Klarinet Archive - Posting 000142.txt from 2004/10

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Movie about fictional clarinet player
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 23:11:44 -0400

At 06:45 AM 10/5/2004 -0700, Dan Leeson wrote:
>You are right about the actor needing to look convincing when
>playing the clarinet. One of the most awful things about "The
>Benny Goodman Story" (besides the stupidity of the movie itself)
>was the clarinet playing of the actor emulating Goodman, whose
>name escapes me. He had no idea what to do. The only thing he
>did correctly was to have the left hand on top and the right hand
>below it. Same thing is true with trumpet players. The actor
>will often press the third valve under the impression that this
>is a fingering for something.

Steve Allen actually did better than MOST actors at emulating playing. At
least he actually WAS a musician of sorts, if primarily on piano. He was
far better than Jimmy Stewart as Glenn Miller, for example. It might even
be seen as good casting to use a "wooden" actor as a
clarinetist. ;-) Given that all these guys are finger-syncing with a
previous recording, even when the actual player is on camera, it is very
difficult to look convincing. Probably the champion in that regard is
Robert DeNiro in "New York, New York," who (typically of DeNiro) immersed
himself in study and learned to play so well that he probably COULD have
done his own playing, but the sound track you hear was recorded by his
teacher, Georgie Auld.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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