Klarinet Archive - Posting 000017.txt from 2005/11

From: "Rien Stein" <rstein@-----.nl>
Subj: [kl] Electronics
Date: Wed, 02 Nov 2005 18:22:01 -0500

In the line on this subjectI feel two different discussions are going on.

The first one is about the question what electronics have to do with music,
the other one has to do with electronic amplification.

I have outstanding ideas on both.

The first question also can be divided up into several questions.

For instance: in a local competition someone participates with, say,
"Stranger on the shore", and plays the clarinet solo, whereas the orchestra
is prerecorded. I think this person should be expelled from the competition.
There is no freedom in his (or her) performance.

But if it is a competition for claribass players, and the work to be
performed is Raxach's Chimaera, the tape (or, nowadays: the cd) is an
integral part of the music. And there is much music, especially written for
electronics, think of the music "composed" by Bruynèl, who as far as I know,
only brought forth electronical music. I remember also the music played in
the Philips building on the World Fair in Brussels, somewhere around 1959,
that was composed by Varèse. It was purely electronic. This kind of music
has to be judged by its own standards, usually I don't like it, even though
some of the (very few) compositions in this genre in my opinion are very
valuable.

The other question related tothis subject, has to do with electronic
amplification.

It is in my opinion nearly always superfluous! Of course when a recorder or
acoustical guitar has to compete with a full orchestra, electronic
amplification can be a necessity, but probably the orchestra's conductor
missed a point. But when I hear a band with clarinet (or, for that sake,
saxophone), drums, and some other instruments, I think if you have to mic
any instrument, some voice is too strong! (Excuse me). Not talking of the
sound distortion of music originating directly from the instrument versus
the electronic (re_)production.

Rien

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