Klarinet Archive - Posting 000221.txt from 1999/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Material vs. Belief?
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 11:27:31 -0400

On Sun, 4 Apr 1999, Steven J Goldman, MD wrote:

> As I mentioned in regard to material, it most certainly may have an effect
> on a players performance via the placebo effect, although I think the effect
> would be subtle. The important thing is that the effect is secondary, and
> very player specific. In my way of thinking, however, this fact does not
> allow one to claim that these vibrations directly affect the sound one gets
> from a specific instrument. Your more metaphysical view of the world would
> allow this claim. So it all comes down to how we define causality. So, I can
> certainly understand your point of view, even if I do not feel comfortable
> with it (remember, I have a strong pro science bias and my world view is
> heavily influenced by this).

I understand what you are saying and, in a scientific description of
material impact on sound would completely agree with you. My only
deviation from that model would be that performers are unable NOT to
adjust to what the materials do in terms of response and resistance - at
least performers who feel the difference as they play. So - what I have
been trying to say, in a way that even I am beginning to think is clumsy,
is that the sound, whether directly affected by materials or directly
affected by a player's response to what they feel in terms of resistance
and response to the materials, of a clarinet in performance is affected by
materials. The sound difference may or may not be noticed by the
audience, but it is easily noticed by the performer.

> As to the identical instruments sounding different, the key words are
> "supposedly identical". The fact is that quality instruments are almost
> never identical.

Agreed - kind of makes you wonder how double blind tests regarding
materials can be accurate if the instruments are so different! Just a
thought - not asking anyone to respond to that one.

> Very slight differences in dimensions can have very
> noticeable effects. And low end instruments, especially plastic, have even
> greater variation (the manufacturers just don't spend the time to work on
> them and the manufacturing process is not as reproducible as some would have
> you believe). Therefore, I still claim that the difference are due to
> physical variation between instruments.

Absolutely I agree - having purchased blanks from Babbitt - both
semi-finished and finished, I can attest to the extreme variation in the
results - both in plastics and hard rubber.

This comes back to my comparison of the Greenline vs. the R-13. They blow
differently - therefore, they sound differently (to me and others who have
concluded the same as I). Why? All things being as equal as can be, the
only real variable left is what they are made of. Subtle - yes, but still
subtly different. And those subtlties are keenly noticed by the advanced
performer.

> Hope your Cornish Game Hens were uniformly delicious.

LOL.....score one (or three) for you! they WILL be delicious as of 5 PM
this afternoon. Sara made her famous potato salad yesterday and made it
for overnight (isn't always best the next day??) - and I was not allowed
to touch it. My mouth waters as I anticipate the feast!

BTW......everyone - don't forget to move your clocks forward. We caught
the last five minutes of the church service this morning. Oops.
Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director - Concert Band, Symphonic Winds & Titan Band
Advisor - Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University

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