Klarinet Archive - Posting 000589.txt from 1995/12

From: Nick Shackleton <njs5%esc.cam.ac.uk@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Dan Leeson: dark sounds and all that
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 13:43:00 -0500

Dan, I've entering the 1990's and visited your article on dark sound.
As you know I collect clarinets and enjoy sharing them with interested
people. However, my experience is that the "average" as opposed to the
"interested" clarinet player does not relate on being shown a lot of boxwood
clarinets. So when Armand Ferland asked me to take some instruments to the
Quebec Clarifest and talk a bit I took some black things with lots of keys
on that looked more familiar to the "average clarinettists" who became
amazed and fascinated that they could look like clarinets and sound so
different. I took:
1.a boehm instrument that Reginald Kell used for his recordings. This is an
instrument stamped Hawkes but understood to be made by Martel. It is about
the most undercut clarinet I ever looked at, makes a clear, full, creamy
oldfashioned sound very easily.
2. my own playing instrument: a Fritz Wurlitzer Reform Boehm. I think this
is what they call dark.
3. a Barmann system clarinet almost identical to what Mulfeld played
(boxwood). Even darker
4. a 1930 Buffet, cocus, belonged to F G Rendall. Not dark (light?). French
as in early LP's of my youth.
The interesting thing is that these differences so much arise from the
instruments. Everybody who tried them agreed on this point- very much the
opposite of the oft-made "whatever instrument he plays on he makes his own
sound" statement. (I'm not denying that a player could force them CLOSER
together in sound by working on the mouthpieces and reeds)
I really wish that more players had the chance to experience this- and this
is why Lee Gibson depresses me for all his expertise. Seems to me that the
last sentence in his book almost says "we do all want to sound the same,
don't we" (I misquote from memory).
On another topic-blowout- I understand that top German clarinet players give
their instruments a full overhaul back at Wurlitzer's every year, and that
they automatically replace them every few (I think I was told 5) years.
And I know of more than one older generation English player who has had the
top part of the bore of their old and beloved clarinet replaced (Ted Planas
was one who used to cary this out) because of deteriorating intonation. The
complaint was the top of the clarinet register becoming sharp. I'm at
present trying to document what happens because there are a number of Boosey
and Hawkes 1010 model clarinets from the early 1930's around and I just
located a pair with very good tuning which I hope will give me a standard
against which I can compare more worn instruments.
best wishes, Nick
Nick Shackleton, University of Cambridge, Godwin Laboratory,
Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RS, UK
phone: (44) 1223 334876
fax: (44) 1223 334871
home phone 1223 311938
e-mail: NJS5@-----.uk