Klarinet Archive - Posting 000058.txt from 2009/10

From: Walter Grabner <grabnerwg@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] New A clarinet from Patricola
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:06:08 -0400

Diego said:

<<Anyway, in textual messages we need to invent some convention to
describe the sound. Usually "bright" means "rich in high-frequency
harmonics", "warm" means "rich in mid-frequency harmonics", with
"dark" and "cold" _almost_ at the opposite.>>

Nice attempt Diego.

However, try this:

Bright might mean "TOO rich in high-frequency harmonics".

Walter
www.clarinetxpress.com
New K11* mouthpiece

On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 10:37 AM, Diego Casadei <casadei.diego@-----.com> wr=
ote:
> Dear Dan,
>
> I fully agree with your comments. =A0However, I don't think you provided =
some
> other way of defining the sound, did you? =A0Shall we speak about the pow=
er
> spectrum?
>
> I'll try to play with old and new barrels and make a recording for people
> who care. =A0However I can't compare new against old instruments because =
I
> only own one type (old B-flat, new A) and must warn people that the
> microphone does have some effect (I'm not a lucky owner of some good
> mic...). =A0I hope to have something on the web in few days.
>
> Anyway, in textual messages we need to invent some convention to describe
> the sound. =A0Usually "bright" means "rich in high-frequency harmonics",
> "warm" means "rich in mid-frequency harmonics", with "dark" and "cold"
> _almost_ at the opposite.
>
> Cheers,
> Diego
>
>
> Dan Leeson wrote:
>>
>> In my opinion, we are once again falling into the use of meaningless and
>> counterproductive descriptors when speaking about the character of a
>> particular clarinet's sound.
>>
>> I suggest that the terms used by Diego -- "warmer," "darker," and
>> =A0"bright" have no universal meaning. =A0Clearly the sound of a clarine=
t needs
>> to be described, but images of color and temperature as used here are no=
t
>> helpful. In practice, they are about as unhelpful as terminology can be
>> because there is little a student can do to obtain (or to reject) the
>> character of clarinet sound the s/he wants to have. And what is "warmer"=
to
>> one person can well be ice cold to another.
>>
>> I have told my story about Manny's music store on 48th street in NY
>> several times, but it is worth telling again.
>>
>> A young boy came into Manny's with his father to buy a clarinet. =A0He s=
aid
>> he wanted one that had a "nice dark sound."
>>
>> The salesman picked one out saying that its sound was like the grave, as
>> dark as night. It was like playing while wearing a shroud. Blah, blah, b=
lah.
>>
>> The kid tried and eventually chose not to buy it. Nothing lost. =A0The k=
id
>> couldn't play anyway. =A0Father and son left the store and went elsewher=
e.
>>
>> Within 10 minutes another young student came in asking for a clarinet wi=
th
>> a bright sound. =A0The same salesman took the same clarinet out and told=
the
>> student that its sound was as bright as the sun at midday. "You need to =
play
>> this instrument with sunglasses on," said the salesman. =A0The student w=
as so
>> impressed, that he bought the instrument.
>>
>> Dan Leeson
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diego Casadei"
>> <casadei.diego@-----.com>
>> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
>> Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 7:57 AM
>> Subject: Re: [kl] New A clarinet from Patricola
>>
>>
>>> Dear Fred,
>>>
>>> you are completely right about springs etc. =A0I also pay attention to =
such
>>> detail. =A0About the sound, I should say that the "Virtuoso" clarinets =
are
>>> warmer and darker than the previous "Professional" series from Patricol=
a,
>>> whose sound was typically bright. =A0One of the past achievements from =
them
>>> was to change the barrels to make a warmer sound (again, I was botherin=
g
>>> them a bit... =A0I'm tedious): they showed me a hundred or so of old-st=
yle
>>> barrels that they decided not to sell any more. =A0Still, the A clarine=
t is a
>>> bit warmer than the B-flat. =A0But this is ok, and it is desired in alm=
ost all
>>> pieces written since the mid of XIX century. =A0On the contrary, they s=
till
>>> produce the C clarinet with the "old" sound, which is very bright: they=
told
>>> me that this is what people want from such an instrument. =A0BTW, it's
>>> exciting to visit them: they are not an industry but work as old crafts=
men
>>> (everybody is able to do everything), from the wood to the mechanics.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Diego
>>>
>>>
>>> Fred Jacobowitz wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Diego,
>>>> =A0 =A0I have had a similar issue in the past with my R-13s. Unfortuna=
tely,
>>>> most of the R-13 A clarinets I was able to get my hands on then (alrig=
ht, 25
>>>> years ago, but still...) were ridiculously resistant and ultra-dark. I=
had
>>>> to wait for at least a year, trying out A's until I finally found one =
that
>>>> was free-blowing, and (not coincidentally?) was also quite in tune. It=
was
>>>> brighter than the other A's I'd tried too, so it blended perfectly wit=
h the
>>>> sound of my Bb. It was a great pleasure to occasionally forget which h=
orn I
>>>> was playing - they were that similar in feel. However, my experience, =
as far
>>>> as I can tell, was (and still is!) quite common - and not just with Bu=
ffets.
>>>> GOOD FOR YOU for complaining to Patricola, and BRAVO to Patricola for
>>>> recognizing a problem and fixing it (would that Buffet would pay atten=
tion
>>>> to such things!).
>>>> =A0 =A0May I also suggest that you do as I did, and spend a few bucks =
to
>>>> have a superior repair person make the spring tensions on both horns
>>>> identical, so there is no finger-confusion when changing horns.
>>>>
>>>> Fred Jacobowitz
>>>>
>>>> CASE CLOSED Musical Instrument Case Repair Service
>>>> Kol Haruach Klezmer Band
>>>> Ebony and Ivory Duo
>>>>
>>>> You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note.
>>>> ~Doug Floyd
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Oct 5, 2009, at 5:32 AM, Diego Casadei wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Dear all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm pleased to say that, after some month of discussions with the
>>>>> Patricola brothers (http://patricola.it/), they were able to satisfy =
my
>>>>> request of having a more uniform feeling when switching between the B=
-flat
>>>>> and A clarinets.
>>>>>
>>>>> Some time ago, they started selling the B-flat "Virtuoso" clarinet,
>>>>> which is a great instrument (if you try, you buy...), together with t=
he A
>>>>> clarinet. =A0I had the impression that the latter, though a great cla=
rinet,
>>>>> was giving a feeling not very similar to the B-flat. =A0When playing =
in
>>>>> orchestra, switching is easier if the natural difference between the =
two
>>>>> instruments is less pronounced, hence I started bothering the Patrico=
la
>>>>> pushing to change as much as possible the A feeling toward the B-flat=
one.
>>>>> =A0After 2-3 bad prototypes, they were finally able to find the way o=
f
>>>>> providing a similar response of the two instruments. =A0On Friday, I =
played
>>>>> the first 2 new A instruments, and I should say that they are really =
great
>>>>> (my contribution has been negligible, still I'm proud of it :-) ...):=
now
>>>>> switching among a pair B-flat/A of "Vitruoso" clarinets is =A0easier,=
and the
>>>>> A instrument did not loose anything of its qualities (which is the ri=
sk,
>>>>> whenever one makes changes to the bore).
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope you'll have a chance to test their instruments too.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>> Diego
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> PS. Just to reassure everybody, I don't earn any money with it :-)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Diego Casadei, PhD=
.
_
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Physics Department, =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0CERN
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 New York University =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 bld. 32, S-A19
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 4 Washington Place =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A01211 Geneve 23
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 New York, NY 10003 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0Mailbox J28310
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0USA =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Switzerland
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 office: +1-212-998-7675 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0office: +4=
1-22-767-6809
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 mobile: +39-347-1460488 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0mobile: +4=
1-76-213-5376
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 http://cern.ch/casadei/ =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Diego.Cas=
adei@-----.ch
>>>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 ---------------------------------------------------------=
-
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Diego Casadei, PhD.
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Physics Department, =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0=
=A0 =A0 =A0CERN
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 New York University =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0=
bld. 32, S-A19
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 4 Washington Place =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A01211 Geneve 23
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 New York, NY 10003 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0Mailbox J28310
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0USA =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Switzerland
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 office: +1-212-998-7675 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0office: +41-=
22-767-6809
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 mobile: +39-347-1460488 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0mobile: +41-=
76-213-5376
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 http://cern.ch/casadei/ =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Diego.Casad=
ei@-----.ch
>>> =A0 =A0 =A0 ----------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>
> --
>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Diego Casadei, PhD.
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Physics Department, =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0CERN
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 New York University =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 b=
ld. 32, S-A19
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 4 Washington Place =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A01211 Geneve 23
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 New York, NY 10003 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0Mailbox J28310
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0USA =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Switzerland
> =A0 =A0 =A0 office: +1-212-998-7675 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0office: +41-22=
-767-6809
> =A0 =A0 =A0 mobile: +39-347-1460488 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0mobile: +41-76=
-213-5376
> =A0 =A0 =A0 http://cern.ch/casadei/ =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Diego.Casadei=
@-----.ch
> =A0 =A0 =A0 ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

------------------------------------------------------------------

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org