Klarinet Archive - Posting 000185.txt from 1996/09

From: Daniel Abramovich <dabramov@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Re the "gut" feel
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 23:35:45 -0400

One more thing to throw into the mix... If material doesn't matter, what
about those old metal clarinets? You know, the ones that no one will
play on, the ones that people told me when I picked one up cheap not to
bother putting pads on it and that all it's good for is to make a lamp out
of (I did...looks pretty cool). While there make have been more to why
people dislike them then just the material, if it had nothing to do with
it, it seems they would have been improved rather then discontinued and
mocked.

Incidentally, it would seem to me that material would *have* to matter.
While clearly it is the player that is perhaps almost entirely responsible
for the tone, it *is* scientific fact that different material have
different effects on sound. Some absorb sound, some resonate with the
sound. The differece may be subtle but is *has* to be there.

Also, to step away from scientific analysis, remember, they *still* don't
know what exactly Stratavarius(sp?) did differently...

My personal vote: I can hear a difference when I play on my Buffet
(pre-R13) and my Selmer resonite student model. Also, last time I switched
back and forth, my mother commented that something sounded different. She
was in another room and didn't know i had switched.

/// Daniel Jay Abramovich dabramov@-----.edu
. . Residential Computer Consultant @-----.edu
| http://www.tufts.edu/~dabramov @-----.edu

Velilind's Laws of Experimentation:
(1) If reproducibility may be a problem, conduct the test only
once.
(2) If a straight line fit is required, obtain only two data
points.