robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (05/10/84)
References: It is pleasurable and instructive to listen to performances of old instruments. But beware of the many ways that they are probably not being played or heard in the traditional manner. Ancient wind instruments usually sound out of tune. It is possible they were played as in tune (but to different scales!) as modern instruments. Most modern virtuosi spend years playing one instrument to get really good at intonation. Most players of ancient instruments do not know their instrument so well. (The same argument goes for technique in general.) Methods of making reeds may have changed. Shawms always seem to have a shwoopsy attack below pitch for every note. I have heard the alto and tenor shawm played with a clean attack on every note. It can be done, but WAS it traditionally done? String technique has changed enormously. Even changes in styles of accenting notes and slurring have an enormous effect on the sound of string instruments. The worst problem of all -- we moderns HEAR instruments differently from our ancestors. It's hard to account for this difference, but it is an immense factor. A recent example of what I mean -- those of you who are old enough will remember that Rock music in the 1950's was considered to be incredibly heavy and pounding in its rhythms. The heavy, pounding rock recordings of the 50's sound light and delicate today. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison princeton!eosp1!robison
urban@trwspp.UUCP (05/14/84)
* <- nasty bug >> Methods of making reeds may have changed. Shawms always seem to have a >> shwoopsy attack below pitch for every note. I have heard the alto and >> tenor shawm played with a clean attack on every note. It can be >> done, but WAS it traditionally done? I've been playing soprano shawm for all of six weeks, so I'm a real expert by Usenet standards :-) ... Generally I find that the "shwoopsy" attack on a note is the result of my own inexperience with the instrument. It's a matter of attacking underpitch and then immediately correcting the note. Like an oboe, a given fingering on the shawm can provide a whole host of notes depending on air pressure, reed pressure, and reed position. Lots of variables to play with. Then there's atmospheric condition. In any case, the more experienced shawm players I know always attack their notes dead on. But the pictures of Renaissance musicians don't show them playing the instrument like an oboe at all! Instead, they seem to have placed their mouth way down the reed to the mouthpiece (accounts for the cup-shaped mouthpiece) and blown with their cheeks puffed out instead of the tight-cheeked oboe-like embouchure. This produces a blatty duck-like sound that's pretty ugly to modern ears. I'll play my krummhorn when I want to make peculiar sounds. By the way, re: galliard tempo -- we play (and dance) galliards at the local Renaissance Faire, and generally go as up-tempo as the musicians and dancers can handle it.
jlg@lanl-a.UUCP (05/15/84)
iii Don't take pictures of renaissance musicians too seriously. The artist probably didn't play any instruments and was exagerating the mechanics of playing the instruments. I've seen tapestries in which recorder players had distended cheeks! We know from direct examination of the recorders of that period that they weren't THAT hard to blow.
ken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow) (05/16/84)
-- >> >> Methods of making reeds may have changed. Shawms always seem to have a >> >> shwoopsy attack below pitch for every note. I have heard the alto and >> >> tenor shawm played with a clean attack on every note. It can be >> >> done, but WAS it traditionally done? >> I've been playing soprano shawm for all of six weeks, so I'm a real >> expert by Usenet standards :-) ... Generally I find that the >> "shwoopsy" attack on a note is the result of my own inexperience >> with the instrument. It's a matter of attacking underpitch >> and then immediately correcting the note. Like an oboe, a >> given fingering on the shawm can provide a whole host of notes >> depending on air pressure, reed pressure, and reed position. Lots >> of variables to play with. Then there's atmospheric condition. >> In any case, the more experienced shawm players I know always >> attack their notes dead on. >> But the pictures of Renaissance musicians don't show them playing >> the instrument like an oboe at all! Instead, they seem to have >> placed their mouth way down the reed to the mouthpiece (accounts >> for the cup-shaped mouthpiece) and blown with their cheeks puffed >> out instead of the tight-cheeked oboe-like embouchure... I've been playing Renaissance reeds for years, though since I picked up the viol 3 years ago it's been hard to go back to the unrefined sound. Yes, historic (including iconographic) evidence on shawm embouchure is as stated above, and it sounds like hell when we ex- oboists try it. On the other hand, we have only sketchy evidence about Renaissance reed-making. I suspect that poor sound and wavering attack are caused by bad reeds. (All oboists blame their reeds.) A research summary in a recent Chicago Area Early Music Assn newsletter maintained that krumhorn reeds were quite square and thick, and played absolutely dry! The author found an obscure treatise, followed the directions, and claimed to get a secure, sweet sound. I can get sure attacks on my soprano shawm because I can keep the steady pressure required--and you have to learn the subtleties of your particular instrument to do so. I also have played with the reeds to give myself the best advantage--I recommend not shaving them thin more than 1/4" back, and especially leave a good center ridge. Better to have a stiff reed that sounds square on when you reach its hard pressure than a kazoo-type object you could play through your nose. -- *** *** JE MAINTIENDRAI ***** ***** ****** ****** 15 May 84 [26 Floreal An CXCII] ken perlow ***** ***** (312)979-7261 ** ** ** ** ..ihnp4!ihuxq!ken *** ***