Klarinet Archive - Posting 000454.txt from 2003/08

From: "david lowther" <dlowther@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Fw: [kl] Klezmer? (and eBay horns)
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 10:31:13 -0400

Hi again Ken,

Yeah, how does one learn to play klezmer? Get one of those CD's I mentioned
and just try to play like that. I took one lesson from this go-to-klezmer
guy when he was in town and do you know what he taught me? How to hold my
clarinet properly so I wouldn't come down with carpal tunnel, and how to
breathe. He said the most important thing was tone and having enough wind
power to properly finish my phrases without petering out. The rest comes
from aping the CD's, seriously. I was reading that the Klezmatics and other
groups learned themselves from the old 78's and it worked for them.

Wearing a cool hat and shades helps too. Check out Abe Schwartz' CD's where
he has various groups he played with - especially Naftule Brandwein. If you
can learn some of those doinas, I guarantee snakes will rise from baskets.

Mary
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Wolman" <kenneth.wolman@-----.net>
Subject: [kl] Klezmer? (and eBay horns)

> Briefly:
>
> I am in the process of really discovering this music. Yes, Giora Feidman
> (I can't wait until November, I've got tickets!) who is astounding but
goes
> way beyond klezmer itself; and also some of the real down-home guys like
> Naftule Brandwein and Margot Leverett (the latter I gather is a modern
> recreator, but WHAT a recreator).
>
> Who else is out there? Does someone have a list or recorded players, or
> know where one exists?
>
> The only time I ever saw someone playing klezmer live was in the subway
> station at 47th Street & 6th Avenue back in 1997 or '98. An old guy
> wearing a yarmulke, playing what looked like an Albert system clarinet. I
> didn't think to ask him technical questions like this: what set-ups work
> for this sort of music? Mouthpiece, reed strength, even brands. Are
there
> books? Instructional tapes? This music is more addictive than a pack of
> cigarettes:-).
>
> Second--Lelia mentioned eBay-sold instruments and the assumption they're
> going to need an overhaul. Mmmmmmmm...yes, no, maybe? I paid $275 for
the
> Noblet 40 and added $69 via Ardsley Music in Scarsdale because there was a
> problem with the clarion notes. In fact, Ardsley didn't get it right the
> first time...the notes at the "foot" of the clarion register still
wouldn't
> sound...so they took it back at their expense and kept it well over a
week,
> returned it, and oh boy, does it play.
>
> Just don't tell me that to get the right sound for klezmer I'm going to
> need another Selmer Centered Tone...please:-).
>
> Ken
>
> ---------------------
> Kenneth Wolman http://www.kenwolman.com
> "When I give bread to the poor, they call me a saint; but when I ask why
> people are poor, they call me a communist."--Dom Helder Camara, Bishop of
> Recife, 1909-1999
>
>
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>

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