Klarinet Archive - Posting 000186.txt from 1999/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Wood/plastic, etc...
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:41:11 -0400

On Sat, 3 Apr 1999, Mark Charette wrote:
> I have missed no point, You live in a world totally different than mine,
> a world where science and physics have no place, where some metaphysical
> "magic" of linkage between instrument and artist takes place, and is the
> only thing that takes place. That is your option.

Mr. Charette does not have a basis in fact for stating what world or any
other place I live in. He has met me once, never heard me play, not read
any of my articles, publications or seen me teach. He has no worthy
opinion of what I am about. I do not say this angrily - I say this only
factually.

> In my world the instrument is a tool, a means to an end, and the more we
> know about the tool the better. The linkage between artist and
> instrument is still there, but there's no magic. We discover, learn,
> revise, create, and invent. But not based on some abstruse "feeling".
> Most of our creations will come to naught, but we will understand why
> they don't do as expected; we will refine our creations.

Mr. Charette leans on the tool because, by his own admission, he does not
play the clarinet well enough to understand what I am saying. Therefore,
he must rely on only science, numbers, etc. to explain something he has
never personally experienced. If he has personally experienced it, he
would not be so quick to judge my position.

> And, I feel, you'll take advantage of those creations, all the while
> declaiming our science and measurements ...

I dont' "declaim" science. I have no idea why you feel confident stating
that. I simply state there is more to a sound than measuring vibration on
the wall of a clarinet. I still believe you attack me because you don't
understand what I am explaining - and that is because you can't tell the
difference in resistance or in response between wood, metal, plastic,
glass or anything else. You are limited by reliance upon one explanation.

I'm sorry you feel the need to be judgemental and angry over something
that is so simple a concept.
Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director - Concert Band, Symphonic Winds & Titan Band
Advisor - Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University

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