Klarinet Archive - Posting 000149.txt from 1995/06

From: Ed Pearlstein <e_p@-----.EDU>
Subj: Do A and B-flat clarinets have different timbres?
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 1995 19:23:45 -0400

The question of whether the A and B-flat clarinet have
basically different tone quality (or timbre) has gone around and around.
I won't presume to give an answer, but there seem to be some relevant
points that weren't mentioned.
There is the very fundamental matter of what one means by
"different". Different for the same pitches, or different for the same
fingerings? Thus a written C for the B-flat would be played as a written
C# on the A. Now one has only to look at a clarinet to see that the
arrangement of holes that are open will be very different in these two
instruments playing the same pitch, so the acoustics will be different and
quite likely the timbre. We all know that different notes even on the
same instrument have different timbre. So I suggest that a discussion of
the question be on whether the timbres are different for the same
*written* notes, without transposing.
To a first approximation, the A can be considered as a scale
model of the B-flat, with all distances being a factor of about 1.0595
(the ratio for a semitone) greater. This would lead one to expect that
they would have the same timbre for the same written notes, IF they are
otherwise identical. Two points need to be made about the requirement
"otherwise identical". One is that two samples of the same model
instrument seem to be different anyhow, as attested to by people who try
them out, so the effect of tiny accidental differences in manufacture can
be detected. The other point is that although the A might be a scale
model of the B-flat with regard to distances along the tube, between
holes, etc., the bore of the A is the same diameter as that of the B-flat,
not a factor of 1.0595 greater. Also the mouthpiece, reed, and the
player's lips are the same size for both instruments.
Another point, highly speculative. Different fingerings, for
the same pitch, might, because of different difficulties, induce subtle
differences in an artist's rendering.