Klarinet Archive - Posting 000463.txt from 2002/06

From: w7wright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] Reeds, and apology to Michael
Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 14:39:12 -0400

=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0<><> Martin Marks wrote:
Could you be more specific about the equipment, methods or materials
that have improved recently to make reeds more playable?

First, I want to apologize to Michael for the way that I abused his
screen name. @-----.
@-----.

It's no excuse, but I was angry at "Mother Nature" yesterday. She
looks like the Grim Reaper right now, and my anger leaked out for a
moment.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

My comment about reed improvements is based on the several books I have
read about reeds & adjustment thereof. =A0 Especially the older books
warn about frequent defects in the 'average' reed, and yet I encounter
such defects very seldom. =A0 Therefore I conclude that things were much
worse a couple of decades ago.

Certainly machine tools and automated equipment and measurement by laser
and so forth have improved tremendously during the past 20 years. =A0 I
was forced to learn about the 'normal' limits of precision in the
aerospace industry 35 years ago, and I've seen what is 'routine' in a
quality shop today. @-----.

Agriculture has made great strides with pesticides, uniform irrigation
and fertilization and soil control, genetics, and so forth. =A0 I think
it's dangerous to assume that the uniformity of commercially grown cane
has remained constant over the decades

In summation, it's difficult to imagine that methods & materials haven't
improved, but I have no hard facts that I can cite. =A0 I should've
qualified my statement just a bit.

Cheers,
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Bill

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

If I had Stadler's mouthpiece, would I play better? Or do I need his
ligature also? Or perhaps he and I are different persons? If I had
Mozart's pen, would I compose better?

---------------------------------------------------------------------