Klarinet Archive - Posting 000034.txt from 2002/09

From: w8wright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: RE: [kl] reed strength for darker tone
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 21:47:26 -0400

<><><> Joe Redmon wrote:
What are your thoughts regarding reed strength to achieve a darker tone?

<><> Karl Krelove wrote:
You've sort of doomed the discussion at the very outset. Only you know
what you mean by "dark."

Joe, if you are new to this list, you may be unaware that some of us
have strong feelings against 'metaphorical' or 'emotionally based'
adjectives such as dark, light, round, rich, golden, sweet, centered and
so forth.

The reason is that if you assemble 100 people and ask them to choose the
'brighter' or 'darker' or "sweeter' or <whatever> of two tones, there
seldom is agreement as to which is which.

Yet music unquestionably produces emotional responses, and so.....
Choosing a meaningful adjective is a problem!

When forced to say something quantitative about a clarinet's sound,
'darker' is sometimes taken to mean less emphasis on the higher
partials; but keep in mind that it's the vibration of the _air column_
that controls the tone, and the reed is only one part of the total
system that produces the air column's pattern of vibration.

Mouthpiece and barrel and embouchure and breath support and opening the
throat and tongue position and so forth have major effects that can
overpower a particular reed.

One of the standard statements is: "<So-and-so> sounds like himself (or
herself) no matter what set-up he (or she) plays." I personally have
experienced this because I have an unusually-shaped bell for my
larger-bore clarinet, and after attending a concert during which a
well-regarded professional (Tony Pay, who posts on this list) played on
a reproduction of a 19th century basset horn, I asked him to play _my_
modern clarinet with the weird bell. Lo and behold, after a couple of
minutes of experimentation on my set-up, he sounded like.... ...a
well-regarded professional playing on a reproduction of a 19th century
basset horn. It was quite a surprise for me to hear how easily he
overcame the effects of my equipment. (I cannot do the same. So
equipment does have *some* effect.)

Once again, torturing yourself with a stiff reed isn't the final cause
of 'dark tone' (whatever 'dark' is).

Having said the above, 4-1/2 is a stiff reed. Some people play 5's and
5+'s, but there's no prestige in doing so. If you like a stiff reed,
there's no criticism; but a stiff reed may not produce the best music
for you when playing a variety of compositions, each with its own
dynamic and mood.

You may want to think about a reed that you can control better when you
want to play (say) pianissimo or 'more sweetly' or whatever; and, at the
same time, consider a different mouthpiece or barrel or ligature or
clarinet with a different bore (or combination thereof!) that will give
you the sound that you want without the hassles and defects of an
unnecessarily stiff reed. There's a zillion possible combinations ---
including changes to your own technique --- and there's no glory in
torturing yourself in order to achieve a certain sound.

"Biting" is a bad symptom. Most teachers wince when they hear a student
use this word (or when they see a student actually bite). They'll put
other matters aside while they help the student deal with whatever
problem is causing the "bite" in the first place.

.....well, it's time for me to go see Bourne Identity before it leaves
town.

Cheers,
Bill

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