Klarinet Archive - Posting 000149.txt from 1994/10

From: Cary Karp <karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Bell shape
Date: Sat, 15 Oct 1994 04:07:50 -0400

On Fri, 14 Oct 1994, Dan Leeson wrote:

> And I have no idea why the bell is bulbous rather than flared.
> I don't believe anyone has made an conclusions or even suggestions as to
> the consequences of this shape.

One of the first indications that supplies of boxwood were drying up after
centuries of being the material of choice for the manufacture of turned
woodwinds, was that the bells on larger instruments were starting
to be made in alternate materials. Boxwood of suitable diameter for
flared bells was simply no longer to be had. An alternative approach was
the redesign of the bell into the bulb shape. The musical viability of
the latter configuration was in all likelihood determined subsequent to
the first such economically motivated experiment.

Laboratory work has been done on the comparative acoustic properties of
the two shapes and, although they do differ, functional conical analogs to
the bulb bells have been designed.