Finger Forces in Clarinet Playing

Abstract

Clarinettists close and open multiple tone holes to alter the pitch of the tones. Their fingering technique must be fast, precise, and coordinated with the tongue articulation. In this empirical study, finger force profiles and tongue techniques of clarinet students (N = 17) and professional clarinettists (N = 6) were investigated under controlled performance conditions. First, in an expressive-performance task, eight selected excerpts from the first Weber Concerto were performed. These excerpts were chosen to fit in a 2 × 2 × 2 design (register: low–high; tempo: slow–fast, dynamics: soft–loud). There was an additional condition controlled by the experimenter, which determined the expression levels (low–high) of the performers. Second, a technical-exercise task, an isochronous 23-tone melody was designed that required different effectors to produce the sequence (finger-only, tongue-only, combined tongue-finger actions). The melody was performed in three tempo conditions (slow, medium, fast) in a synchronization-continuation paradigm. Participants played on a sensor-equipped Viennese clarinet, which tracked finger forces and reed oscillations simultaneously. From the data, average finger force (Fmean) and peak force (Fmax) were calculated. The overall finger forces were low (Fmean = 1.17 N, Fmax = 3.05 N) compared to those on other musical instruments (e.g., guitar). Participants applied the largest finger forces during the high expression level performance conditions (Fmean = 1.21 N). For the technical exercise task, timing and articulation information were extracted from the reed signal. Here, the timing precision of the fingers deteriorated the timing precision of the tongue for combined tongue-finger actions, especially for faster tempi. Although individual finger force profiles were overlapping, the group of professional players applied less finger force overall (Fmean = 0.54 N). Such sensor instruments provide useful insights into player-instrument interactions and can also be used in the future to give feedback to students in various learning and practising situations.

On Fabrication and Mechanical Testing of a New Finger Support

“…Hofmann and Goebl8 explored the finger force profiles and tongue techniques of clarinet students and professional clarinetists under controlled performance conditions. Their study found that the finger force varied between different body types and sex (Hofmann, 2016). The results yielded an average flexion force of 1.17 N. The largest force of 1.21 N was recorded during high expression level performance conditions, which is consistent with other researcher's findings who used dynamometers (Silva, et al, 2005).…”

The influence of the vocal tract on the attack transients in clarinet playing

“…In order to measure the reed-tip displacement and to trace the tongue-reed interaction, the reed vibration is measured with a strain gauge (length of 2 mm) attached to the surface of a synthetic reed (strength 2.5, German cut, by Légère), as used in Hofmann and Goebl (2016). The external sound is recorded under dry acoustic conditions, with a microphone (d:vote 4099U, by DPA) mounted on the instrument.…”

Design, Simulation and Fabrication of a New Finger Support

“…Governing Equations: The strip of aluminum that will be inserted in the polymer finger support can be treated as a cantilever thin plate, because there is no force or movement at the base of the support. As mentioned before (Hofmann and Goebl, 2016), the amount of maximum force exerted by fingers was found to be 1.21N, which is considered here. Since the aluminum strip will be treated as a thin plate, the common formulas for bending stress and deformation can be applied.…”

“…According to their methodological study conducted on finger force when playing some instruments, a healthy finger force varied with different test subjects of different body types and sex. Gathered from the research studies (Hofmann and Goebl, 2016), an average finger flexion force can be considered as 120gf which converts to 0.2644lbf or 1.177N. However, they also expressed that the largest finger force during the high expression level performance conditions was increased to 1.21N which is considered for this present work.…”