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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000018.txt from 2007/09
From: philfrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] various
Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:02:51 -0400
What we really could use is a combo flashlight/mandrel!
I'm looking forward to exploring at the local electronics shop
tomorrow, to see what there is in terms of led's and fiber optics. But
even if one manages to put something together, working on a reed
without a mandrel can really lead to hand cramps.
I put a fader on my desk lamp, thinking that at different light levels,
different areas of thickness would be emphasized. This may be true, but
it is so much easier to just get closer or farther from the light, that
I never use it.
Seeing the differences between the two blades sounds like it could be
quite useful. The main question, though, is how does the reed play when
the differences are minimized! Those of you who have this set up, has
there been reed success to go along with it?
One thing I would venture to speculate, that the more similar the
sides, the longer the reed will "last." My thinking is that a slightly
thicker side will swell more over time than a thinner side, thus making
the imbalances worse than with a reed with identical dimensions.
Other topics:
I heard that John DeLancie did a stint as a jazz vocalist or "crooner"
in his early army years. I'm wondering if this is true and the extent
to which it influenced his playing. I find his phrasing remarkably
clean and clear: a crescendo is just a crescendo, in the best sense. It
is just as written and totally musical and unencumbered by anything
that might be construed as extraneous.
An opposite approach would be to have every tremor of breath
highlighted in a phrase, virtually creating a "commentary" on the same
crescendo during its execution, which can be great or distracting, like
the wonderful way Judy Garland seems to be giving us a novel's worth of
information in the course of a single song, but at it's worst, like a
classic scene stealer who is always doing some little thing to draw
attention.
Janie - I'm glad you posted the tuba/violin duet! Xanna (my wife)
showed me that one also, and its pretty great.
- Phil Freihofner
Albany, CA
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! -
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