Klarinet Archive - Posting 001427.txt from 1997/10

From: "R Tennenbaum" <rtenn@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Reed Strengths and types
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 05:38:19 -0500

Jerry Korten wrote:

<<This is a very interesting thread that keeps coming up from
listserv
subscribers in Europe. They seem to use reeds that are a lot less
strong than
those we use. Are there any Europeans who are studying here in the
states who
can try a US student's setup to see if we are really playing harder
setups?
Or do we work our reeds down to an equivalent strength? Or are there
any US
subscribers over in Europe who can try a European clarinet player's
setup and
report back to us?>>

Without generalizing about national (continental) tendencies, perhaps
it can be said that many American professionals, particularly the
most recognizable first-chair players, seem to prefer a setup in
which those characteristics of the clarinet voices -- chalumeau,
clarinet, clarion -- are indistinguishable. To other players
(European and American alike) this amounts to blurring the
distinction that makes the sound of the clarinet so characteristic.
Does a "firmer" setup lends itself to the sort of brilliant sound
that some of our beter-known American players obtain these days?
Maybe. But if, as seems apparent, many American students think so,
and equate "harder reed" with "better player," it could very well be
as a result of trying to emulate this sound.

I think this is also why many of the teachers here -- I'm thinking
particularly of Jonathan Cohler, but others, too -- are so careful to
discourage clarinetists from using too hard a reed.

Rafe T.
http://www.quicklink.com/~rtenn