Klarinet Archive - Posting 000888.txt from 1998/05
From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] tuners
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 14:27:23 -0400
It is a shame that he "ditched" the tuner--they are so useful, albeit
perhaps not in the way that your band "tuned" before.
The point of tuners is not to have each player trundle up to the machine to
see if they are "in tune"--that is what ears are for. It is useful for the
oboe (or tuba, or whatever) that the group tunes to to use the tuner to make
sure there is a stable pitch, hopefully at A@-----. Many, many
groups tune sharp. This is easy on the trumpets, whose instruments are
designed with an extra 1/2" of tuning slide, and so easy for trombones that
they don't notice. Clarinets can push in only so far, however, and
oboes--well, that's one reason they often sound flat.
The real value of the tuner, however, is its use by the INDIVIDUAL in the
practice room. Every player should have their instrument(s) mapped
out--perhaps formally, by a second person watching the dial to prevent
cheating--so that they know how the instrument is or isn't in tune with
itself. You need this information to know how to adjust while playing in
the group.
Tuners can of course be relied upon too much. I'm sure the professors can
expound at length on the various modes of intonation (just, tempered
etc.)--but my violinist brother reminds me all the time that (except for a
piano) a G# is emphatically NOT the same as an Ab. True intonation depends
on the key one is playing in. The intonation produced by working with the
tuner is merely the starting point.
kjf
-----Original Message-----
From: Maestro645 [mailto:Maestro645@-----.com]
Subject: Re: [kl] intonation in large groups
Our high school concert band no longer uses a tuner, and we have become
better
musicians because of it. Before people were too reliant on a tuner to solve
their problems, so they never developed their ear. Our director got fed up
taking 30+ minutes out of a band rehearsal to tune. So he finally ditched
the
tuner and with as little assistance from him as possible, we learned to
listen
and use trial and error to find our pitch center, and our ears have never
been
developed better. Try doing that for even a couple of days, and watch the
improvement. It really works!
Good luck!
Chris Hoffman
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