 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rev. Avery
Date: 2004-01-23 12:00
Jim V. sent me a link to an interview with Pete Fountain. {Thanks Jim for everything :-) } In it Pete talks about his frustration with reeds.
I recently got Tom Ridenour's ATG Reed system and am absolutely blown away by it! Before I got it I figured I'd never get the hang of it because I was sure it would be hard to master. I have done several reeds and each one is great. I'm confident that I'll never have a disappointing reed come from the box to my mpc that'll I'll be unhappy with again. (It works wonders even on my Gonzalez reeds, which are the best balanced and sounding reeds I've found so far.) I'm telling you it's amazing -- the reeds sing.
Anyway, here's what Pete said:
"Nick: What advice do you have for any aspiring jazz clarinet players?
Pete: Play trombone! No. Sometimes I wonder why you take up the clarinet when you can't find a reed. Why didn't I play the trombone? .... I get one reed that will last for a month, and then it goes out, and then it's difficult to try to get one to sing.
To me, the clarinet has always been "a love-hate instrument." You can love it when it's singing, and when it's playing it's the greatest. But when it's not working...I"
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-01-23 12:16
Interesting comments,Rev. In a similar manner, to me, is why some clarinets themselves sing and some don't. It's always a challenge trying to figure it out.
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Author: paulwl
Date: 2004-01-24 13:46
(Rev. Avery) >> Pete: Play trombone! No. Sometimes I wonder why you take up the clarinet when you can't find a reed. Why didn't I play the trombone? <<
Does this explain why Pete had a band with himself and 3 trombones as the frontline?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-01-24 13:54
I have to admit, my 2nd favorite instrument is trombone. I think there's nothing cooler in the world. You can gliss, you have so many different tones avaliable, expecially if you count all those different mutes, and nothing to me sounds sweeter or more mellowing than a beautiful slow trombone ballad.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2004-01-24 22:37
The other really great thing about the trombone is that nobody expects you to play the Mozart Concerto. (I was a horn player long ago, believe you me, Wolfie really had it in for horn players, he wrote FOUR of them....)
The other other really great thing about the trombone is that there is a famous composer who played the trombone.
There are no famous composers who played the flute.
There are no famous composers who played the oboe.
There are no famous composers who played the clarinet. (See a recent thread.)
There are no famous composers who played the bassoon.
There are no famous composers who played the horn. (Except Brahms when he was a kid, that doesn't count.)
There are no famous composers who played the trumpet.
....
but
....
Gustav Holst played the trombone.
Not (very) many people know that.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-01-25 00:41
David Peacham wrote:
> There are no famous composers who played the flute.
I'm not certain what you mean by famous, but:
Jean-Baptiste Loeillet
Johann Joachim Quantz
Friederich Kuhlau
Theobald Boehm
were all successful in their own lifetime as both performers and composers ...GBK
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Author: paulwl
Date: 2004-01-25 00:46
How about singers? Telemann was a cantor (back when Christian churches still had a few).
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2004-01-25 03:22
Well, once I am the world's greatest composer, there will be a famous composer who plays the clarinet.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2004-01-25 09:39
GBK -
What I meant by "famous composer" is someone whose name would be recognised by the average concert-goer, and who is famous primarily for being a composer.
Holst surely qualifies: everyone knows The Planets, after all. Loeillet and Kuhlau are somewhat obscure now, though I have played some Loeillet recorder music and might even have a recording somewhere. Boehm is famous, of course, but not as a composer. Quantz is important, and moderately famous, as a writer about music, but scarcely as a composer, though I can admit to having performed one of his trio-sonatas at a school concert when I was 17.
A better counterexample might have been Telemann, who certainly qualifies as famous and who, it is claimed "showed considerable musical talent, mastering the violin, flute, zither and keyboard by the age of ten".
"Famous composers who played the zither." There's a thread to die for. Anyone know of a zither bulletin board?
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2004-01-25 09:43
paulwl -
Intrigued by your statement about Telemann being a cantor. Bach was a cantor at Leipzig. But I have always understood that job-title to mean Director of Music, not singer.
I guess this is one for GBK(antor) to sort out!
Added later.....
I find these definitions: "Cantor: In Roman Catholic or Jewish services, the one who sings or chants solo portions of the liturgy as opposed to the chorus; in the Protestant tradition, a director of music.".
Bach and Telemann were both Protestants.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
Post Edited (2004-01-25 09:49)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-01-25 16:31
David... As I agree that the names Loeillet, Quantz, Kuhlau and Boehm may not leap to tongue of the average concert goer, it would be a tough argument to convince a room full of flutists that these composers were not "famous."
David Peacham asked:
> "Famous composers who played the zither."
I got worked up in a dither
So I can not come hither.
Thus, away I will slither.
No famous men played zither...GBK
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Author: beejay
Date: 2004-01-25 18:22
Crusell was a clarinetist. And a wonderful composer. And a poet. The only person, I believe, to have been a member of both in the Swedish and the Finnish academies.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2004-01-26 02:21
The lead singer at services in Jewish Temples and Synagogues was not commonly referred to as "Cantor" until very late in the nineteenth century. Arguments to the contrary are welcome.
As for famous composers who were zither players, the only one who comes to mind is Anton Karas. He is best known for his motion picture themes and incidental music (most particularly "The Third Man," which starred Orson Welles).
Regards,
John
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