Klarinet Archive - Posting 000434.txt from 1995/03

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: And my last on dark and bright
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 1995 10:26:40 -0500

Like hell it is my last on this subject. In another two
months someone is going to post "How do a get a really dark sound?"
and I'll reach for my valium again.

I thank Andrew Grenci (does he mind being called "Andy"?) and Tom
Labadorf for their generous contributions to the discussion. I too
think we have gotten about all we can get out of this for the moment,
but I did not want to leave this with anyone thinking that it was
simply an academic discussion. ("Academic" has such a terribly
negative connotation meaning "useless" or "impractical.")

The use of words in describing musical things is a very practical issue
and I think that we musicians don't do it very well. Because our
business involves so much subjective action, we have the tendency to
think that everything we do can be subjective, shoot-from-the-hip,
play-like-it-feels, no constraints mentality.

I am told that the Japanese have more than 50 words for "rice" because
such an important word needs to have all of its nuance well understood
and a single word does not do that.

It's the same with the character of sound. Too many of us are ready
to put such a critical element of student playing to bed with the
vague, unclear, imprecise, and not very helpful word "dark." And that
is why I jumped on the topic and intend to continue to do so until people
are so sensitive to that word that its use will be under much more
sterile conditions.

Perhaps death threats send via anonymous mail might be an alternative.

Tonight, Beethoven's Prometheus Overture and on a C CLARINET!!! Hooray
for our side.

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