Tone, tone, tone

["MaryLarryCarleighReilly Pratt" <mlpratt@xxxxxxx>]

Will Mr. Ross and Mr. Bingham please shake hands, go to your keyboards and
come out typing.  Lets have a good clean thread.  No low flames.

This is getting to be a hilarious thread.  Ok, I have a sick sense of humor.
How sick is it?  When I die I'm planning to be buried in a coffin, an exact
replica of a Marine Band box.  No, no, no, not really.  Couple things about
tone.  I like the definition submitted by Rainbow Jimmy and Virginia Tech.
(Those hokies, they got hokie tone.)

"The particular sound of an instrument or voice, as well as the performer's
particular coloring of that sound. For example, the tone produced by a
certain clarinetist could be said to be rich, dark, and mellow; this is the
result of the natural sound of the instrument, combined with the performer's
particular technique of playing."

"....the natural sound of the instrument, combined with the performer's
particular technique of playing."

 I think this is what Rob has been saying all along.  Tone is a function of
you and your instrument.  I like his differentiation between what you
produce with your instrument and what happens after various electronics are
applied.  Whether you call it tone or sound, I don't care.  But, according
to the Hokies, tone is about you and your instrument.

As to "good tone," well that's a terrible phrase.  Of course "good" is
relative, subjective and not very descriptive, really.  I think of it as
appropriate tone, i.e., appropriate to the style of music you wish to play.
"Good" tone is the tone appropriate to the style.  Piedmont, Delta, Chicago
all have different "appropriate" tones.  I don't even like my choice of the
word "appropriate."  It tends to limit creativity.   Its not that you can't
play a Big Walter piece like Sonny Terry, but it may be difficult to get it
across.  Our ears, taste, brains are trained to expect certain things.  If
we hear a BW tune, we expect it to sound like a BW tune and the closer one
get to a BW tone the better the tune.

Ah, the joys of being tone deaf.

Regards to All,

Larry Boy Pratt