Klarinet Archive - Posting 000319.txt from 1995/03

From: Fred Cicetti <cicetti@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: It's Starting Again And I'm Feeling Faint!!
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 10:30:33 -0500

Dan Leeson's most recent essay on "dark" and "bright" tones was
wonderful, witty and wise. I vow that I will never use those terms again
to describe what comes out of a clarinet.

But I'm a writer by profession and refuse to admit that I can't describe
what I hear. So, Dan, tell me what you think of this:

When I listen to Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman or many other jazz players, I
hear a "metallic" tone, almost like the sound from a soprano sax. When I
listen to a Mozart concerto played by any of the great soloists, I detect
a "woody" sound. It sounds like a clarinet, not a soprano sax.

Different mouthpieces, reeds and ligatures SEEM to impart more of the
woody sound I prefer. Does this help at all?

fred cicetti <cicetti@-----.com>