Klarinet Archive - Posting 000388.txt from 2002/05

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Metal clarinets (in G)...
Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 11:44:16 -0400

Gary Van Cott wrote:
>
> OK folks. This was a joke. But frankly,what percent of metal clarinets
> ever built have been quality instruments? I would be surprised if it was
> higher than 1/10 of one percent. Believe me, the metal clarinet in G at
> Lark in the Morning is not among them.

Whatever the state of the metal clarinet in G at Lark in the Morning,
you have no evidence, no recognized statistics, or anything but an
opinion to offer about the percentage of metal clarinets that have been
quality instruments. You are certainly within your rights to comment on
a particular instrument, but going from that particular to a
questionable general conclusion is going to cause a reaction on this
list.

One of the things that I notice about this list that is its most
valuable contribution to clarinetdom is that it has made a considerable
bite into the destruction of a lot of old and very questionable stories
about the clarinet and clarinet playing that have little if any truth to
them. Your statement that concludes that a metal clarinet could not
possibly be a quality instrument is just one such old wives tales with
which a number of posters are going to take issue.

There is nothing personal involved, only a recognition that so much of
what we have been told (and are being told) about the clarinet and what
factors make one thing better than another are often personal opinions
elevated to the level of absolute technical truth.

So whenever such a statement appears on this list, it may very well be
questioned, as was yours. That is a very good thing to be happening and
I think it moves the world of clarinet playing forward.

Dan Leeson

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** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
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