Klarinet Archive - Posting 000151.txt from 1996/06

From: "Scott D. Morrow" <SDM@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: clarinet sound level
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 10:48:53 -0400

> Hello: I am a chemist and amateur clarinet player who has been reading
> this list for the past few months. Would anyone know the reasonable
> maximum volume that a Bb clarinet player should be able to produce?
>

The volume is about 1 litre, but even if you cover the end of the
bell, it tends to leak out through the holes!

Seriously, though, it would seem to me that we would never be
expected to 'overblow', and that no one instrument in a woodwind quintet
has the ability to drown out all the others! I would also think that most
composers take the relative volume characteristics of the instruments into
account when writing for this group (or any group: that's why you need
multiple clarinets/part in a band). Maybe the other musicians in your
group are just playing too loud!

-Scott

Scott D. Morrow
Department of Biochemistry
School of Hygiene and Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
(410)-955-3631

SDM@-----.edu