Klarinet Archive - Posting 000860.txt from 2002/03

From: "Robert" <LetsReason@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Concerning clarinet timbres and transposition, Dan.
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 13:47:02 -0500

Wow Dan! I think I must concede that throne to you! Maybe one day I will
be old enough and into myself enough to take the throne. But today, you are
the champion, master and reigning emperor of "One Who Likes To Hear Himself
Talk". Congrats to you.

First of all (and no Dan, I do not care what diatribes your post in
response, have at it), your argument for the clarinet past the mouthpiece
having nothing to do with the timbre is all discombobulated. You even lay
out the rebuttal to your own argument and ignore the reasoning whilst
pursuing empty prose to fill up your post (refer to paragraph one).

If I take my mouthpiece, reed, ligature and even barrel and move it from one
Bb clarinet to another (switching brands), playing simply an articulated C
Major scale (Bb concert, just so I don't leave room for you to wander off
into non-sense), the harmonica players from any podunk school in the swamps
of Georgia, would hear slight differences in the timbre. And I am talking
about bright and dark. The CLARINET body DOES make a difference.

Simply that a person CAN sound the same on every instrument variation
through various name brands does not imply that the clarinet is having no
effect on the timbre. It implies that the PLAYER can compensate for them to
arrive at their percieved ideal timbre. This point has already been made
and I believe it was even YOU who made the point. But you ignore the
issue. If the PLAYER is compensating then the CLARINET is affecting the
timbre.

End of discussion on that facet of that argument (as far as I'm concerned
because I HAVE done the experiment). Does Leblanc or Buffet or whoever have
ground to stand on to say that their clarinet bodies create the "darkest"
tone, or whatnot? Of course not. But to argue to absurdity that the
clarinet below the tone production center has no effect on the qualifying
timbre is ridiculous.

Lastly, I know Mark and I know his view on transposition and some of the
topics of the masterclass that he gave. Your post was unfair and uncalled
for. While I agree that if Brahms wrote something for A clarinet, I should
play it on A clarinet, I do not agree with your dismissal of Mark's
conversation and ideas. Instead of shooting down Mark, why not use your
infinite wisdom to enlighten and direct? I mean, if Mark wanted to, he too
could derive a lengthy post from your calling him Michael after only a
couple paragraphs earlier calling him Mark. Maybe he should argue your slow
descension into senility and push the issue that your points are invalid
because your memory cannot be trusted?

Be careful Noah. You have jumped into a thirty-ONE foot hole. Be cautious.
It is or should be one of the most important issues that a human-being needs
to think about: Who is the ass, you or me?

For me...I hope that some of the professional symphony players on this list
will iggy your ranting and actually provide some insight into how they
approach transposition of passages where switching clarinets may or may not
cause issues (timing, tuning, etc). Just because composer X wrote a
symphony that won a new nobel prize category doesn't mean that I will be
able to switch from Bb to C### clarinet in one beat at "beat @-----.

Now...if only there was a way to get back to posts full of thoughtful
insight and void of derogatory name-calling. Maybe our aged teachers here
on the list can provide us with examples of how to do just that?

Robert

How did I do, Dan? Do I need to spend more time off in the void? I'm
learning.

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