Klarinet Archive - Posting 000529.txt from 2000/06

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Tony's tagline
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 17:22:59 -0400

Re. the numerology of the clarinet, I wrote that the bell, the lower joint,
the upper joint, the barrel, the mouthpiece and the reed add up to 6.

Fred Sheim asked,
>No ligature?

and James Marioneaux asked,
>>Wat about the mouthpiece cap?

Excellent! If we start with 6 (The Lovers, Venus, artistry, harmony! -- but
with a hint of The Devil...), then count the lig as one piece, then adding
the mouthpiece cap brings the total up to 8. That's Justice in old Tarot
decks (before the 19th century Rider-Waite revisionists switched Strength and
Justice -- ptooey, ptooey). Do we really want Justice...? Uh-oh, I sure
don't! I'm afraid I'd get what I deserve! Anyway, 8 is associated with
Saturn, misfits, revolutionaries, fires, wars, explosions, Fate, influence of
ill-wishers, etc..

Better count the ligature screws separately, and get rid of that 8 (and not
tune to a@-----. That's an auspicious
number, as long as we're not Vietnamese. For the Vietnamese, 10 means "the
worst." Oh, but whoops! -- If we count the mouthpiece cap, we should count
the lyre, right? -- and that means, if it's a 2-screw lig, then we're up to
11, which stands for Strength, but we're gonna need it, we sad, confined,
muzzled lions, to stand the suffering, trials, betrayal, house divided and so
forth. Never mind, we can count the lyre screw separately, too, and bring
the number up to 12. Gosh, we don't want that! It's the number of the
Victim, the Sacrifice, stalemate, lack of progress -- the Hanged Man! Well,
maybe it only means a vacation, or a pause to reflect. But maybe not. Okay,
okay, add in the keys, corks, etc.. (Notice how numerologists worry their
clients by making sure there's an unpleasant possibility attached to just
about any number. A worried client will come back and pay for another
reading....)

If the number of parts still comes out ominous, then change the type of
ligature to a shoelace or a 1- screw model, until everything works out more
auspiciously. A conscientious clarinetist must of course consider all these
matters carefully before deciding which brand and model of clarinet to buy.
Wait, do those itty-bitty screws count separately or only as parts of the
key? Must we count the key- posts separately? The tenon rings? What about
articulated keys made of 2 pieces? Is an articulated key a 1 or a 2?

And a-one and a-two and-a....

Does the clarinetist count as a part? People all have our own numbers,
discovered through our birthdates, the spellings of our names and that sort
of thing.

Bill Wright wrote,
>>>Did you ever notice how clarinetists insist on reducing all tones
>>>to simple integer recipes, playing only the odd-numbered ones, putting
>>>their souls into their music and aspiring to darkness?

Hmm, good point.... Interesting color symbolism we've got here, too. Black
= intense concentration, but can also mean darkness in the sense of
confusion, negativity or evil. Silver = The Moon, both positive (discovery,
learning the mysteries) and negative (deception, scandal, error, failure)
aspects. And then one must consider which incense to burn....

One could while away an entire practice period on considering such matters,
but of course it would be time well spent....

>;-)
Lelia
~~~~~~~~~
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
~~~~~~~~~

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