Klarinet Archive - Posting 000469.txt from 2004/10

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Air flow
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 10:55:36 -0400

Does it really matter if the world is flat or round? I just get in my ship
and sail from port to port.

No, it doesn't matter to you and it shouldn't. But it matters to me. Why?
Because I deal with hundreds of clarinet students and I have to be able to,
on the spot, diagnose their problems and devise a solution in often what
amounts to seconds.

This is only possible by having the best possible understanding of the
physics of playing the clarinet as well as the best possible understanding
of music I can have. This allows me to have a running model in my head,
rather than attempting to memorize what Keith Stein or Daniel Bonade or
Tony Pay has told me. This model is constantly revised by studying such
great players/teachers, but the model is fundamentally based on physics.

Of course, being the arrogant American I am, I teach this model to other
non-clarinet playing teachers. So it is doubly important for me to have a
mastery of the subject and doubly important for me to be constantly
revising my model and understanding.

Tell me I'm wrong, but don't tell me I'm wrong for asking.

-Adam

At 07:33 AM 10/16/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>At some point, it makes sense to ask yourself, "Why does it make a
>difference whether the reed closes 100% or not? A mouthpiece craftsman
>may need to know this in order to design a mouthpiece properly, but do
>**I** care all that much? Or is it just an interesting bit of trivia?
>Perhaps what counts for *me* is how my music sounds when I put my tongue
>on the reed firmly vs. softly, or how my music sounds when I touch the
>reed with my tongue before moving my fingers vs. after vs. not-at-alI,
>and so forth?"

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