 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: justwannaplay
Date: 2004-02-05 12:36
I thought it would be nice to hear what their clarinets sound like. Couldn't they have their celebrity player toot a bit so we can hear their different clarinets, narrow, wide, whatever they may be? Is there a reason why they don't have this feature?
Elizabeth
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Author: msloss
Date: 2004-02-05 14:20
Elizabeth, there are simply too many variables for that kind of activity to have any meaning. Every individual sounds and plays differently regardless of horn. Add choice of barrel, mouthpiece, reed, ligature, time of day and phase of the moon, and you cannot draw any conclusions except that your celebrity player sounds great. Great marketing gimick, but not terribly informative.
Also, with just a little detective work, you can find out who the endorsing artists are for each make (Mark Nuccio for Buffet as an example) and go look for their recordings.
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2004-02-05 14:25
All it would do is give some people the false impression that buying that particular horn will make them sound just like the celebrity player. Larry, Stanley, Greg, Jon, Sabine, et.al., will sound like Larry, Stanley, Greg, Jon, Sabine, et.al., on pretty much any clarinet. And so will you.
Also, any timbral differences between makes are probably too subtle to pick up through a downloadable sound file. You've gotta hear it in person.J
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2004-02-05 14:56
In other words, you guys are saying that clarinet manufacturers are more honest than other companies? Other product manufacturers make implications don't necessarily hold up. For example, food manufacturers and restaurants show people savoring the taste of their product although I may not get the same satisfaction. And let's not get into implications on how products will affect my attractiveness to the opposite sex.
Is it that the clarinet manufacturers are too honest or that they haven't done it for some other reason, such as not having thought of it or not feeling it would be effective? Face it, to put a clip of one person playing one passage is not the same as saying "If you play one of our clarinets, you'll sound like this!"
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2004-02-05 15:05
You could be right, Don. Maybe they just haven't thought of it. Should they do it, it'll be up to us customers to discern that, for its intended purpose, it would be a waste of perfectly good electrons.s
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2004-02-05 16:15
Elizabeth, it would not help them to sell Clarinets. If they did put clips on their websites, the sounds of their instruments would be at the mercy of the two-dollar loudspeakers used by most computer owners (y'know, those little toys they throw in when someone buys a computer?). Comparison of sounds in that listening environment would be worthless.
Regards,
John
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Author: justwannaplay
Date: 2004-02-05 17:07
Yes, I can see that the clarinet's sound would not be shown off to its advantage in an electronic medium on dinky speakers. Likewise that there are too many variables in terms of mpc, reed etc. to reflect what the instrument would sound like in some pure ideal. Still, it would be fun if they could show scientifically (you know, through sound waves or something ![[right]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie8.gif) ) how their clarinet is meant to sound better than another.
It's true I could hunt down the endorsing artists' recordings — but that's too much work!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-02-06 06:14
I'd just like to point out that Legere reeds, a sponsor of this site, DOES have sound bytes. However in this case I think it's a very good thing since the ONLY variable they are testing is the difference between a legere and a cane reed. They have the same player play the same thing first on a cane reed, then on a legere, and you can do the comparison (I think it's Richard Hawkins if I remember correctly - check the link if you want to hear).
So your idea isn't COMPLETELY off the wall, but posts above are correct as to why clarinet makers probably don't post a star player. Also, they are at the risk of whether you will like that star player or not. For instance, I may not like the sound a certain person makes. If they were featured on the site, I might be inclined to contribute that bad sound to the clarinet when in reality it's that person's individual style. It'd be poor representation.
Unless each maker can agree on having the same person test and play their various clarinets with the same mouthpiece/reed combination and piece selection on all of them, the comparisons wouldn't even be slightly "fair".
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2004-02-06 10:06
I realise most players will probably sound the same on the major brands(same price range) of clarinet..
its only the feeling, tuning and response to the user that is different...
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2004-02-06 18:22
Not one player in a hundred could examine spectral plots or any other sort of waveform presentations and even recognize a Clarinet. Maybe one in a thousand of those might be able to offer any description of how it would sound. And a very small percentage of those would have some degree of accuracy.
Legere's website? People can listen to something there to justify their decisions. Legere players might say they couldn't tell one from the other, while those who don't use Legere likely hear a big difference. Even through a set of two-dollar speakers. For that matter, what if both of them sound awful? Yikes! If I were in charge of Legere's advertising, I would not use such a technique.
Somehow reminiscent of an old Philip Morris radio commercial, where a person was invited to "Try a Philip Morris cigarette... and now try your own brand. Now, which was less irritating?" The overwhelming rersponse, of course, was Philip Morris. Unfortunately, a study later showed that the main connection picked up by most listeners was "Philip Morris... irritating." Yikes again.
Product promotion is quite an art, and even top agents and writers are known occasionally to make big mistakes.
Regards,
John
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