Klarinet Archive - Posting 000774.txt from 2000/05

From: Spike Spiegel <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tone and its perception
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 18:30:39 -0400

On Tue, 16 May 2000, Claudia Zornow wrote:

> My point was, how can I tell, from inside the bone cage of my head,
> how I sound "out there"? I may sound different to myself when
> playing in different halls or in my practice room, but how do I
> know when it will sound good to the audience?

Ah - now I see what you mean. This is actually rather simple! Record
yourself! This is actually an excellent trouble shooting tool and should
be utilized often - you'll hear things in the playback that you aren't
aware of during your actual playing in addition to the ability to gauge
your tone and projection.

Case in point - recently I decided (for kicks, and since its a lovely
work) to play Bozza's Aria for Alto Sax. However, when I played it for my
sax prof, he said he liked most of it except for the two points where I
used portamento.

Excuse me - what? Portamento? I didn't remember using any
portamento...but after recording myself and listening to it, I found out
that whenever I ascended to high D, I indeed had a pitch bend of a major
second! As far as I can tell, I was so worried about the tone being too
squealy that I attempted to dampen my upper register TOO MUCH, to where I
was flattening and then compensating without thought.

But the recording also assured me that my tone up top really wasn't all
that bad.

Any decent stereo with a decent mike will do - the one in your
entertaiment center should work fine. If you're away from home, a compact
tape recorder will also work, but because of diminished quality of sound,
you'll get a less accurate concept of what you sound like.

Another option, if you're a technophile, is to use your computer. IF you
have a nice sound card (something with onboard RAM), a nice processor
(probably something running faster than 266mHz), and plenty of hard drive
space to spare (at least 75-100 MB) or a Zip drive, you can record
yourself with it, and usually with better quality sound than with a tape
deck. You can even make your own CDs!

HOpe this helps!

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"I don't know, and I don't have an opinion." - Jet Black

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