Klarinet Archive - Posting 000057.txt from 1996/09
From: Luuk van Buul <vanbuul@-----.COM>
Subj: Materials to make instruments of, tone and cheese.
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 10:46:08 -0400
In the light of the ongoing discussion on wood, plastic, metal or whatever
material you can make a clarinet from and its impact on sound, I noted a small
article in the New Scientist of August, 17 this year (page 76).
----Start quotation-------
Rock groups and pop stars are always looking for a new stage gimmick. The Who
were famous for smashing their instruments. When Arthur Brown sang 'Fire', he
was lowered onto the stage by a crane with flames leaping from a burning hat.
Jimi Hendrix would sometimes pour lighter fluid on his guitar and set light to
it. U2 used a cellphone to call the Pope live from stage.
New ideas are running dry. But any performer looking for a new stunt could try
reading 'Talks with Bandsmen', by Algernon Rose. The book was first published in
1895 and dealt with brass bands, their instruments and the people who played
them. It was recently republished, and on page 126 you can found out how 19th-
century bandsmen spent years arguing over what controls the tone of a brass
instrument.
To prove that such instruments need not necessarily be made of brass, Besson and
Co made a cornet out of paper and bugles out of gutta-percha and plaster. Some
Italiens made them from glass. Others tried earthenware and marble. Then the
Belgians got in on the act and, true to the country's culinary traditions,
Messrs. Mahillon of Brussels made instruments for a whole band out of cheese.
These apparently played just like their brass equivalents.
New Scientist looks forward to the time when Oasis, by way of a grand finale,
stop playing and eat all their instruments on stage.
-----END of quotation-------
Now, New Scientist is known for their yearly joke in the issue around April
Fools' Day, but this seems not to be a hoax.
By the way, I know of a Dutch instrument maker recently making bugles out of
wood because of the supposed mellower tone.
Luuk van Buul
--
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L.J.M. van Buul vanbuul@-----.com
Philips Research Waalre Philips Optoelectronics Centre
Prof.Holstlaan 4
5656 AA Eindhoven Tel. +31 40 2744649
The Netherlands Fax. +31 40 2744335
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