Klarinet Archive - Posting 000201.txt from 2005/10

From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Upward Creeping pitch
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 17:09:04 -0400

I personally believe that the pitch of the woodwinds (and that of the
orchestra) should reside with and come from the second bassoon, not
an oboe. I've played in enough orchestras and bands to know that the
pitch of the ensemble and the chords produced ARE BUILT FROM THE
BOTTOM UP, not the other way around.

RB

On Oct 22, 2005, at 2:51 PM, Gary Truesdail wrote:

> Good for you Nancy!!! Best tones are not when you have to pinch
> upward to the max just to get in tune.
>
> GaryT
>
> Nancy Buckman wrote:
>
>
>> At 09:17 AM 10/21/2005, you wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Come on, Joe. What are standards for, anyway? Among the questions
>>> you've left out are, "Can manufacturers rely on making
>>> instruments for a
>>> standard pitch?" and "Can musicians take their instruments from one
>>> performing organization to another?".
>>>
>>
>>
>> I was going to stay out of this fray, mainly because I am hot
>> under the collar at the moment about this very subject. But
>> here's my take. I was called to sub for a friend in another
>> orchestra who is sick. I took the shortest (63mm) barrel I own
>> and the longest (67mm), knowing just how orchestras can be about
>> pitch, especially community ones. This particular orchestra is a
>> semi-pro community orchestra and I was to be paid. After the
>> orchestra tuned, we started rehearsal (Polovetsian Dances) and I
>> was called on the carpet for being flat. I informed the conductor
>> that I had a tuner attached to my instrument and the shortest
>> barrel that I owned on my clarinet and that I could not bring my
>> pitch any higher. I also told him I was 17 cents sharp on the
>> tuner with the short barrel. I then asked what he wished me to
>> do. He suggested that I better find a way to fix the problem. So
>> I did. I packed up and left. I have invested thousands of
>> dollars now in barrels, to suit people who won't play at a
>> semblance of standard pitch, and I refuse to invest any more. It
>> costs a string player nothing to slide their fingers back towards
>> the nut. Why should I foot the bill for their laziness (and the
>> conductor's "God complex" )?
>>
>> Nancy
>>
>> Nancy Buckman
>> Principal Clarinet / Orchestra AACC
>> eefer@-----.net
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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