Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2008-12-03 13:23
hautbois wrote:
> To a limited extent, I agree with doublereeder2 -- it is not
> magic or wishful thinking. But I believe, as the instrument is
> blown in, that the nature and location of the vibrations has
> significant affect on the wood, in both the bore and toneholes.
> It seems likely that using extreme care in playing in tune can
> create a consistent vibration pattern in the bore and relevant
> toneholes and affect the wood, possibly in a beneficial way for
> your intonation concerns. No doubt there is a limit to the
> effectiveness of this long-term 'fix' process. It is at that
> time (and I suggested a year earlier) that one could consider
> tonehole or bore adjustments.
If you're changing an instrument (adjusting it) - it's not magic. If you think "playing it in tune" (whatever that means, since any good player automatically sharpens or flattens their pitch to make it match their ensemble and music), then it's "magic". Those vibrations are just that, and the instrument body hardly vibrates at all - the AIR COLUMN inside the instrument vibrates and "leaks out" to allow others to hear the sound.
If you're playing a new instrument carefully and listening for the intonation quirks then of course you're going to start compensating - and after a good amount of practice it becomes instinctive. It appears as if the instrument's intonation is better - but it's YOU]/b] who is better at playing with the correct intonation. Don't give credit where it isn't due - give YOURSELF the credit.
As you get better, your instrument selection will get better - what you listen for with "young ears" is going to be refined over time. Do the instruments selected by our idols play better than ours? Perhaps - but if that tendency exists at all it is because they select better instruments (or make different tradeoffs) than we do, not because they have "magic breath".
Maybe we would all like to believe that there's some magic involved ...
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