Klarinet Archive - Posting 000187.txt from 1995/06

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Old vs. New Clarinets
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 1995 18:04:38 -0400

On Sun, 11 Jun 1995, John Baetens wrote:

> I have an interesting story about old clarinets. When my
> daughter played in a clarinet quartet at the Solo and Ensemble
> festival in Junior High school, believe it or not, one of the
> members showed up without her clarinet! She had left it at
> school and the school was locked. I ran home and got my
> 30 year old Noblet to let her use. About ten measures into
> their piece, the judge stopped them and had them tune up!
> After a short time of tuning he asked the group if one of them
> had an older clarinet. He then gave a lecture about how the
> drilling patterns of clarinets seem to change about every
> 20 years or so and it is difficult for someone with an older
> clarinet to play in tune with newer ones.

I suggested a few days ago that it might be interesting to start a thread
on judging/contest experiences. As one who has been judging solo and
ensemble contests for about 30 years, I would make the following comments
about your experience:

1.) A judge is doing something very dangerous when he/she makes verbal
comments on the intonation of a performer or group, or attempts to assist
them in tuning. Undoubtedly, they will still be something less than
perfectly in tune, and if the comment sheet reflects this, the judge will
almost without fail be visited by an irate teacher, or even worse, an
irate "stage mother" (or father) who will say, "But you tuned them
yourself. How could they be out of tune?"

2.) The differences in intonation between old and new clarinets could
not possibly be as great as those which a judge encounters in almost
every event, and which can be traced to not-yet-mature ears, nervous
tension, questionable teaching, underdeveloped embouchures, etc., etc.

I don't doubt that your experience occurred as you recounted it, but
there must be something else going on here. Perhaps the judge noticed
tarnished keys on your older clarinet and the shiny nickel-silver keys of
the plastic Bundys of the other three players? He may have been trying
to impress the students with his acute perception of pitch. Or, is that
just my barely-suppressed cynicism coming through?

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu