Klarinet Archive - Posting 000459.txt from 1998/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Larry Combs (LC1) for beginners?
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 23:01:03 -0400

At 05:31 PM 7/16/98, Ken Wolman wrote:
>Laugh if ye wish. I spent some time last week digging out the names of
>prospective teachers for the fall, and talked to a guy named John Moses,
>who lives in Leonia, NJ, home of half the clarinet players in the universe,
>it seems. He told me he's sent students to Ricardo (do I really need to
>use his last name here?:-), who was happy to work with them, except that
>Ricardo seems to have some weird ideas about the proper setup for his
>students. I don't think he insists that they go out and buy Opuses or
>Opera or Opii, and I don't know about the specifics of the mouthpiece, but
>he insists on them using 4=BD or 5 reed because that's what Moses told me
>Ricardo uses himself. Yes, with fabulous results (his Koch CD of the
>Archduke Rudolph Sonata and Trio are gorgeous), but a lot of his students
>appear to quit after three lessons because it HURTS to play a 5.
>Especially at a hundred bucks per lesson.
>
Maybe that is his equivalent of "English 101" for his students. Helps to
weed out those who are not willing to endure PAIN as well as poverty! With
HIS chops of steel, developed over years of practicing many hours a day, I
suppose he can strap a BRICK on his mouthpiece and get a good tone. The
rest of us regular humans, with day jobs, families, etc., will give up that
note 15 leger lines above the staff in order to enjoy playing the rest of
them. His ideas, though, are not weird. He no doubt is merely passing on
what was taught to him, as are all those school band directors.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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