Klarinet Archive - Posting 000425.txt from 2002/11

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Metaphors (was: Tuning for ensembles)
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 23:54:14 -0500

Bill Wrights statistics are delicious and show the problem for what it
is. MARKETING HYPE! I remember how astonished I was when I first read
the LeBlanc catalog carefully, looking seriously at the words they used,
and then concluding that this great instrument making company was
talking blather so as to sell me an instrument.

+
>
> I thumbed through three catalogs. "Dark" wins, but "Bright" is up
> there near the top.
>
> Dark - 8
> Focused - 7
> Warm - 6
> Rich - 6
> Sweet - 6
> Bright - 5
> Full - 5
> Resonant - 3
> Compact - 3
> Round - 2
> Powerful - 2
> Big - 2
> Direct - 2
> Centered - 2
>
> ....and whole bunch of adjectives that were used only once such as
> "lighter", "robust", "lyrical", "Paris sound", etc.
>
> Perhaps three-quarters of the advertisements did not describe tone at
> all (except to say "flexible", "beautiful" "excellent", etc --- all of
> which I didn't count).
>
> Only one advertisement used the word "harmonic" or "overtone" --- namely
> the Patricola S series: "Rounder, stronger, more powerful sound with
> added harmonics"
>
> Leblanc wins the coveted ACFFCA award. (Adjectival Championship For
> Florid Clarinet Advertisements) Not only do they use more adjectives
> by a factor or 2 or 3 than the other companies, but one of their
> clarinets has the rare "youthful tone".
>
> One company (Howarth, or perhaps their distributor?) offers both "a
> warm, dark sound as is preferred by European clarinetists" and "a
> brighter focused and direct sound generally preferred by American
> players".

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