Klarinet Archive - Posting 000505.txt from 1996/07

From: Ian Dilley <imd@-----.UK>
Subj: Tone colour
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 06:30:30 -0400

Roger,
I obviously didn't express myself very well. I didn't mean that oboes
could sound like clarinets. I think that what I meant to say was that given
a particular reed/mouthpiece/embouchure/mouth cavity etc. the cutoff
frequency is the main factor determining the tone quality of the
instrument.

I re-read this section in Benade's book last night. He puts a lot of the
percieved differences in sound quality of different materials down to the
sharpness of the edges of the tone holes. Apparently sharp edges to tone
holes cause turbulence and alter the sound. He claims that by rounding the
edges of the holes on a metal flute he turned one into an instrument that
flute players considered to sound and play like a wooden flute.

Ian Dilley

PS My comment about playing C parts on an A clarinet was not really
serious.

> I haven't read Benade, but tone quality "almost entirely" dependent on
> cutoff frequency seems a *bit* extreme. Would this explain the
> difference in sound between a clarinet and an oboe? I think not. The
> 1800s C instrument probably had smaller tone holes and a narrower bore
> then a modern B flat. It would have been played with a decidedly
> different mouthpiece as well, so its sound would not have resembled that
> of a modern A clarinet much. Whatever the acoustic properties of the
> instrument's tube, the reed/mouthpiece/embouchure/mouth cavity
> combination are surely going to be important as well - aren't they?