Klarinet Archive - Posting 000579.txt from 2005/03

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] that nice dark sound
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 12:40:54 -0500

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 14:37:06 -0800, Gary Truesdail <gir@-----.net>
wrote:

>OK, OK. Get it over with!!! Set up a committee of 20 currently
>professional players, 20 retired professional players, 20 amateurs, 20
>professional musicians that are not clarinet players. Have 20 or more
>performers play for them, live or via current recordings, with all
>judges in the same room, at the same time, with an explanation that they
>are to judge tones as to whether they are on the bright side or the dark
>side.
>
>

And what good will that do? When you are done, you will have 80
different opinions, each one exactly right, and each one completely
wrong. You might as well ask whether each of the 20 players is closer
to a "strawberry sound" or a "blueberry sound".

Look, it's perfectly OK (in my opinion) to say "I think Nicely-Nicely
Johnson has a dark sound". That's a personal opinion. It is
indisputable, and is of zero value. The problem arises when someone
says "a dark sound is the best sound" (always followed by "of course"),
or worse yet when a beginner asks "I know I should have that dark sound,
which ligature and what strength reed should I use to get it?" There is
no answer to that question, although 15 people on this list will happily
chime in to offer The One True Answer.

>Everyone on this list knows what 'dark', 'bright', 'edgy', 'smooth',
>'rough', 'reedy', 'British', 'French', 'German', 'Austrian',etc, etc.
>
>

I don't believe that for a minute. No, let me put that another way. I
might very well venture to classify a particular performance as "dark"
or "bright", but it doesn't mean anything to anyone except me. It isn't
quantifiable.

In fact, it has always bothered me that Grainger calls for "reedy" sound
in pieces like Children's March. I'm don't know what knob to turn to
change my tone from "not reedy" to "reedy", and I don't know how to tell
the rest of my section whether we are all "reedy" enough.

>Lets get it done and assign a word or several words to the tonal
>characteristics of which you are in dispute.
>

We have the WORDS. The problem is the words have no universal meaning.

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

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