What causes the tone of one woodwind player to be different than another? For a singer, the shape and size of the larynx and chest and head cavities create dramatic tonal differences. But all sax players play with reeds and horns that are more similar than they are different (in my observation). Do the players heads/throats affect tone? I was reading an interview with sax player Jeff Coffin in Jazz Improv magazineand he talked about how he was still seeking the tone he wanted while playing soprano sax, like it was some lifetime quest.
Is this individuality of tone as important to classical musicians as it is to jazz/pop musicians? A symphonic clarinet player would never want to have a tone as distinct as, say, Gato Barbieri. But do they strive for some standard ideal tone, or still have their individuality?
(I am a guitar player, and tone is a very big thing with electric guitar players, but they tend to seek tone in their equipment rather than their technique. However, the wiser players will tell you that “tone is in the hands.” Clapton’s guitar tech said that Clapton can plug any guitar into any amp and it still sounds like Clapton.)
I played the flute when I was younger, and I’d say the tone comes partly from the composition of the instrument and partly from the shape of your mouth and your breath control as you play it.
I think uniqueness of tone does matter to classical players to some extent. Listen to recordings of James Galway and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Both great flautists, but with very different tones, with Galway’s somewhat reflecting his heritage.
Ditto here - another guitar player with nothing to add regarding 'winds, but I would love my ignorance fought by fellow Dopers. And yeah, the tone is in the hands for guitar players - but part of that is the choices they make regarding their instrument and rig…
I heard a quote from Yo Yo Ma that basically said “a tone is great when it is incomplete and leads to the listener filling in the gaps their own way.” I think there is a lot of truth to this - it is the tonal equivalent of “it’s not the notes; it’s the spaces between the notes”…and when I hear a tenor man like Ben Webster who has the most velvety-smooth attack I have ever heard, I can tell I am filling in the gaps that his mature, romantic, strong-but-gentle tone opens up…very different from, say Clarence Clemmons’ braying sax on a Bruce song…