Klarinet Archive - Posting 000052.txt from 1996/05

From: Steve Prescott <mipresc@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: A question about acoustics
Date: Fri, 3 May 1996 10:13:58 -0400

Dan L. Wrote:

>Would some kind soul out there help me understand why the clarinet
>overblows a 12th while a bassoon, a flute, and an oboe overblow an
>octave.
>
>Please, no shooting from the hip, but serious knowledge about the
>phenomenon. Even better would be an explanation followed by a
>scholarly reference.
>
>Much obliged.
>
>
Dan,

To the best of my knowledge on acoustics (which is limited at best) The
clarinet overblows the twelfth because the bore is essentially cylindrical
and since the first overtone of a cylindrical closed tube is the third
harmonic of the fundamental. Or, put another way, since the clarinet only
sounds the odd harmonic, it overblows the twelfth. The clarinet is said to
be a cylindrical "closed" tube because it is closed at one end (the
mouthpiece end, when you play).

Try Gibson's "Clarinet Acoustics". I think Johnathan Choler is still on
the list; he could possibly be more clear...Is Veirginia Benade still out
there?

Steve.

Steve Prescott
Instrument Rep.Tech./ Clarinetist
Indiana State University
mipresc@-----.edu