Klarinet Archive - Posting 000167.txt from 2000/10

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Hhhey th-air
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 17:16:35 -0400

--- William Wright <Bilwright@-----.net> wrote:

> I've heard the same demonstration on clarinet at master classes,
> and someone posted here what he or she heard Stoltzman do under
> similar conditions, ppp vs. fff, but I do believe that there's a
> greater difference possible on the flute -- probably because a
> skilled flutist puts all the air where it belongs and doesn't
> waste any of it.

Dynamic versatility has precious little to do with how tone is
physically produced on a flute vs. clarinet, and everything to
do with how the player manipulates his/her body to control the
air stream. Flutists blow across an open hole and "waste" air
via the basic process of producing a tone -- they can't do it
any other way. Thus, a refutation of your statement above about
"putting all the air where it belongs." Clarinetists direct 100%
of their air straight down the closed end of a tube. Unless the
clarinetist's embouchure isn't functioning properly (i.e; a leak
out one side or another), there is no "wasted" air. But these
differences between the physical properties of the instruments
are not material to a discussion about timbral or dynamic range.
There is a common fallacy that "the more air you blow, the louder
you can get." This is true in a brute, unsophisticated sense.
There are many novice players who are only able to regulate their
dynamic output by blowing a greater or lesser volume of air, without
any consideration for the level of diaphragmatic support they are
generating, if any, not to mention the affects of the "internal" and
external embouchures. Once the diaphragm and embouchure are brought
into the discussion, one's perception of the means by which tone
and dynamics may be manipulated changes appreciably.

-- Neil

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