Klarinet Archive - Posting 000152.txt from 1994/05

From: Tom Ascher <U15310@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Re Fobes comments on intuition and creativity (on Magic)
Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 14:37:38 -0400

Well, I've struggled to avoid entering the discussion of science and art
and magic, but this is just too much fun to resist... A possible
integrating perspective. Pretend, for the moment, that it IS possible
to rationally measure and explain all the factors and algorithms associated
with mouthpiece use and construction. Assuming that these factors and
explanations are also extremely complex, it is quite possible that during
the act of designing and constructing a mouthpiece to fit a particular
instrument, reed and player, the person doing the construction enters
what feels like an intuitive, rather than analytical mode, to process and
integrate all the factors needed to actually execute the mouthpiece. An
analogy would be in the area of ballet, where a dancer might spend years
analytically learning the techniques needed to dance a particular role
and that these techniques, movements, can be precisely defined and learned.
But, in the moment of execution, the dancer is not in a rational, analytical
mode, but rather an emotional, intuitive mode which allows all the unconscious
processes to work. In this sense, I can see mouthpiece design and
construction more closely linked to an "art" rather than a science.

If we are intent on creating a MACHINE that can analyze and create
mouthpieces, we are likely to be in a more analytical mode. But, how is
the machine going to communicate with a performer who wants a tone that
is more open, less-dark, transparent, .....?! I suggest that people use
what seem like vague, intuitive terms, not because they are inaccurate,
but it is the means by which humans are able to communicate and function
on extremely complex levels as yet unattainable by machines.