Re: Tarras's clarinets

[Andreas Edlund <andreasedlund...>]

Kurt B wrote:


>I am also surprised by the statement that Tarras plays with a #3 or 4 reed.
>How is this known!?  Again I am reasonably sure (as certain as I can be
>without physical proof) that he typically used very soft reeds, but it 
>would
>be very interested to learn otherwise.  But then I would have to wonder, 
>how
>does he get a #4 reed to sound like a #1?!

Playing on a mouthpiece with extremely small opening might get a #4 reed 
feel like
a #1 on a mouthpiece with bigger opening. But it would not get the sound 
right I guess..
My guess is that the oldtimers used soft reeds on small openings. This would
give that penetrating brilliance and small body of the sound, that we hear 
on the recordings.
But again, this kind of sound might more reflect the poverty of recording 
technology during that
time than the actual sound of the players... who knows?

Nowadays I don't care very much, but during my time at school
(classical music studies), using harder reeds certainly
was more accepted and held a higher status than using soft ones (I 
personally
always preferred the softer reeds!)
So the explanation of pretending
to play on a harder reed just because a wish of being
perceived more seriously, seems likely to me.

Thanks for the info about the speed of the 78's! It is SO easy to take 
things
for granted. I should have thought about it.. Even the tempo is wrong, of 
course.
Do you think that is the case also with "Undzer Toyrele"? There we have an 
Eb-clarinet
playing (on my recording) in Ahava Raba on concert Ab. Certainly not 
impossible for
the Eb-clarinet, but more likely for the other instruments in Bb and C to 
play a half tone down.
This phenomenon of 78´s playing back at wrong speed - is it like silent 
movies, that they
mostly go to fast?

----------------
Andreas Edlund
Gothenburg
Sweden





_________________________________________________________________
MSN Messenger: converse com os seus amigos online. 
http://messenger.msn.com.br

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+