How to get a better sound on bassoon
A good bassoon sound is full and even, with a clear center to every note. Tone problems often come from how much reed is in your mouth, a tight embouchure, unsteady air, or the reed or bocal, and these affect each other. Listen to the examples and choose the one closest to your sound. Use the table to decide what to check first.
Thin, buzzy, or flat?
| Sounds like | Possible causes | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Thin: small and pinched | Too little reed, biting, a tight jaw | Open embouchure |
| Buzzy: a rattle on the note | Too much reed, loose corners, a reed that's too open | How much reed |
| Flat and dull | Slow air, a soft or worn reed, how the reed fits the bocal | Bocal and reed |
| Wavering or uneven | Air that isn't steady, a jaw or lips that move | Steady air |
How much reed in your mouth
Start with your lips about halfway between the tip and the first wire, with the reed going straight into your mouth. A few millimeters either way can change the sound a lot.
- Try small changes. Play a long F with the tuner on. Try a small change in reed position, then listen and check your pitch. Look for a full, stable sound without biting. Ask your teacher to help if the reed still feels difficult to control.
- Check in a mirror, from the side: the reed goes straight into your mouth, and your chin is level.
An open, relaxed embouchure
Keep space inside your mouth. Shape your lips for "oo" and the inside of your mouth for "oh." The lips close around the reed like a drawstring, while the jaw stays relaxed.
- Natural jaw position. Don't pull the jaw far back into an exaggerated overbite. Your teacher can check how your jaw lines up.
- Corners in. Don't smile.
- Relaxed jaw, as if yawning with your lips closed. Biting closes the reed and can make the sound thin and sharp.
- Head level, with your strap or other support set so the reed comes to you. Ducking your head to reach the reed can tighten your neck and throat.
Steady air
Think of slow, warm air on bassoon, like fogging a window rather than blowing out a candle. Keep it moving at the same speed through the whole note.
Long tones
Hold each note for 8 slow counts, rest for 4, then play the next. Keep the sound the same from start to finish, and stop before your air runs out.
Play them against a drone or check your pitch with the tuner. The tuner shows pitch only, so listen separately for an even volume and a clear sound. Bassoon reads at concert pitch, so the note names match. See playing in tune.
Tuning with the bocal and reed
A bassoon has no tuning slide. Small pitch changes can come from how far the reed sits on the bocal, and bigger ones from the bocal itself. Bocal numbers stand for length only within one maker's set: within a set, a higher number is usually longer and plays lower, but a #2 from one maker can play like a #3 from another. Before you change anything, check that the reed fits the bocal snugly and sits where it usually does.
| If you are… | First check | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Flat on every note | Does the reed fit snugly? Is it soft or worn? Is the air slow? | If the reed fits well, try pushing it a little farther onto the bocal. Still flat? Ask your teacher about a shorter bocal. |
| Sharp on every note | Biting? Too little reed? | Relax your jaw first. Still sharp? Ask your teacher whether to move the reed or try a longer bocal. |
| Flat low, sharp high | Squeezing on the high notes | Relax the jaw on high notes, and keep the air moving. |
When the reed is the problem
If your sound changes from day to day while you play the same way, check the reed first: the crow, the tip opening, and the wires.
For soaking, adjusting the wires, and when to replace a reed, see bassoon reed care.
A 10-minute tone routine
| Minutes | What to do |
|---|---|
| Before | Soak the reed for about 2 minutes. While it soaks: in for 4, warm air out for 8, a few times. |
| 1 minute | Crow the reed alone, then play it on the bocal alone with your embouchure. |
| 4 minutes | Long tones, F down to B♭, 8 counts each, with the tuner or a drone. |
| 2 minutes | Four "too"s on each note: light tongue, steady air. |
| 2 minutes | A slow scale or a line from your band book, listening to your sound. |
| 1 minute | Something you like to play, with your best sound. |
Then check your notes in Play the Note in Woodwind Trainer. The microphone checks the pitch of each note. Starting to play notes above the staff? See the guide to whisper and flick keys.
From Band Trainer · bandtrainer.net/guides/better-bassoon-sound