Klarinet Archive - Posting 000260.txt from 1994/12

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Bill Helmers comments on wooden bell
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 11:50:43 -0500

I was very grateful to get such a lucid description of Bill's reaction to
a wooden bell for a low C bass. I would like to restate the reasons for
my action.

Steve Trier of the LSO is a spectacular bass clarinet and basset horn
player. The first time I heard a recording of the an English group play
the Gran Partitta with him playing basset horn, I knew that I was listening
to a special player.

At a party I attended in London perhaps 15 years ago, he was present and
we became friendly. He told me that he had had wooden bells put on all
of his lower instruments because of a theory that of which he was a
proponent, a theory that cannot be confirmed objectively as far as I
know. Steve suggested that a metal bell amplifies (though it does not
create) those overtones of a bass clarinet's sound that are the least
pleasant to listen too. A substitute medium for the bass would, therefore
and in his opinion, eliminate that amplification and thus the contribution
of less pleasant overtones.

I admit instantaneously that I have no idea what he was talking about.
I am unable to speak intelligently for more than 3 milliseconds on
good and bad overtones. That is not my motivation. What IS my motivation
is that if there is any truth in his assertion, I am going to take advantage
of it. And if his assertion is wrong (i.e., Trier sounds great because
of Trier's playing), then nothing will have been lost. But if he is
right, and if I am right in mimicing him, I'll be perfectly prepared to
accept a better b.c. sound when I play.

As for Bill's comments on the use of the low C in general orchestral playing,
he is quite correct. It doesn't come up too much in general playing and
even less rarely in solo work. But low d comes up a lot and, unless I
am mistaken, if you want a low d on your horn, you get a low d-flat, and
a low C along with them. And I also add, that I think the character of the
sound of the instrument is affected by the additional 12 inches (approx.) of
wood that is needed to make the low C even if one does not require it
for execution. It is like the argument of the character of an A clarinet
(with its extra length) as contrasted with the character of a B-flat
clarinet.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org