Klarinet Archive - Posting 000229.txt from 1993/11

From: Cary Karp <nrm-karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: Clarinet sound
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 17:27:27 -0500

Seen in physical terms a clarinet, just like any other brass or
woodwind instrument, has two main components: an excitor and a
resonator. The excitor, or reed, admits air into the interior of the
instrument as periodic abrupt changes of air pressure. These in turn
cause the air inside the instrument to vibrate. Under the proper
circumstances, the two vibrating systems couple to produce a standing
wave which extends somewhat beyond the physical limits of the
instrument itself -- outside the bell, mouthpiece and (with some very
significant limitations) fingerholes. Thus, the air in the player's
body cavities close to the mouthpiece is also participatory in the
vibration. The second component in the system, the resonator, is
therefore delimited not only by the clarinet's interior dimensions
but also by the dimensions of the player's upper respiratory system.

In addition to the fuzzy physical boundaries of all this, the
composition of the gaseous medium in which the standing wave is
propagated (the player's "breath") can make a pretty hefty difference
in the characteristics of the vibrating system. (Try burping into a
clarinet while playing it and see if you hear a difference :-) The
system will also be vibrating at a large number of frequencies
simultaneously. The first partial frequency of vibration -- the
fundamental -- will determine what we perceive as the pitch of the
resultant sound. The relative amplitudes of the higher partials will
be a major determinant of tone color. Although there is plenty more
of profound significance to be considered, let's stop here for now.

How can the various bits and pieces of the player and instrument
influence the audible behavior of this vibrating blob of air? A soft
ligature might bleed off energy from higher frequency components of
the reed's vibration which otherwise could more efficiently have
excited higher partials of the air's vibration. A crystal mouthpiece
might be less inclined to dampen the higher frequency components of
the reed's vibration than would an ebonite mouthpiece. Mushy pads
hanging close to toneholes might dampen some partials of the
vibrating air that more open keys with metal resonators on the pads
would reinforce. There will be greater energy losses due to friction
between the air column and bore surface if that surface is rough
rather than smooth. Experienced players are better than beginners at
using their lips to prevent a cantankerous reed from breaking free
from the locked vibrational regimes of the reed and air column, and
squeaking. Etc., etc., etc, etc, . . . .

Not terribly much of this can be described in any precise metric
sense so don't expect there to be a comprehensive generative theory
of clarinet sound production any time in the near future. If a
clarinetist tells you that he or she feels that some little detail
really makes a difference, they can easily be right even if you don't
perceive the same detail to be of any significance at all. I don't think
it makes much sense trying to track down ***the single most significant
detail*** in tone production beyond what I regard as the semantically
obvious fact that since we're talking about clarinets, the clarinet
probably ought to be the focal point of the discussion. If we want to
talk about clarinetists, well then, they're in the limelight. Or should
we be talking about the musical sounds produced by clarinetists when
using clarinets ??????

   
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