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Re: Squillo

Author: DAVE
Date: 2022-08-26 04:59

Kohan's tone to my ear is velvety but still retains the ring in the sound, or the higher overtones. It's clear that his reeds aren't the hardest ones available. I wouldn't be surprised if his reeds are of a medium strength, like a Vandoren 3.5. IMO, his tone is the right sort of "dark" rather than the dull and stuffy version that I hear these days from many American players.

The B40 is an excellent mouthpiece when paired with a proper reed like a Vandoren 3 or 3.5. It's when you slap a 4.5 or 5 on it that it begins to sound awful. Nicholas Baldeyrou used to play a B40 and had a lovely balanced sound. His beautiful tone is still retained on his BD5 and BD4, which he apparently plays now. Seems the europeans aren't obsessed with a so-called 'dark' sound and have fallen into the trap of playing innapropriate reeds.

That velvety sound I mentioned above results from the clarinetist selecting an appropriate reed and then using the airstream and embouchure, all in perfect balance. Slapping a really hard reed on the mouthpiece gives the inexperienced player the false sense of a 'dark tone' without ever learning to properly shape the sound with the airstream and embouchure. Maybe it could be better said as to "tame" the sound rather than "shape". In my original post I commented that the young player would be frightened if he were to produce a lively, resonant sound, and it's exactly this sort of sound that can be shaped to that velvety sound that Kohan is getting. See, you can always smooth out a vibrant sound, but you'd be hard pressed to create a ringing tone from a reed that's too hard. This is why it's critical to dissuade young players from really hard reeds; they never learn control. The reed does all their work. I liken it to driving a car that won't steer properly.

I've read so many stories on this board over the years about how this or that player's reeds were so free blowing, from Harold Wright to Karl Leister. I know that my teacher Larry Combs never played hard reeds; he played 3.5s or 4 V12s with his Larry Combs mouthpiece (LC1). The point I'm trying to make here is that these players, along with the best European players of today, the names we all know, are NOT playing super hard reeds and turning all red and purple with a failed attempt at getting a 'dark' tone that almost no one can hear.

Once in a lesson with Larry Combs I had an unresponsive reed that produced a somewhat muffled tone. Larry looked at me with his had over his mouth and began talking, which of course muddied up his voice. He was demonstrating that my setup that day was preventing me from making a clear, resonant tone.. squillo.

The older players, those taught by Bonade, etc. did have that squillo in their playing all the time and that is what made those tones so beautiful. Kohan also has that to some extent, where he allows the clarinet to brighten and ring in the higher register. I'm certain that in a recital that I could easily hear Kohan fill a room even at a pp dynamic. Contrast that with one of today's leading clarinet players, again a name that is worshiped, who I had the chance to hear play the Mozart Concerto in a small hall, and while played as perfectly as possible, he was all but inaudible. I guess his dark lovely tone is kept for himself and no one else?

I left a recital performed by another of today's greats and those many of us left shooting sideward glances to one another and ultimately agreeing that it was perfect, but... um... where was the tone? Can he play above mp?

Or once I was driving my car and heard Shostakovich 5 playing, the slow movement, or maybe the first movement... heard the low clarinet duet... listened carefully while the principal clarinet was nearly inaudible and the second was ringing through clear as a bell. Stayed to the end and was unsurprised at the performer, a name I knew well. Wish I knew who that 2nd player was who played so beautifully.

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Squillo new

DAVE

2022-08-22 03:35