Klarinet Archive - Posting 000893.txt from 1997/05

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.net>
Subj: RE: A clarinet
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 10:12:46 -0400

Dan Leeson wrote:

[snip]

>> Gary,
>>
>> I have, indeed, posted many messages on this subject in the past. By the
>> way, it is not a matter of whether Mr. Benade "thinks" as you said above.
>> All of the work you refer to above by him was extensively experimentally
>> verified.
>>
>> There is no question that higher cutoff frequency = "brighter" and lower
>> cutoff frequency @-----.
>>
>> That does not, however, define what a "nice dark sound" is.
>>
>> Also, in this regard (as I have posted in the past), most of the C
>> clarinets from around Beethoven's time were actually *darker* (lower
>> cutoff) than today's modern Bb clarinets (as is also shown in Benade's
>> diagram that you mention above). Therefore, if the argument is that the
>> composer is going for tone character when he chooses a particular clarinet,
>> it would actually be closer to the composers wishes to use a modern A
>> clarinet to play Beethoven period C clarinet parts.
>
>This is particularly difficult to understand. The C clarinet of
>Beethoven's era as contrasted with the C clarinet made today has little
>architectural difference. True, the media may be different (boxwood
>vs. blackwood), and mouthpiece and reed characteristics undoubtedly
>differ to a great extent. Even the key quantity and placement is,
>of course, different. But I wish to offer the notion that none of these
>things have a significant effect on the character of the sound, a
>phenomenon based mostly on the length of the tube and the
>cylindrical nature of the bore.

Hi Dan!

Glad to have you back on the list.

The cylindrical nature of the bore of course determines much about the
spectral shape of the clarinet sound, and the length of the tube obviously
determines the pitch.

However, the factor that determines the overall "brightness" of the
instrument is the cutoff frequency which is controlled by the size,
placement and shape of the holes, as well as subtle variations in the bore
diameter.

>If what I suggest is true, then I
>challenge your assertion that "most of the C clarinets from around
>Beethoven's time were actually *darker* (lower cutoff) than
>today's modern B-flat clarinets. That is an easy statement to make.
>Where is the data to establish this? What information exists on
>cutoff frequencies of C clarinets from Beethoven's era?

Check out page 489 of Benade's "Fundamental's of Musical Acoustics". He
shows here the cutoff frequencies of a few of the many instruments that he
tested during his career. In particular, he shows a Mueller System Bilton
C clarinet (circa 1830) versus an Albert System Albert Bb, a Boehm Buffet A
and Bb and an Oehler System Uebel Bb.

Among these the Mueller System Bilton C has the lowest cutoff frequency
(from the graph it looks like roughly 1400Hz) and Benade notes:

"Clarinet number 4, a C clarinet from the time of Beethoven, is
particularly interesting in this connection since it has a lower
cutoff frequency than any of the other instruments. Cutoff
frequencies on today's Boehm-system C clarinet normally lie in the
region of 1700Hz, making the instrument bright for playing orchestral
parts written in the early 1800s."

Knowing that Benade did numerous experiments on hundreds (if not thousands)
of instruments over the course of his life, I have no doubt that the graph
he presents here in the book is an example of a "typical" C clarinet of the
time as he basically indicates by his own wording.

I am sure if we asked Virginia Benade, his wife, she could probably provide
us with copious additional information on other old instruments that he
tested, measured and scrutinized.

---------------------
Jonathan Cohler
cohler@-----.net