Klarinet Archive - Posting 000806.txt from 1996/08

From: "David C. Blumberg" <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Greg van Cott's questions about R13 shopping (fwd)
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 15:35:10 -0400

Forwarded message:
>
> I'll add my 1 1/2 cents (don't have enough time for 2 cents) to the
> discussion. It is the player, not the instrument that determines greatness.
> The instrument can feel very different from instrument to instrument and brand
> to brand. But no job has ever been offered to the player who's "clarinet was
> tuned at the factory". Comfort is a very personal thing, and the instrument
> can and does feel different from brand to brand and even horn to horn. I tried
> over 50 clarinets (both A and Bb) when I bought my set back in 1988. I sent
> back a set that was "hand picked" by the maker of the instruments (boy, was HE
> upset..) because I felt that the Brand did not have enough tonal flexibility
> for me (tone colors). There is a psycological factor in picking out a
> clarinet, and clarinet's do vary from instrument to instrument. I do my
> comparisons with my back turned to my students when comparing equipment.
> Sometimes the sound is different, sometimes it is "psycoaccoustical" to the
> player playing it. Comfort counts!
> Good luck,
> David C. Blumberg
> Reedman@-----.com
>
> ----------
> From: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network on behalf of Nick Shackleton
> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 8:19 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list KLARINET
> Subject: Re: Greg van Cott's questions about R13 shopping
>
> Well, Dan is ready for another fight!
> Yes Dan. Give Stoltzman any clarinet you can find and 90% of the readers of
> this message will say "I recognized Stoltzman's tone at once". But I believe
> they'd be largely deceiving themselves by confusing style with tone. And the
> other side of it is that if we hand my clarinet and yours to a good player
> and ask her/him to play them, I'm sure that you and I will both be able to
> identify which is which.
> Now when you're comparing two R13's it is not so extreme and you'll have to
> be very careful to use the same mouthpiece, not to move the reed and so on
> to make a good comparison. The differences may be subtle. It may be that you
> reject one for poor tone because just one note has a worse tone. This could
> be for all sorts of reasons (not because it's made of papyrus or tofu, but
> just because there is a rough edge on one tonehole, for instance) but still
> it is the case that you are judging the tone.
> Of course Dan is right that you don't go and buy the tone, but it is stupid
> not to give yourself the best chance. Even if nobody but you hears the
> difference, you'll play better if you hear a better sound. Nick

   
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