Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-12 18:21
I see a couple of themes in this thread that stand out.
* Clarinet Intonation
* Clarinet Teachers
* Ridenour Clarinet Products (RCP)
If I may take them in reserve order:
(RCP)
Poster Jamnik: I note and agree with your feelings of belief in the (RCP) business model and products, and also agree they’re in business ”for one reason and one reason only,” just not the reason you described. RCP is in business, IMHO, to make money. There’s nothing wrong with that, and kudos to them for doing it in a way that provides value and ethics to their customers and the industry.
Original Poster Yaseungkim: As you may be aware, RCP has been one of the most active manufacturers on this bboard. IMHO, the thanks they’ve often got for being so is a metaphorical “kick in the teeth,” if not, in fairness, from you or I. True: posters are entitled to their opinions, and this is not meant necessarily as a disparaging remark towards them or this bboard, but rather, maybe RCP has learned the hard way that “you can’t be all things to all people.”
Ted’s given you opportunity to call him on “his nickel.” Maybe he’s learned that answers to questions invariably lead to only further questions best handled through the immediate feedback of voice communication.
Clarinet Teachers
Original Poster Yaseungkim: I appreciate your concern over your son’s original teacher to be, in your opinion, too inflexible, while the current teacher too non-committal. I’m not witnessing this first hand like you, but I can tell you that I’ve had IMHO both types of teachers, and been both types of teachers.
As it regards my role as teacher, I tend to adjust my teaching style to students so as to be most effective. In one extreme, when a student comes to me, near tears, with specific problems to fix, I analyze, detect, and correct with little flexibility, telling the student in no uncertain terms, “Here is your problem. If you want to get rid of it, this is what you need to do.” My solutions may be multifaceted or incorporate student alternatives, but my stance is, “it’s okay if you don’t take my advice, just don’t come to me with this problem going forward.”
On the other extreme, I may be dealing with a more precocious or adult student, or one who IMHO exhibits a more defensive or passive aggressive or strong willed/opinionated type posture. It could be a music teacher in training learning the basics of clarinet, already coming to the table with knowledge and opinions that deserve to be respected.
By no means am I implying any of these traits to be those of your son, but in such cases, you would likely find me acting more like his current teacher, asking “what do you think about this approach,” knowing in my mind and privately, that what I just suggested was in fact better.
Only you and your son can determine proper fit. Consider talking to this current teacher, if you haven’t.
Clarinet Intonation
Original Poster Yaseungkim: Only you can put a value on the funds you’ll have to part with to acquire an instrument that better approaches proper intonation than others: an attribute that’s also player dependent. Low E/F correction, the subject of this thread, as you’ve heard, is only one of the clarinet’s many intonation “mine fields.” The rest are dealt with through training, acceptance of tradeoffs, and where addressable by a clarinet acoustician (not all intonation problems are) repair. Training can include alternative fingers, embouchure adjustments, and awareness of how temperature and humidty can affect play.
Intonation aside, we could have just as easily had this discussion about left pinky Eb/Ab levers. Some would tell you it’s a nice feature but expensive, others would tell you it’s not needed, some would say they wished they had it and why, and some would say they don't how they lived without it. Yet another camp would tell you how they had theirs removed because it got in the way, and yet another camp would tell you that all manufacturers should provide it as an option because it's not expensive to implement.
I can make you no guarantees, but one of the best clarinet accousticians out there IMHO, that can help with intonation problems on the current instruments of players, and not just for his own wares, is Tom Ridenour.
Should you speak with Ted, you can talk to him about these issues via the very interactive voice conversation that's most conducive to the efficient exchange of ideas, that Ted suggested.
Post Edited (2015-02-12 18:23)
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