Klarinet Archive - Posting 001042.txt from 2000/07
From: les debusk <sflane@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Listening for what's wrong
Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2000 22:57:39 -0400
Like you said.. A lot of times you know your own flaws.. Making it easier=
to pick out your own mistakes and even others that you might not have
heard while playing.. but when you listen, as a player your self you know=
what is hard.. And you know what is easy.. And you know what your own
problems are you.. You can=92t tell what the performers personal problems=
are.. it probably isn=92t as easy to pick out their flaws rather than you=
r self.
les.d.
Neil Leupold wrote:
> --- LeliaLoban@-----.com wrote:
>
> > Does anybody here ever get "Hey, woo-hoo, I'm better than I
> > thought!" surprises?
>
> Nearly every time, yes. Not that the entire performance was better tha=
n
> I expected it to be -- I'm always disappointed with the overall final p=
ro-
> duct, but only because certain weaknesses (yet to be fully overcome) ar=
e
> apparent throughout. I have magical moments, though...phrases, even un=
-
> expectedly gorgeous individual notes, which were not apparent to me whi=
le
> producing them. When hearing a recording of myself afterward, I realiz=
e
> that I experience flashes of brilliance while playing, where my tone be=
-
> came remarkably clear and centered, or I play a particular phrase with
> such spontaneous and advanced musicality that I'm stunned to admit that=
> it's me. Things like that.
>
> This phenomenon is actually quite instructive, because these moments of=
> "inconsistent excellence" occur when? Actually when I'm distracted fro=
m
> my own intensity and have momentarily forgotten to concentrate on what
> I'm doing. During those moments when I "accidentally" let go, my brain=
> and body are allowed to relax and work in concert with each other, to g=
en-
> erate the optimum context for musical creation. Instrumentalists in ge=
n-
> eral are so focused on all aspects of proper technique, many of them ne=
v-
> er in their lifetimes cross the boundary between conscious control and
> the zen-like state, where the act of breathing automatically and quite
> unconsciously activates all other areas in tandem, where one is free to=
> let go and experience nothing but the soulful making of music. The poi=
nt
> behind spending hours and hours, focusing and concentrating and sweatin=
g
> in the practice room while earning that undergraduate degree, is to so
> thoroughly program in the correct means for sound production and manipu=
-
> lation that one is ultimately able to do these things without paying
> conscious attention to them. The goal is to create music. The clarine=
t
> is just an instrument (in the objective sense of that word) -- a tool.
> Or as one former teacher put it, "Neil, this thing (thrusting his clari=
net
> toward me in a fist) is a SHOVEL." He didn't elaborate, which left me
> quite befuddled for a day or two, but then I remembered that being real=
ly
> really good at digging holes is nothing terribly admirable. It's the a=
ct
> of making something beautiful grow in the space that you've cleared wit=
h
> your shovel that makes the hard work all worthwhile. At some point, yo=
u
> have to forget that you're holding a shovel at all.
>
> Neil
>
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
> http://invites.yahoo.com/
>
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