Klarinet Archive - Posting 000078.txt from 1995/01

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.COM>
Subj: Air Leakers
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 1995 18:17:30 -0500

On Thu, 5 Jan 1995 HardReed@-----.COM wrote:

> BTW, to all of you who have a built-in hatred of embouchure/air leakers:
> sorry to say, but the majority of us play for the audience--not for the
> person sitting next to us! I am privileged to play in one of the finest
> halls in the US (if not the world), and I can honestly say that the "leakage
> noise" seems to get left behind on the stage, while the clarinet sound
> projects. Don't ask me why--I just benefit from good acoustics...I don't
> pretend to understand them!
>
> Larry Liberson
> Detroit Symphony Orchestra
> <Hard Reed@-----.com>

It's always nice when one reacts to a message to hear someone
else articulate your sentiments so clearly as Larry Liberson had done in
this case. It's truly amazing how many supposed performance imperfections
such as air leakage, reed buzzing, and heavy breathing seem to be attenuated
out of the composite sound to undetectable levels with only a modest linear
separation between the listener and player.

Although most experienced recording personnel understand that
effect, occasionally a player will be miked so closely that a listener
to a recording does hear those near-field imperfections and, worse still,
will not hear a balance between the sound exiting the bell and the
reverberations of the hall that give most concert goers a sense of
depth and dimension.

Another person posted a message in which Richard Pickar, recently
of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, was described as being (Ugh!) an air
leaker. In 1951, I had the good fortune to stumble into a
semiprofessional orchestra in New York City, where I was seated next to
Dick Pickar for two concert seasons. The event was memorable for me, because
that was when I started my checkered career as a closet symphony
clarinetist while earning my living as an electrical engineer.

At the time, Dick, who couldn't have been more than 19 years of age,
was Solo Clarinet of the West Point band. Still, his musicianship and
sound were light years ahead of mine and that of most other people.
Although my recollection of his playing goes back 43 years, at which time
he wasn't leaking air, I can't say for sure that air leakage hasn't
crept into his playing since then.

However, I'm willing to bet that he still has that aggressive,
focussed sound and that, even if he were now leaking air, he would sound
very good so long as the listener or the recording microphone weren't
sitting next to him.

Connie

Conrad Josias
Engineering Consultant
La Canada, California