Last year, I spent a good deal of time learning a new-to-me skill for the world premiere of a solo work. My good friend Orlando Bass composed elleboro for solo clarinet, and each movement features various extended clarinet techniques, including singing while playing. I will be sharing a recording soon, and here is an excerpt from the movement which features this technique. Singing while playing clarinet is an extended technique in which the player vocalizes a pitch while playing another note on the clarinet, creating a unique musical texture. Although I had heard this technique used before in other works, it’s not something I had previously attempted. I spent a…