Klarinet Archive - Posting 000091.txt from 1996/05

From: Bruce Currie <BCurrie101@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Why overblow at a twelfth
Date: Mon, 6 May 1996 01:01:09 -0400

My acoustics books from grad school include (these are hard-cover,
text-book size):

"The Acoustical Foundations of Music", second edition, by John
Backus (c.1977); W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.; $10.95 in 1978.

"Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics" by Arthur H. Benade (c.1976);
Oxford University Press; $14 in 1978.

Both are by physicists with a serious interest in music. Any newer
editions?

>Date: Fri, 3 May 1996 10:55:13 -0700
>From: "Kirby W. Fong" <kfong@-----.EDU>
>Sender: "Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network"
<KLARINET@-----.BITNET>
>To: Multiple recipients of list KLARINET
<KLARINET@-----.BITNET>
>Subject: Why overblow at a twelfth
>
> Dan Leeson asked for an explanation of why the clarinet
>overblows at a twelfth. While it is true that in theory a stopped
>cylindrical pipe does not support even harmonics, this is a
>restatement of the phenomenon, not an explanation. I don't really
>know if there is an explanation brief enough to put in an
>electronic mail message, so I will resort to citing substantive
>documents. John Backus is a professor of physics who has written
>several articles about clarinet acoustics in the Journal of the
>Acoustical Society of America; however, for the layman, the best
>place to start is his book "The Acoustical Foundations of Music"
>published by W. W. Norton & Company, New York in 1969. I don't
>know if there is a newer edition; I bought my copy more than 20
>years ago for $9.75. The discussion of the harmonics of a stopped
>pipe is on page 64, but you will have to read the material leading
>up to it. There is only a modest amount of mathematics involved,
>and I think a grasp of high school algebra is all that is
>necessary to understand the explanation. If you get that far, be
>sure to look at the comments about the clarinet in particular on
>pages 188 to 194.
> As long as you're patronizing your friendly local bookdealer,
>you might want to order a copy of "Horns, Strings, & Harmony" by
>Arthur H. Benade. Dr. Benade was also a professor of physics well
>known for his work and experience in musical acoustics. My copy
>of this book was published by Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company,
>Garden City, New York in 1960. It is a paperback that cost me
>$1.45 30 years ago. This has almost no mathematics and so
>explains in only qualitative terms how musical instruments work.
>This is insufficient for explaining why a clarinet overblows at a
>twelfth, but it is an enormously readable book about musical
>acoustics. I do not know if there is a newer edition.
>
> Kirby Fong
> kfong@-----.edu
*******************************************
Bruce Currie
Lombard, Illinois
e-mail: BCurrie101@-----.com
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