I almost felt the love, Bryan... There`s no reason to start at it again, but.... please don`t start on Frank Cohen, or it`s gonna make me really angry... Yes, Frank Cohen`s playing has evolved into something that most of us cannot always understand, but again, we are talking about someone who won Munich and only took two orchestral auditions in his life and won them both..... Grrrr... don`t get me started. Please try to look at the good in people instead of the bad.. People who are truly consumed by music tend to be very happy and positive all the time, instead of negative.

Yes, Frank has forgotten about the clarinet in a sense, but musicians like him ONLY think about music when they play. The instrument might be out of tune, his tone quality might sound like a saxophone, BUT the nature of his sound is like singing. I can hear his voice when he plays--that has more merit than anything, and even though not all clarinetists can hear that, non-musicians can.

Once you start to ONLY think about music when you play, that`s when you are on to something. You can`t completely forget about the clarinet, of course... but... maybe some of you know what I mean....

I`d just like to point out that it is possible to have a singing tone and still play in tune and have your clarinet sound like a clarinet. I sound like this when I`m playing well, and I`m only a student, so it shouldn`t be that hard for a professional to do.

Do you always have tio disagree.. You don`t have to take someones comment, like Wild`s for example and argue. He made a statement that I find to be very true and then you say oh but I can do it and it`s easy, you don`t have to be a professional. Maybe I`m wrong but that sounds negative

Who said it was easy? It took me over a decade of solid work to get a sound that I like. However, it IS easy once you`ve put the work in.
I`m not being negative, just expressing my opinion. And the point I made was just as valid as the one Wild made.
Besides, I like discussing things, and I don`t see why I should pretend to agree with something that I don`t agree with.

Ok... now for how I sound on a bad day
honk...squawk...honk...squeak (fumbles easy passage)...(throws metronome across room) (decides just to play scales) (fumbles C major scale) "Oh, for Christ`s sake, I`ll never be a professional if I play like THIS!"... puts clarinet away, sulks, attempts to play piano.
Luckily I`ve been having more good days than bad lately.

Ain`t it the truth?!! Its when you fumble your easiest scales that you realise that you`re either having a really bad day or that maybe you`re not cut out for it. The trick is to think about the former, not the latter.

"NO SOUP FOR YOU!"

Excuse me for interrupting this heated discussion, but, how do you pronounce "Neidich"? Is it Knee-dik?

Thanks, from the Linguistic fanatic.

What`s really bad is when you sound bad on the pieces that your beginner students are playing... that`s when you KNOW you`re having a bad day. That hasn`t really happened to me though, except for a couple of times where my sound was too harsh or too weak.

Just like you would in German for the first syllable...long i. So I guess NI-dik.

Rachael exclaimed:
"I [have a singing tone] when I`m playing well, and I`m only a student, so it shouldn`t be that hard for a professional to do."

This statement is very telling. Most clarinetists who are extremely sensitive players (meaning sensitive to what`s happening in the music haromincally, structurally, melodically, atmospherically, ensemblely etc..) never really feel satisfied with their level of expressive playing and always want more--even when they are playing their best, the best players want more. The people who don`t play expressively are usually extremely complacent and very happy with themselves.

Draw your swords! :-P

Wild - you just can`t help yourself, can you!! Just to add my two cents, I`ve been told by teachers and fellow students that despite my current slight limitations at the moment in technical aspects and a few other things, I have a really warm, expressive, singing tone and that`s a great place to work from - that`s something you can have, to some extent, without the other things, naturally. It`s when it`s paired with the other refined aspects that it becomes really spectacular, musically.
Dmitri - what the?
Bob - you`re full of s**t. Rachel wasn`t arguing - just stating a point.
Rachel - What`s even worse than sounding like crap is when you have to DEMONSTRATE something to your beginning students and you can`t even manage that on a bad day! How embarrassing!

"I have a really warm, expressive, singing tone and that`s a great place to work from." I bet this makes you sleep well at night, don`t it? I smell complacency.... You know Ricardo Morales, who most definitely has one of the "great sounds," is never really satisfied with the tone he makes.

Don`t think about yourself, think about the music.

The "I" "me", "I!", "Me, me, me" comments from Alyssa and Rachael are the reason that I envision them speaking with british accents. Everyone go back and read their posts with extremely arrogant British accents and listen to how funny it sounds. "I have a singing tone! Hmph! Oh bl@ody hell, how dare YOU, wild!"

Look guys no need to fight. Don`t what the , don`t you`re full of s**t, how about ignoring certain misunderstandings.. can`t we all get on

The fact that a player is happy with one aspect of their playing doesn`t mean that they will be happy with everything they do.
There are many things in my playing which I`m not happy with. My sound is not one of them. I am, however, always trying to improve- that is why I practice. (Well, actually, it`s because I`m just soooooo brilliant and I love to hear the sound of my playing. )
Also, I did qualify the statement with "when I`m playing well" Even then, I`m not entirely happy with my sound- the chalmeau register tends towards harshness, and the altissimo is too thin.
Wild- would you STOP overreacting to everything people say. Noone said "How dare you, Wild" or anything like that. This is a discussion board. For discussing things.
Anything sounds funny if it is said in an arrogant British accent. Go and read some of Wild`s posts in that way.
Why shouldn`t Alyssa and I make "I" and "me" statements? These are my opinions being expressed. What are we supposed to say "My cat has a beautiful sound?" "My little brother dislikes excess vibrato?"