Klarinet Archive - Posting 000169.txt from 2001/12

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Material
Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 10:18:00 -0500

Karl Krelove has posted a very thoughtful message about the issue of a
material's workability. It's very good. Anmd Karl began his message
suggesting that this aspect of the topic is rarely considered.

Another influence on sound character that is equally rarely considered
is the matter of the physical characteristics of the body of the person
playing the instrument. We are all physically different, not only in
terms of lung capacity, chest dimensions, etc., but in the hundreds of
smaller variables such as the volume of the individual head cavities,
quantity of original teeth, etc.

I am of the opinion that much of the character of a person's sound from
a clarinet is derived from those variables. A person with a full dental
plate will sound differently than he or she did when a full set of
natural teeth were present, and this is not only due to the effect of a
dental plate on the embouchure but on the materials present or absent in
the mouth. A person who has had gum surgery may have his/her sound
affected by the surgery. A fat person will have some of the sound
character affected by the body volume, in whole and in part. Stomach
volume, which influences the amount of air in lungs by virtue of space
for the diaphragm as it is controlled by the player, is another
variable. I could on for a week, starting with the throat. But the
bottom line is that the loss of a tooth is far more influential to a
person's sound character than the medium of the clarinet.

I suspect that these phenomena, if true, are more influential for an
instrument held partly inside the body (as is a clarinet) than one held
entirely outside the body (as is a violin), though the body undoubtedly
plays a role for the latter type as well.

For those of you who recommend to your students not to smoke, is that
because of a general concern about the student's health or the reduction
of capacity for the student's lungs which negatively influences their
playing ability?
--
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** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
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