Klarinet Archive - Posting 000854.txt from 1996/08

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Dan Leeson's position
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 15:52:56 -0400

Dan,

Many of the members of Klarinet contend that they are able to to hear
a qualifiable difference between clarinets - that the clarinet itself
makes a difference in the quality of their sound. They base their
assertion on something very individual yet, to them, positively
valid: their own ears. Their ears are telling them that two instru-
ments do not sound exactly alike when the other obvious variables
are controlled. One question for you, albeit hypothetical, is: If
it were a scientific fact that all humans were equipped with identical
aural acuity - the exact same hearing ability, including decibal and
frequency range - AND...all other conditioned responses relating to
training and psychology were controlled, would the human ears then
qualify as credible guages of sound quality?

A more important point and question: The members of the list base their
assertions on what their ears tell them, as I already said. Theirs is a
pro-active stance, where they declare in the positive. Upon what are you
basing your opposition? I'm not asking about science, I'm asking about
rationale. Other than the absence of objective scientific evidence to
support the other members' position, why do you assume the contradictory
role? I repeat: regardless of *their* position, why do you take yours?
They seem to have a clearly identifiable rationale for saying what they do.
Their ears tell them so. Scientifically valid or not, it's a reason. Are
you, on the other hand, merely countering their argument for the sake of
the dialectic itself? Or do you observe something else, something as
concrete as an aural experience (again, questionable validity aside) -
beyond what you observe as the fallacy of their argument - which
motivates you to refute it?

Neil.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neil Leupold
Southern Methodist University
Meadows School of the Arts
nleupold@-----.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~