Klarinet Archive - Posting 000783.txt from 2004/07

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Measuring sound character
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 12:25:18 -0400

In a message dated 7/20/2004 10:22:25 AM Central Daylight Time,
dnleeson@-----.net writes:

<<So when I would argue about consistency of sound from clarinet to
clarinet, I invariably stated clarinets of wood, hard rubber,
glass, even bamboo, each of which would use the player's standard
mouthpiece. And when I spoke of a behind-a-screen test, my
assumption was always that a player would execute on clarinets of
a variety of materials, but with a single mouthpiece and
undisturbed setup. Maybe that was a bad assumption on my part,
but it is part and parcel of my entire argument about sound
character being unaffected by material of the instrument.Do we have two
issues intertwined here?>>

Not in my mind.

With the same mouthpiece, reed, ligature and clarinet, I can clearly hear the
differences between a barrel made from Delrin, grenadilla, or cocobolo.
(Especially if I don't treat them to reduce the differences. In my Delrin barrels,
I actually roughen the inner surfaces to make a more pleasing and complex
tone - again to MY ear.)

But this is when I am playing it, or someone else is four feet away in my
studio.

Maybe it doesn't impart its particular character to a listener 40 feet away
in a concert hall. I really don't know. I think it would, but I haven't tested
it.

Walter Grabner
http://www.clarinetxpress.com/
World-class clarinet mouthpieces

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