Klarinet Archive - Posting 000129.txt from 2008/10

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: Nintendo and the clarinet
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:47:11 -0400

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:25:06 +0000 (GMT), Paolo Leva
<paolo.leva@-----.se> wrote:
> Hello, It's easy to bush and ridicule video games. It is common practice.

For some irrational reason, this message annoyed me. I have two basic
problems with it. First, I disagree that it is "common practice" to
bash and ridicule video games. That is a multi-billion dollar industry
that has had a profound effect on culture and technology. They have
their share of critics, but the industry as a whole is not unjustly maligned

Second, I don't think you actually read the messages in this thread. No
one here was "ridiculing video games". We were simply analyzing this
one aspect of this one video game. They're calling it a "clarinet", and
it clearly is not a clarinet in any way. It's a player piano.

I would offer two contrasts to this. The "Dance Dance Revolution"
games, although they use music that is not particularly my cup of tea,
build coordination and rhythm. They only way to excel in DDR is to
develop a sense of beat and of syncopation. If you don't feel the music
in your brain, you'll never hit the pads at the right time.

The other is the "Guitar Hero" series. Now, I'll admit that playing
this game is only marginally related to playing the guitar. But like
DDR, success in this game requires one to (unknowingly) master certain
musical aspects. You not only need a sense of beat and syncopation, but
you also need an understanding of measures, of fingering, of staccato vs
legato, of melody lines vs harmony lines, of rising vs falling lines,
and to a certain extent, building chords.

I don't see any of those redeeming qualities in the Wii Music clarinet.
It appears that a monkey on a rock could get adequate results with it.
Whoops, I guess that was ridicule...

> But do not forget that this game is not meant for clarinetists or musicians. Of all questionable entertainment you can get on TV and video games this has at least a potential to make people and kids discover that playing music can be fun, what's wrong with that?

I don't think anyone said there was anything wrong with it. It's just
not a clarinet. And since it is only now being released, time will tell
whether it actually a good video game.

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

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