Klarinet Archive - Posting 000066.txt from 2009/10

From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] New A clarinet from Patricola
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:11:05 -0400

Mark,

That is one interpretation to be sure. But another is that salespeople will
say anything to make a sale. If that kid had come and asked for a clarinet
with a purple sound, the salesman would have found an instrument and swore
that it specially built to achieve the rare but desirable purple sound.

Another interpretation is that students are told by their teachers to try
and buy an instrument with a dark sound. And therefore they go blithely
forward to find something that has a characteristic that is entirely without
meaning to them. In effect, they have no faith in their own judgment about
sound character so they use an abstraction as an unclear measure the sound's
beauty.

And I suggest that the sound that an instrument makes is far more dependent
on the player's body than on the material used or the manufacturing
techniques. The player creates the sound from head cavities, sinuses,
number and placement of teeth, chest and neck dimensions, etc. So when
someone on this list says, "I want a clarinet mouthpiece that has a nice
dark sound," I have to believe that they are mystics because such questions
demonstrate a genuine lack of knowledge about what influences the sound
character..

Dan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Thiel" <mark.thiel@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 11:25 AM
Subject: Re: [kl] New A clarinet from Patricola

Dan wrote:
>
>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. He said
>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,
>blah.
>
>The kid tried and eventually chose not to buy it. Nothing lost. The kid
>couldn't play anyway. Father and son left the store and went elsewhere.
>
>Within 10 minutes another young student came in asking for a clarinet with
>a
>bright sound. The 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. The student was so
>impressed, that he bought the instrument.
>
>Dan Leeson

that's a lovely story, Dan -- and the moral ?? Well since kid one didn't
buy
the horn, I would interpret the story as meaning that it _was_ a really
bright
clarinet and that all parties involved had a clear conception of this and of
the concept
of clarinet darkness and brightness. Kid one and his dad knew that the
salesman was lying and passed on it.

Mark (ever-eager-to-help-with -a-little-gasoline-on-the-flames) Thiel

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