# Breaks on woodwind instruments



## jensos (Sep 1, 2014)

Working through the material of an online orchestration course, I ran into the topic of "crossing the break(s)" in woodwind instruments. The problem seems to be a transition between an open note where few keys on the instrument are depressed, and a closed note where many keys are depressed. For instance, on the clarinet, crossing the boundary between the middle and the clarion register (around the written pitch of Bb4) seems to be particularly problematic, so that you would try not write legato passages that cross the break all the time. Obviously trills could be difficult there.

Unfortunately, my course doesn't provide much detailed information on this topic, and I am looking for an overview of the locations of all the breaks on the woodwind instruments (preferably also for the different kinds of flutes, clarinets, etc).
More importantly yet, I am looking for information about the *extent* to which it should be taken into account by a good orchestrator as, seemingly, the problem is much more pronounced on some instruments than on others. I have heard a flute player say that the problem is restricted pretty much to trills on his instrument.

I have found an excellent book ("Wind talk for Woodwinds" by Mark C. Ely), and it is available on google books. However, the most important pages are missing there (as always). And it doesn't really deal with the question of how pronounced the problem is on each instrument and how careful one should be. Obviously, one can always say it's up to the player to deal with it, but I'm interested in what a "good" orchestrator would do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Jens
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## chibear (Sep 1, 2014)

Breaks are a fact of life for woodwinds and some brass. Good players will find work-arounds to pretty much eliminate audible evidence of their discomfort. If you are worried about it ask a woodwind player to demonstrate for you. You will find most musicians very accommodating AND they will respect you more as a composer if you ask them about their instruments BEFORE writing for them.


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## hawpri (Sep 1, 2014)

There's a 'Composer's Workshop Interviews' series by Cinesamples, they have videos on flute(s) and clarinet(s), among a handful of others. Each is more of a general overview of the various instruments in regard to sampling and mock-ups, but they do discuss some of the things you're looking for.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBJhxpLkn6a6fgCfDZYOuGKLC_nbj8Dsg


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## rgames (Sep 1, 2014)

A good orchestrator likely won't worry about it!

Any professional musician (and most decent amateurs) will have no difficulty with that element of woodwind playing. There are only a few times when it requires serious consideration - e.g. the clarinet part in Stravinsky's Firebird has some tricky breaks that require "exploration" of alternate fingerings to handle the parts that cross the clarion-to-altissimo break. Again, though, you work it out. That's just an example of a time when you have to actually think about it. Usually you don't, but either way it doesn't matter. The musician will work it out.

The smoothness of slurred transitions (aka legato among many around here) is not nearly as much of an issue as the slight change in timbre on some instruments (e.g. clarinet) as you cross the break.

Again, though, there are plenty of alternate fingerings and the musicians will adapt as appropriate to make it sound good.

rgames


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## The Darris (Sep 1, 2014)

It is best to ask yourself what type of group are you writing for. Obviously, if you are working on middle school concert music, those types of transition should try to be avoided. However, because they are learning how to play their instrument, it is good to put those hard to play moments in there sparingly to give them the challenge. 

Professional players spend so much time with their instrument and sight reading that those 'gaps' aren't an issue. Just make sure you are writing within the means of the players' skill level and instrument's ranges/capabilities. 

Good luck,

Chris


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## jensos (Sep 1, 2014)

Thank you very much for your input everybody. Very much appreciated!!

Best,
Jens
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## José Herring (Sep 1, 2014)

jensos @ Mon Sep 01 said:


> Working through the material of an online orchestration course, I ran into the topic of "crossing the break(s)" in woodwind instruments. The problem seems to be a transition between an open note where few keys on the instrument are depressed, and a closed note where many keys are depressed. For instance, on the clarinet, crossing the boundary between the middle and the clarion register (around the written pitch of Bb4) seems to be particularly problematic, so that you would try not write legato passages that cross the break all the time. Obviously trills could be difficult there.
> 
> Unfortunately, my course doesn't provide much detailed information on this topic, and I am looking for an overview of the locations of all the breaks on the woodwind instruments (preferably also for the different kinds of flutes, clarinets, etc).
> More importantly yet, I am looking for information about the *extent* to which it should be taken into account by a good orchestrator as, seemingly, the problem is much more pronounced on some instruments than on others. I have heard a flute player say that the problem is restricted pretty much to trills on his instrument.
> ...



Any decent woodwind player has early on learned to deal with the quirks of their instrument. I personally wouldn't worry about it.

Just generally know what instruments can do what and that can be learned by ear. For example, I wouldn't write moving 16th notes above high c at 160bpm for Oboe, but could be handled easily on flutes and perhaps not as easily but doable on clarinet.

But as far as breaks on woodwinds, trills, ect... there are plenty of tricks and alternate fingerings that we woodwind players learn early on to handle any of that. That imo is a pretty ridiculous thing to even mention on an orchestration course. Best mentioned in woodwind playing 101 etude books.


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## jensos (Sep 2, 2014)

Thanks José, one less thing to worry about...


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## CharlesB (Sep 3, 2014)

So what if one were to write, say, something like this? Would it at least earn a wry look? :wink:


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