Klarinet Archive - Posting 000475.txt from 1998/10

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] re:French / German sound styles
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 18:56:55 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.08
> Subj: [kl] re:French / German sound styles

> There is a timbrel difference between the French, and German fingering
> system. I hear the fingering played whether it is with the German system,
> or French system - the timbre is different. A "C" scale on a French system
> sounds different then a C scale on a German system. Michele Z. plays the
> German System Clarinet because "it gave her luck", that is what she told
> me. She never even had a lesson from a German system player on the
> instrument (she studied with her dad, even for many years after getting the
> L.A. Phil. job). She plays what feels good to her, and what she is used to.
> Some German music lays quite well on the German system, and not as well on
> the French. If a player on a German system played a high C, I may not be
> able with one note to tell that it was on a German Clarinet, but if the
> player played more then one note, I could hear what fingering was used to
> get there. I think that a player will sound basically the same no mater
> what system they play. It's much more the player then the instrument that
> matters.

I find the last two sentences to contradict what the first part of
the paragraph says. On one hand David suggests that there is a
timbral difference between systems (an assertion that I, as you are
aware, do not agree with, but I've been wrong before), and then
he continues with "I think that a player will sound basically the
same no matter what system they play" (a statement with which I
am in complete accord).

Perhaps there is a subtlety to the word "timbre" that I do not
fully comprehend, but if the timbre of the two clarinets is
sufficiently different for David to hear it (possible on one
note), than how can he then say that players sound the same no
matter on what system they play.

And in any event, this is a subjective statement that is easy to
say and very difficult to establish as truth. It has the same
basic truth qualities as suggesting that Beethoven is a better
composer than Brahms. You may hear amateurs say that but no
one can suggest that a subjective opinion of quality has any
substance to it. It is as is one said that asparagus is a better
vegetable than broccoli, or that the Pacific is a finer ocean than
the Atlantic.

What scientific studies have been done to support the assertion
that there is a measurable difference between the sound characteristics
between a French system clarinet and a German system clarinet? I
think that you will find the number of such studies that are
substantive to be zero.

It is nothing more than "this brand of clarinet is better than
that brand of clarinet" or "only Africal blackwood produces
good clarinet sound" of "only reed brand X in strength Y is
of any value."

These are social statements, not technical ones.

> Dan Leeson a while ago, wrote a great article on playing styles, and myths
> on the OCR. The web site is
> http://www.sneezy.org/OCR/articles/leeson4.html
> Check it out (and yes Dan, I do hear the timbres).
> David Blumberg
> reedman@-----.com
> http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/Music/Blumberg.html
>
>
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>
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>
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Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
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