Phil Barone said:
It wasn't meant to be raucous. It has a large chamber and opening it would make it even darker. I never heard of such an open soprano piece before, the .090 piece. That sounds way too open to me. Phil
Phil,
Raucous is probably the wrong word choice. The only thing I find less than satisfying with my Hollywood sop, and it's personal, not a failing in the piece, is that it's just a small tip opening for my preference. .090 is not too open a sop piece. I think that many of the problems that less experienced or players who only play soprano occassionally have are related to tip openings that are too small and using reeds that are too soft. Why my .090 is a child's piece compared to Lieb's .105.
Seems to me that most players blow the sop like it's gonna break, of course I think many play tenor that way too. You know one has to get a good controlled, full air stream from the gut....that goes for the sop too, maybe even moreso.
Next time I'm in NYC I'll give you a call, I'd love to have the Hollywood opened up, but I wouldn't send it to anyone else since you know the piece best as it's creator.