Author: seabreeze
Date: 2014-10-23 08:15
Some of Daniel Bonade's students didn't especially want to sound like him, but he insisted that they buy his mouthpiece with his facing and use it for their private lessons. There is a story that when one of his excellent students, Robert Listokin, recorded a selection of the Rose studies, Bonade insisted on "fixing" Listokin's reed after each take. Fixing meant making it sound very French style, bordering on buzzy. After his student days, Listokin played with a different reed and mouthpiece (one of Genusa's I believe) and much more of a round "American" sound. But when he was with the boss (Bonade) he had to do things the boss's way.
One Bonade student I studied with said he and many of his fellow students would have a place in their case for the Bonade mouthpiece, the Bonade ligature, and even the Bonade style rush-thinned reed which they would dutifully endure for the space of a each lesson. Once out of earshot, they would put on the mouthpiece (such as a Jenney or a Kaspar) that they really wanted to play to give them what they considered more of an American sound than the French sound Bonade wanted to hear.
So none of this business of a teacher (even a famous, celebrated one) wanting something the student doesn't want is new or unusual. Of course, some teachers such as Leon Russianoff had a very different, less dogmatic, approach.
On the question of producing the sounds of the Oehler clarinet on a Boehm, it can't really be done, but some players do a good imitation. Certain mouthpieces such as the Vandoren M30D, the Fobes Europa, the Grabner G models, the Nick Kuckmeiers from Austria, and the Eddie Daniels Backun model can, with the right reed, ligature, and barrel, produce a dark, covered sound that is fairly close to but not identical with the German. The Yamaha CSG Boehm clarinet paired with this kind of equipment can perhaps come closest. (I have not yet tried the new Uebel Boehms). When I use such equipment I've found it necessary to have a mouthpiece tech give me a more comfortable facing than the ones that come with the mouthpieces.
Asking a student to go through this trouble and expense would seem to be excessive. But perhaps the teacher has a simpler, more affordable adaptation in mind. What specific changes in setup or production techniques is your teacher recommending?
Post Edited (2014-10-23 09:17)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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