Typically in musical acoustics, the pressure in the mouth is considered as a measure of his/her blowing technique, as it is more straightforward to obtain than any other measurement of respiratory actions (Bouhuys, 1968 Fréour and Scavone, 2013). The air pressure in the player's mouth is the main parameter controlling the dynamic level of the produced sound. For instance, in tongue-articulated series of notes, woodwind players are taught to maintain the embouchure parameters without stopping the airflow into the mouthpiece (Brymer, 1976). Most cases require direct interaction of the player's tongue with the oscillating reed (Scavone, 1996), involving accurate control of the front portion of the tongue, in order not to change other factors of the embouchure (Teal, 1963). The large variety of these techniques include different kinds of tongue actions (Krautgartner, 1982).

It is hereby shown that when the note is stopped by the action of the tongue both the attack and release transients are shorter compared to the case where the vibration of the reed is stopped by a decrease of mouth pressure.įor expressive woodwind performance musicians use various articulation techniques to shape the sequences of notes.

Such a mouth-pressure decrease might be used to stop the note in slow staccato playing. In staccato playing, where the tongue-reed contact is longer, the mouth pressure is reduced significantly between notes. In portato, short tongue-reed interaction is used homogeneously among players and playing conditions. Portato and legato playing show constant blowing throughout the musical phrase, which varies according to the dynamic level. The results show that different combinations of tongue and blowing actions are used during performance. Mouth pressure, mouthpiece pressure and reed displacement are recorded in an experiment with clarinet players to evaluate the influence of the player's actions on the selected parameters and on the sound. With the aim to analyse the effects of tonguing and blowing actions during playing, several physical variables are measured and parameters related to articulation are studied.

Articulation on the clarinet is achieved by a combination of precise actions taking place inside the player's mouth.

What does articulate mean in music