Klarinet Archive - Posting 000120.txt from 1994/10

From: Ross Ramsey <ramsey@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: "resonators"
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 20:46:01 -0400

It's more a matter of what the horn sounds like in general, rather than
particular notes. Saxes have so much interior area covered by pads that
they absorb sound unless you put in something solid for the sound to
bounce off of. The effect is more apparent on the bottom end of the horn,
but you can definitely hear it on most notes...

Ross Ramsey.
Austin, TX

On Wed, 12 Oct 1994, Dick Williams wrote:

> I have recently seen the word resonantor used in reference to the
> washer shaped devices (usually of metal or plastic) which are in
> the middle of the pads of a saxophone (or on some low clarinets and
> flutes). I had thought they were to provide mechanical support for
> the large pads; evidently they have some effect on tonal quality.
> They are available (perhaps as an option) on the Leblanc Concerto.
>
> Seems a general question: what is the effect of the pad material
> (plastic, fish skin, cork, metal resonator, leather) on the tone
> produced from that tone hole? (If there is an effect.)
>