 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: James
Date: 1999-07-02 07:10
The clarinet I believe has the darkest and the most melancholy sound of all classical instuments. No other instrument even comes close in this aspect. Although the Benny Goodman, Pete Fountain sound is nice I think clarinets unique character comes in its dark somewhat heavy sound. Is it a coincedence that the best clarinet in the world the Buffet R-13 has that dark penetrating sound that pros and players like. If you look closely at the woods of the finest clarinets they have that black and red mixture in the wood grain. It is almost fascinating to me.
Once I thought clarinet was all black. Red and Black is a very evil combination. I have a R-13 clarinet and had it for about four years now. When I first bought it was covered in a purple color but as the paint wore off after years of playing it is now red and black. The sound has also changed tremendously since I first bought it. It is much more thick and sounds very deep. It simply has transformed.
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Author: James
Date: 1999-07-02 07:20
I would also like to add that R-13 has that number 13 on it.
Anybody wonder why this is so? Just coincedence? Most products like stereos and such avoid the number 13 for the obvious reasons. It is the commercial kiss of death to use this number on any product.
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 1999-07-02 11:38
James wrote:
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Is it a coincedence that the best clarinet in the world the Buffet R-13 has that dark penetrating sound that pros and players like.
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Make that "best selling". IMHO, there are other clarinets, some made by Buffet, that sound as good if not better than a standard R-13 on the average.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-07-02 15:29
Having played a bit of the "haunting" oboe, then the English Horn [cor anglaise -sp?], its sound [to me] is the most melancholy of the reeds, just listen to the Swan of Tuonela, Franck's D minor symp and On the Steppes of Cent. Asia for starters. But yes, the clar can be "hollow in the lower chalemaux -sp?. Don
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Author: STuart
Date: 1999-07-02 19:51
James, the number 13 has superticious origins deeper than bad luck. Some say it was Judas the thirteenth disciple.
But check this:
(from Graham Locke's Forces in Motion - Interveiws with Anthony Braxton). There is a thirteenth sign, Arachna, the spider, a feminine sign. It was suppressed when the twelve month cycle replaced the 13th, a lunar cycle. The spider is also a feminine sign. The lunar cycle also has something to do with this stuff. So after I became aware of this I stopped fearing 13, but it didn't help my love life at all.
Anyway, to prefer a dark sound just because is a diffeciency of cultural understanding. You live in a huge world of sound that goes far beyond the orchaestra. I used to be hooked on the dark, too, now I just listen for the soul.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 1999-07-02 22:18
If you fear the number 13, take a look at the back of a one dollar bill. There are many items grouped in thirteens, e.g., thirteen arrows in one eagle's claw, thirteen leaves on the ivy branch in the other claw, thirteen stars, thirteen stripes, etc., etc. As a service to all of my superstitious friends, send me any one dollar bills you receive and I will dispose of them for you. It will improve your luck!
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Author: Kylene
Date: 1999-07-04 05:17
I would be willing to bet that the "13"s on the back of a dollar bill are due to the thirteen colonies...not superstition. But I certianly dont think they are unlucky! Ill take as many as I can get!!!!!!
As for the R-13, I think it does have a beautiful, dark sound, and a great color.
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Author: Contragirl
Date: 1999-07-04 19:03
Don Poulsen wrote:
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If you fear the number 13, take a look at the back of a one dollar bill. There are many items grouped in thirteens, e.g., thirteen arrows in one eagle's claw, thirteen leaves on the ivy branch in the other claw, thirteen stars, thirteen stripes, etc., etc. As a service to all of my superstitious friends, send me any one dollar bills you receive and I will dispose of them for you. It will improve your luck!
Very funny! Kylene is probably right, that it's because of the thirteen colonies, but hey, it was worth a shot!
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Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-07-06 18:05
Hmm...I'm a horror writer and horror movie critic. Clarinet was my first wind instrument. Wonder if there's a connection? ;-)
Someone asked about the red "spots" in clarinet wood. That's just the natural color, the way the tree develops, due to the amount of moisture and average temperature changing from year to year and to the chemical content of the soil where the wood grows. Most of the different types of "grenadilla" wood used in clarinets are naturally streaky this way. Wood that's naturally solid jet black *and* large enough to make a clarinet is very rare today, since cocus and most of the other types of ebony that used to be used are endangered now.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-07-06 22:13
Weren't a bunch of our country's forefathers in the Masons? Think about it, then research the unpublished American history to verify that many of these men were absolutely brilliant, yet they were deeply involved in both superstition and the occult. That's the reason for all of the 13 numbers and signs on the dollar bill. And in the same breath, they also made it a point to say "In God We Trust" on our money. Makes one wonder every now and then, eh?
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