Klarinet Archive - Posting 000118.txt from 1996/03

From: Bill Fogle <bfogle@-----.EDU>
Subj: What is an Equipment Freak?
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 1996 11:43:48 -0500

I haven't been on this list long enough to know if I'm an Equipment Freak
[see below].
I *do* have a couple of clarinets (thank God cuz my Buffet just blew a
cork), and I find
circulating (varying) different mouthpieces tends to keep an open mind in
the embouchure department. I experiment with different reeds now and
then. I've pretty much decided on
one ligature, but (hard swallow) have tried several. I guess I have an
idea what's meant here.
Sounds purgatorial, like the twilight world of a substance abuser.
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Bill Fogle
Washington, DC
bfogle@-----.edu
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Ben Maas wrote:

I have better things to do than to worry about having the perfect setup to
play on. Why not just spend your time getting used to one setup (as none
will ever be perfect) and save your money for better things? Just learn to
play the !@-----.
Ben Maas

Everett Austin wrote:

This advice should carry some weight with "equipment freaks" (in the
clarinet world and other venues in like as well) . . . . .[snip] . . .
.Stalder said he thinks the equipment has a certain importance, but the
most important thing is the sound you have "dans l'oreille" (in the ear),
which the more academic would call "tonal concept". If the mouthpiece
makes this achievement easier, so much the better.