Klarinet Archive - Posting 000202.txt from 1993/11

From: Cary Karp <nrm-karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Nomenclature and authenticity
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1993 15:45:18 -0500

I guess it's time to stop lurking and start contributing. Here are
some random comments on recent messages:

1. Mouthpiece numbering systems are proprietary schemes for indicating a
few of a mouthpiece's basic dimensions. Some manufacturers use entirely
arbitrary designations, others are less cryptic. Something like 5JB
provides little obvious info to someone who has not seen a metric
description of a 5JB. A designation such as L110, on the other hand,
might mean a long lay and a 1.1mm tip opening. If a given manufacturer's
series can be put into an obvious numerical order it may be assumed that
larger numbers equate to larger tip openings. Letters such as S, M, or L
probably refer to the length of the lay.

One way or the other, the most significant dimensions of a mouthpiece are
tip opening, lay length, chamber size, and baffle shape. Since the latter
two cannot be provided with convenient labels they are usually excluded
from mouthpiece numbering schemes.

2. Internet people do not usually refer to LISTSERV, or other
distribution lists as bulletin boards. KLARINET, bless its heart, is not a
"board", it is a "list".

3. A significant part of musical license is deciding how much attention
one wishes to pay to the study of period performance practice. Those who
do not regard "authenticity" as an important concern should nonethless be
very careful before making the blanket assumption that the passage of
time implies continuous "improvement" in the skills of musicians. There
is not on jot of evidence that suggests that the virtuousi for whom
Mozart wrote his wind stuff were not able to produce results that our
present-day ears would regard as adequate. The numbers of keys on a
clarinet may pose limitations on the technique that that instrument can
sustain, but the composer of any given day writes fully aware of these
limitations. We don't know how Mozart would react if confronted with the
20th-century instrumentarium. Nor is there a reason in the world to
assume that he didn't expect, and receive, consummate musical
excellence from the instrumental hot-shots of his day.

*** Cary Karp *** nrm-karp@-----.se ***