Klarinet Archive - Posting 000015.txt from 2004/01

From: "Joseph Wakeling" <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] 5rv tone color
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 13:42:37 -0500

Dan Leeson wrote:

<< You misunderstand the subject that is the heart of this discussion. A
clarinet sounds like a clarinet and not a trumpet or a taragato or a soprano
saxophone or a tuba because of a variety of factors, none of which have very
much if anything to do with what we are talking about. >>

I think you misunderstand the point I was trying to make. That is, that the
subject for discussion ("sound character") does not even exist until we have
both player and instrument *together*. It's only by the interaction of
these things that we get sound character; you don't get it with player or
instrument alone.

<< What we ARE talking about is the character of the sound that YOU produce
on a clarinet, and which, all things being equal, will sound the same from
clarinet to clarinet. >>

OK, let's talk about the sound that *I* produce on a clarinet. The thing
is, I know that if I select the right (or perhaps "wrong") combination of
mouthpiece and reed, I can put it on my very expensive top-of-the-range
instrument and make a sound like a cat being murdered, without having to try
to alter the sound using embouchure or throat or diaphragm or whatever.
Likewise I know that if I take my handcrafted mouthpiece and my expensive
ligature and my high-quality cane reed and stick it on a crappy plastic
clarinet, I will make an inferior sound. Now, this seems to me to be pretty
conclusive proof that by changing the physical characteristics of my
instrument, I can change the sound character.

As I said before, I think it's a matter of degree. Changing between two
"good" setups is likely to produce less difference in sound character than
changing between a "good" and a "bad" setup. But I think it is an
over-assumption to say it cannot make a noticeable difference.

What interests me is that you say,

<< all things being equal >>

I'm intrigued as to what this means. What I *think* you mean is a
well-crafted instrument in good condition with a mouthpiece-ligature-reed
combination that fits the player. But this is a big assumption because as
we've already seen, if you pick the *wrong* setup the results can be pretty
nasty. So I would conclude your "all things being equal" really means that
our imaginary player has already gone through the whole process of cutting
out the mouthpieces, reeds, etc., which produce a "bad" sound for him or
her. In other words they have selected a setup *on the basis of the sound
it produces when combined with their chosen instrument and their body*.

-- Joe

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