vicweasley23 asked: What are the best home products to use to clean clarinets? (i.e. water, furniture cleaners, etc.)

To clean the actual body of the Clarinet, take it to a repairman or music store to have done professionally. If you apply chemicals that don’t belong you could completely ruin your instrument. In terms of the mouthpiece cleaning, a mixture of half-and-half warm water and vinegar helps if you soak the mouthpiece for 30 minutes and then brush out any build-up.

Hope this helps,

Lilio :D

bricktacular asked: I play a school owned contrabass and I'm graduating this year. I switched from alto sax so I've never played a regular soprano clarinet, but I'm looking into playing it next year cause I don't have money for a bass clarinet. would it be hard for me to play clarinet?

While the fingering system is the same, the embouchure is drastically different. If you could borrow a Bb Clarinet I would start practicing over summer to help ease the transition and start building those essential muscles needed for successful Clarinet playing

Hope this helps,

Lilio :D

tolaw asked: I got braces again a while ago. I learned how to play with them on, top and bottom, but I'd had them off all of high school. (Now I'm a senior, year 7 of playing) I'm having a hard time keeping air in, is there anything I can do to stop the air leaking out the sides? I got marked down on auditions for having to breathe more often.

Honestly, that’s ridiculous. Unless they were breaths that didn’t “make sense”. As long as they made sense and didn’t ruin the phrase, then you should be fine. Not everyone can hold their breath or sustain as long as everyone else who can. Braces can be a pain from my friends’ complaints but with some practice I’m sure you can do it. I don’t have personal experience so hopefully the other moderators and followers who’ve had braces can help :]

Oscar Soria

   I had to deal with my embouchure leak situation during my first semester of college. As humans, we tend to use are jaws for chewing and biting, so naturally our strongest muscles tend to those that control the up-down motion. A leak tends to occur when a player isn’t using the muscles on the sides of their mouth to keep their corners in. 

   A way to fix this issue is by using a mirror. When you set your embouchure, thinking of tightening a draw-string bag, making sure the pressure from all sides of your mouth is even and that your corners are nice and firm before you start putting air through the instrument. Practicing in front of a mirror can also let you check on yourself at random points to make sure you’re maintaining everything in the right place.

Hope this helps,

Lilio :D