Klarinet Archive - Posting 000215.txt from 2005/06

From: Tony Pay <tony.p@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bounced babies
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 07:12:12 -0400

On 11 Jun, John Dablin <jdablin@-----.com> wrote:

> I find I need to keep this "beat" going, even if the music is freer, more
> rubato in style. I think I need it like signposts to judge where I am in
> the phrase, while not keeping strictly to time. Again, I hope this doesn't
> show, but I do wonder if it's a shortcoming that isn't needed by really
> fine musicians.

Judging by those I've talked to about it, absolutely it isn't. Indeed, one
conductor I know maintains that without it, a player is useless, and that
whilst he can help someone who has difficulty with complex rhythms, he can do
nothing with someone who has a deficient sense of pulse.

I did a bit more introspection:-) and came to the conclusion that there is an
auditory component to my internal pulse, too. So, it's a mixture of
kinaesthetic, visual and auditory components, and a mixture that seems to be
spread out over a short time duration, with a sort of centre of gravity in
the middle that determines a precise instant. Importantly, I feel, it isn't
at all associated with any bodily movement.

I wonder whether anyone has tried to teach this inner pulse directly to
someone lacking it -- and if so, I wonder how they went about it?

My description of my own inner pulse is, I would have thought, a sufficiently
general template to suggest some technology that might help in this regard --
for example, a pressure cuff around the wrist or arm that could squeeze at
varying tempi, and also more or less suddenly (I notice that that's another
characteristic of my own that varies according to the music).

Perhaps the cuff could glow and hum a bit too, if you wanted (you read it
here, first!-)

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd tony.p@-----.org
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

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