Klarinet Archive - Posting 000286.txt from 1999/05

From: David Blumberg <reedman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] re: Timbre of notes
Date: Sun, 9 May 1999 10:27:46 -0400

At 09:38 PM 5/8/99 -0400, David Blumberg wrote:
>Some players can tell the difference between the A, and the Bb, C and what
>system is being played just by hearing it (the timbre of the notes being
>played, and the note connections sounding different).
>
Bill wrote:
Even if I concede that SOME PLAYERS can make this distinction, I submit
that the vast, VAST majority of players and listeners cannot, rendering the
fuss over using different clarinets for reasons OTHER THAN ease of playing
in a given key moot. Yes, the throat tones, break, etc., occur in
different places in a passage. But that is cheating. Do the notes
themselves really sound that much different to some people? Does a clarion
concert G, for example, vary so much from Bb to A to C clarinet that it is
immediately recognizeable to those golden-eared individuals? Or would a
given passage, played in isolation and as written on one or the other
instrument to someone WITHOUT perfect pitch be identifiable by timbre alone?
Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com

-------------------------------------
Bill, of course the throat tones, and over the break would be cheating. **
I do not have perfect pitch**, but can tell the timbres of the notes, and
name pitches by that. Let's do an example - 3 notes clarion E,F,G on the Bb
Clarinet would be F,Gb,Ab on the A Clarinet, and D,Eb,F on the C Clarinet
(to preserve the actual pitch in each example).
It would be obvious what Clarinet was being used by the TIMBRE ALONE. There
are probably lots of players who can do that.

David Blumberg
playit@-----.com
http://www.mytempo.com
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