Klarinet Archive - Posting 000160.txt from 2003/06

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Reed soaking question
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 02:39:10 -0400

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003 22:25:29 -0500, perickso@-----.net said:

>...It is a take-home test and consists of several hundred questions.
>
> One of the questions is:
>
> Of the five different times listed below, which one would be the best for
> correctly soaking the clarinet reed in water before playing?
>
> a. 30 seconds
> b. 2-3 minutes
> c. 45 seconds
> d. 15 seconds
> e. 1 minute

My first reaction is that such a 'take-home' test might more usefully be
considered as an 'investigative project' rather than a 'current
knowledge indicator'. So, this particular question might be rephrased
as, "Which of the following do you find the best length of time to
correctly soak a reed in water before playing? Why? What does
'correctly' mean to you, in this context?"

> Is there any truly correct answer to this question?

I have different answers to it depending on the circumstances. As I've
written here before,

http://www.woodwind.org/Databases/Logs/2001/10/000417.txt

....I only quite recently changed from the answer,

f. zero seconds

...which I notice isn't an option.

What are the other questions like, Christy?

I'm imagining that perhaps some of them are straighforward, like, "Which
would probably be a better clarinet to play a wind quintet in B major
on, the Bb or the A?"; and some of them more open-ended, like, "How many
fingerings do you know for Bb one ledger line above the stave?"

Could you give us a representative sample?

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

... What if there were no hypothetical questions?

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