Klarinet Archive - Posting 000564.txt from 2005/03

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] that nice dark sound
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:57:47 -0500

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:21:14 +0100, Joseph Wakeling
<joseph.wakeling@-----.net> wrote:

>dnleeson wrote:
>
>
>>> But the natural question that has to arise from any student is, what
>>> must I do to get more or less of the things that acoustics suggests
>>> defines the distinction between dark and light?
>>
>>
>
>Well, the natural thing to do would be:
>
>(i) Experiment with different sorts of sounds that you can control (e.g.
>by using the balance settings on a hi-fi) to listen to sounds with
>higher or lower power in the higher frequencies. This will train you to
>understand what a sound with more or less higher partials "sounds like".
>
>

Not necessarily. It will train you to understand what a sound with
attenuation at higher frequencies "sounds like". If you set your hi-fi
to cut off the 5th harmonic of low E, you will have cut off the 3rd
harmonic of mid-staff E, and eliminated altissimo E altogether. It just
isn't as easy as that.

Plus, even if you DO perform this experiment, how will you know which
setting is "best", or even if one is "better" than another? And even if
you find an adustment that sounds "better" to you, will your audience
and your teacher agree with you? That's the key problem. There is no
gauge we can use to measure your sound and say, "well, you're measuring
2:30 AM on the Leeson darkness scale, but Schifrin measures 4 AM, and
that's clearly better. Better ream out the barrel some more."

--
- Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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