Author: Matt74
Date: 2020-08-31 21:17
I had some thoughts about re-stating the often used phrase “finding your own sound” - not with reference to anything in the forum, just in general.
When I was a student I always thought the idea of “finding your own sound” was kind of odd. When I listened to a recording of myself, all I could ever hear was ME, and I didn’t like it too much. LOL. I felt like Bill The Cat - “Ack!” I spent a lot of time trying to get ME out of the sound. I wanted to hear the music. I figured if I were brilliant and wonderful, it would be great to have my own sound.
It seemed to me that great artists didn’t become great by starting out with a blank slate, but learned by borrowing from others. They couldn’t help sounding like themselves, because they already had a voice, but their sound came in part came from their choice of models. It’s just like natural speech, you can tell if someone comes from New Orleans or New York. It’s not “original”, but it’s part of who they are.
I’ve slowly begun to understand the proverb, “Know thyself.” I think this is what is meant by “finding your own sound”. It’s not theoretical, not even in a sense “creative”, it’s just being honest. Being who you are, genuinely and completely, is something I imagine does not come easily to many young people, who are always trying to be like someone else, or to appear attractive to someone else. The difficulty isn’t so much that they have models, it’s the choice of models. They don’t always know which are the best ones for them. There is a lot of pressure to know or emulate certain players, and they may be great, or even the best, but not always the most helpful for a particular student. (I have jazz musicians in mind, but it’s generally applicable. It’s probably better now than when I was a student.)
I used to have very definite “original” ideas about what I wanted in my sound, but those very ideas sometimes held me back.
- Matthew Simington
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The Clarinet BBoard
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