Klarinet Archive - Posting 000113.txt from 1998/07

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: Re: [kl] reeds
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 09:29:55 -0400

Reeds. mouthpieces, ligatures .... and even makes of instruments .... are
to a great extent a matter of individual preference, and there is a Latin
proverb that there can be no argument about taste. I like LeBlanc's top
clarinets best, but I can't afford one, so I play quite contentedly on a
57-year old pro grade Conn. I bought a used student grade alto, because it
sounded right to me and the mechanism was bulletproof. Then I switched to
a $14 low-end mouthpiece because it produced a better sound - for me -
than any of the pricey ones I tested.

Discussing these things is fun for students, and interesting for any
musician ... up to a point. But please, don't lay down a law that what
suits you should be everybody's setup. After all, what makes the greatest
single difference in a wind instrument's sound is the musician attached to
it.

Someone who saw him play - I never caught him in live performance - told me
that Lester Young produced his great, cool sound and smooth technique, on
a horn that was only kept in service with rubber bands and paper clips. He
called it "my people," and probably no one else in the world could have
played the thing at all.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional commands, e-mail: klarinet-help@-----.org
For other problems, e-mail: klarinet-owner@-----.org