Klarinet Archive - Posting 000115.txt from 2011/03

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tone, sound and Zen way of thinking
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:32:57 -0400

Kathy Williams-DeVries wrote:
> Just pondering, I know so much of sound production is mechanical, reed, mouthpiece, barrel, clarinet, ligature, lone tones and the like, but when it comes down to it, isn't it the zen of the thing? A happy relaxed clarinet player makes a happy relaxed sound, not so happy chappie a less pleasant sound?
>
> I have noticed a better sound from me the last couple of months, and while I credit the Backun fatboy for a large part of the change, I also believe the barrel made it easier to produce the ideal sound only I could hear in my head.

Now, there's a doctoral thesis just waiting to be written. I suspect
each of us has our own opinions on the answer to that question.
Unfortunately, I don't know of any scientific scale on which to measure
the "zenness" of a performance.

There are just so many open questions here. Is a "happy relaxed sound"
really the target? Aren't there many pieces where a "tense" sound is
more appropriate? It seems clear to me that even a happy player cannot
produce a good sound with inferior equipment. Is the converse also true?

Clearly, we need an ABT graduate student to take this up...

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

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