Klarinet Archive - Posting 000059.txt from 1996/04

From: Judith Kunst <judithk@-----.NL>
Subj: Re: A translation on clarinet and Woody Allen.
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 12:33:27 -0500

On Thu, 4 Apr 1996 10:47:44 +0200, you wrote:

>Hello everybody !!! I'm an 18 year-old Italian girl studying translation in
>Geneva University.

Seems to be a very interesting kind of study. I would like to be able
to do translations for a living! But the downside is of course that
the pay is usually not very high, unless you are a translator for the
EEC, or a very big company.
Now for you questions:

> As for the music, what Allen lacks in in clarinet technique he
>makes up in sheer energy and passion. He goes for what he calls a *"crude"
>sound*,

unpolished sound, not refined like a player of the classical
repertoire.

> based on the styles of New Orleans legends like George Lewis, Albert
>Burbank and Sidney Bechet. Give him an A for authenticity. Few players today
>can boast such a powerful tone. That is due partly to his use of an
>extremely hard reed (*Rico No. 5, about one step down from a roof shingle*)

Rico is a brand name for reeds. The higher the number the stronger
the reed. No. 5 is very thick, no. 1 is very thin. The Thickness of
the reed, especially at the tip defines the strength of the reed. Thin
reeds vibrate much easier than thick ones, but have other drawbacks.

>and partly to his penchant for the now obsolete *Albert system of keys and
>fingerings*,

The Albert system is a kind of clarinet which is nowadays mainly used
in Germany and Austria. In most other countries the Bohm system is
used. The Albert system has a different layout of the keys from the
Bohm system, so the fingering is different too. It is also know as the
'German system' or Oehler system. But I don't think you need to
translate Albert system to something different. The name comes from a
Belgian clarinet maker, who made those kind of clarinets. There are
differences in Albert and Oehler systems, but the main thing is, that
Woody does not play Bohm. (there should be a Umlaut on the o but my
E-mal can't do that).

> favored by all the old-timers. When Woody's favorite *horn*

horn here has nothing to do with the brass instrument usually referred
to as French horn! In this case it just means clarinet. It is a
typical American expression. A horn can be almost any wind instrument:
saxophone, clarinet. trumpet. I don't know if a flute is a 'horn' too.

>cracked last year, France's Buffet company custommade two Albert systems
>for him - the equivalent of Ford turning out a couple of brand new Model Ts.
>
>I hope you can do something for me. Thank you very much,
> Nicole Beltramini

--
Judith Kunst
judithk@-----.nl
The Netherlands
.