Klarinet Archive - Posting 000079.txt from 2009/10

From: "James Leonard Hobby" <jhobby@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] New A clarinet from Patricola
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:52:12 -0400

I'm almost afraid to get into this light/dark discussion, but ... both of my
clarinet professors at the university level wanted me to play with a
"darker" sound. This was in the period of the "open the throat" business --
the old "hot, new potato down the throat" routine. One prof. demonstrated
the difference in the sound. Ultimately, I got their idea, and could hear
the differences, both in my own ears, and on the recording of my lesson
sessions. Now, that's the best I can do with the concept of dark/light. Is
it dark or light? Only in my (and their) ears, I suppose, but it is a
difference in sound that is reproducable, and Dan, I'm afriad that I passed
the concept along to my students when I was teaching. <g> (Now, if you want
"bright", try sitting right in front of the first trumpet playing the
opening to Promenade from Pictures! Like nails driving into the head.)

Jim Hobby

> Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 12:11:05 -0700
> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
> From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
> Subject: Re: [kl] New A clarinet from Patricola
> Message-ID: <9B3D7D92C8544D3D87B37E7CA7220767@danielsys>

[snip]

> 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..

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