Klarinet Archive - Posting 000951.txt from 2000/02
From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Tone
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:57:13 -0500
David B. Niethamer posted on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 7:59 PM:
<<<Actually on clarinet I think it's pretty easy to play softly. Leon
Russianoff would tell us that the hardest thing to do on the clarinet is
to play loudly with good sound quality. I think he was right - it's easy to
do it ugly, but not well.>>>
I have to both first disagree, and then concur.
For beginning students, it's "easier" to get an acceptable tone by playing
louder -- it's a crutch/substitute for proper breath support. That's why
you hear crap from junior-high band directors like "pp means 'pretty
powerful'" -- they push their sections to play soft passages louder than
noted so that the tone doesn't have that thin, edgy quality that so many
youngsters get.
A classic example is the beginning of Vincent Persechetti's Pageant. The
opening marked piano with a couple of hairpins in the middle of the line; I
most always hear it blasted through. It's not what Mr. Persechetti wrote,
but it's what gets played.
One of the most important things a clarinet player can do, IMHO, is to
practice alone in the concert hall. You will be amazed at what you discover
by doing this -- some of my observations:
-- You don't have to play so loud! If you have a good, focused tone, the
folks in the back WILL hear you.
Balance (i.e., being heard over the $^#=*&< string section) is another
matter. What impressed me most about the Chicago Symphony last fall wasn't
the volume of sound they're famous for, but how SOFT all of them played the
piano sections. The "secret" to a dynamically successful performance isn't
how loud you can play, but how big the DIFFERENCE is between their pp and
ff. Realistically speaking, the CSO doesn't play that much louder than a
junior high school pep band. The difference is (a) they're in tune and (b)
there is so much dynamic contrast.
Playing soft is a joy. One of the coolest things you can do on a clarinet
is a morendo: the tone gradually petering out into nothing. (Elgar used
this effect in both the Second Symphony and the Enigma variations). If you
can do this while maintaining a good focus and intonation, folks will think
you're a virtuoso -- and it's not all that hard to do.
-- The best tone in the practice room isn't the best tone in the hall. On
more than one occasion, I have come back from a very successful concert
(compliments on tone, etc.) to find that the reed I used sounds bright and
bit buzzy in the practice/band room. Too many people adjust their sound to
the room in which they practice, and not the room in which they perform;
there is a *big* difference. The bigger room will take a "brighter" sound
than you think (sorry Dan) -- translated practically, you get to use a
little bit softer reed.
A fair approximation is playing in the bathroom, or other tiled room.
There's usually a mirror in there, too.
-- In the end, Messrs. Niethamer and Russianoff are quite correct. Where
we clarinets are limited in the volume department is on the high end. One
of the reasons that I have taken to my Greg Smith 1* (please note the plug)
is that is can keep a pretty good tone while I'm trying to blast over the
aforesaid #@-----.
One of the great attributes of Anthony Gigliotti was that he could be heard
in the BTSOOI sections while playing with such a LOUD orchestra -- I wish I
could approach that.
Back to practice. . . .
kjf
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org
