Klarinet Archive - Posting 000812.txt from 2000/11

From: Gary Truesdail <gir@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Playing to Quietly?
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 23:59:58 -0500

I used to teach my private students that playing MP was to just take a good
sized breath and blow into the horn in a relaxed manner. Playing MF was to
push the air a little harder and P was to try a little harder to play soft. To
play pianissimo you had to try quite a bit to play soft. Anything less than
'PP' and you had to try real hard to keep the tone with a minimum amount of
moving air. To play F or louder you had to try hard to get more air through
the horn. The idea of using MP as a less than medium effort seemed to work to
set up the ideas of pianissimo through forte using mp as the middle.

Of course as students develop they need to alter these definitions, as do we.
Maybe it would help if we all contributed a multitude of descriptions of ???
dynamic range so that we can arrive at an agreeable definition by convention
that is divorced of any connection to previous printed definitions. Try this:
submit your answer to the following statements:

1. It is too soft when:

2. It is too loud when:

3. It is just right when:

Examples might be:
1. It is too soft when: your line is a part of a block voicing and it does not
contribute equally to the tonal make up of the chord (Mahler: Bells up, and you
are sucking on the horn getting a smooth, dark, open tone, not the strong, hard
sound called for (TonyP, here is a seed for you, make it grow or enlighten me)
1. It is too soft when: the line you are playing, voiced for 3 clarinet
tones, sounds like a duet.
2. It is too loud when: you seem to be creating a lead part but you know it is
not one of the recognized themes of the composition.
2. It is too loud when: your tone is starting to develop an "edge" when
everyone else playing your line or supporting your line is still playing with a
quiet, smooth, dark easy sounding tone. (opening to Daphne and Chloe)
2. It is too loud when: the unison flute part is wipped out by your glorious
tone.
2. It is too loud when: the conductor compliments you on the beautiful solo
you played and it was not supposed to be a solo.
3. It is just right when: All related lines can be heard equally.
I know this could open up a huge can of worms but it might be worth a try.

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