Author: Tom Puwalski
Date: 2006-04-06 11:00
I woke up early this morning so I was on the computer looking at various clarinet related web sites and I something struck me as really strange. The amazing amount of "artists" there are. We have: Clarinet artists; mouthpiece artists; reed artists;and even ligature artists. I'm sitting here really perplexed by this. Do clarinetists really buy a piece of equipment because Dr. X uses it at University of west nowhere, or Mr. X plays this in the "Last place on Earth philharmonic" Do clarinetists find these useful? Do clarinetists even believe that the artists play what they say they play?
In an effort to have more disclosure on the board. I will say this I'm a Yamaha performing artist. I play a Yamaha SEV, and until someone builds something that plays better for me, I will keep playing it. So before I get emails from everyone telling me what they think is better I'll add this: If a Bb clarinet mouthpiece will fit on it, I either have it in my basement or had it and it ended up on ebay. But I digress, what Yamaha has done for me, has been to help defer some expenses for concerts that I was going play anyway. Thus making it easier for the venue to afford to do the concert or master class. That makes sense, if you're building a good clarinet you want to sell them, lets help someone who plays it reach more people.
What is the responsibility of "artists" to other clarinetists and to the companies they are artists for? I know I've seen some really flaky "artist" stuff, and I've know we've all heard the various "artist urban legends" He doesn't really play that clarinet in performances, or he plays brand X but has had brand Z's logo put on it. Or they pay him or her six figures for to play that or they would play something else.He or she didn't win the job on that. I'm sure there is more.
Maybe someone out there can shed some light on this phenomena for me, or better yet share some really "out there" stories. Maybe even mo betta--have an ideas for the ethics of endorsements!
Tom Puwalski, former soloist with the US Army Field Band, Clarinetist with Lox&Vodka, and Author of "The Clarinetist's Guide to Klezmer"and most recently by the order of the wizard of Oz, for supreme intelligence, a Masters in Clarinet performance
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