if RK's "natural order", I think, is to avoid getting into trouble with the low register of the oboe.

Perhaps. I had more the sense that he was using it as simply a basic guideline.

And if the clarinet is used (melodically) much above the treble staff, the sound is much more strained then the flute.

True, but I was talking about the use of the clarinet in a woodwind tutti, and not in quite such a high register (there's a good example in that Snegurochka excerpt, with the mid-range oboe melody accompanied by moderately high clarinet and flutes). However, on reflection, I realize that this chapter is more about melodic use of woodwinds, and so your interpretation may well come closer to Rimsky's meaning than mine did.

[Leaf]

Thanks very much for the replies Marnen and Gary,

And thanks for the offer to help with Finale Marnen, I may need that from time to time. I finished the Harp's staves, so far it was relatively easy after i completed one measure i just copied and pasted and then moved the notes up or down with simple edit, and the clef change at the end was easy with the clef tool.

ok back to woodwinds, sorry for diversion.

David

[Poolman]

Re: the clarinet higher than oboe question:

To decide whether to put the clarinets above the oboes will usually depend on what is going on elsewhere.

If there is not much brass, and the volumes are not above forte, then Rimsky's "natural order" will be right.

If there is a big tutti, with plenty of brass, and you want maximum reinforcement from the woodwind, then keep the oboes low/medium in pitch, where they are strongest, and clarinets fairly high, where their penetrating tone will tell. They could perhaps dovetail with the flutes, or be immediately below them. Above the stave, anyway.

But these remarks apply to ensemble playing, not solos. The clarinet has as much right as any other woodwind to take a solo, and if this needs to be in a high register, so be it, so long as one avoids the screamy effect (probably safe up to G or A above the stave (written note).

[Poolman]

Re: the clarinet higher than oboe question:

But these remarks apply to ensemble playing, not solos. The clarinet has as much right as any other woodwind to take a solo, and if this needs to be in a high register, so be it, so long as one avoids the screamy effect (probably safe up to G or A above the stave (written note).

May I correct my own error? Not G or A above the stave, but C or D above the stave. (I had been working on some horn music previously and must have had the wrong transposition in my head.)