Klarinet Archive - Posting 000515.txt from 1997/09

From: njs5@-----.uk (Nick Shackleton)
Subj: RE: Clarinet material
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 14:58:04 -0400

Benade not Bonade to save searching time>
>I suggest you guys all read the somewhat technical but otherwise excellent book
>on acoustics of musical instruments by Bonade (available with Dover books).
>Sometime ago another excellent book on the acoustics of wind instruments was
>written Cornelius Nederveen. Unfortunately that one is out of print (it is
>written in Dutch!).
>
>
>========================================================
>Daniel Meirsman
>Belgium
>e-mail: Daniel.Meirsman@-----.com
>voice: +32 16 390 733
>fax: +32 16 390 600
>========================================================
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: majordom@-----.us
>Sent: woensdag 10 september 1997 14:30
>To: Daniel Meirsman; klarinet@-----.us
>Subject: Re: Clarinet material
>
>I suggest that Jonathan contact the makers of Bach and Yamaha and tell
>them that the thickness of the wall has nothing to do with the air
>column vibrations which are caused by the lips vibrating. Their
>research shows that the materials have everything to do with it.
>Professional brass players remove laquer from their horns all the
>time....that is considered a material. The concept that the material
>has nothing to do with the way vibrations occur is absurd! Beyond that,
>if you want to get technical, if the wall itself is not vibrating, the
>material still contributes to the way the air column is excited. This is
>precisely why Bach and Yamaha manufacture horn with varying thicknesses
>of bell and leadpipe....note..I did not say bore size, I refer to
>thickness of the material itself.
>
>Roger Garrett
>
>> NOT TRUE. Wall vibrations do not contribute audibly to the sound of a
>brass > instrument. The air column vibrations create the sound in a
>brass > instrument. This is TOTALLY different than the sound mechanism
>on a > violin, which works as follows: > > * bow pulls across string
>causing string to vibrate > * string vibrations are transmitted through
>bridge to the top plate > of the violin > * top plate vibrations are
>transmitted to the back plate by the > sound post > * back plate
>vibrates moving a large mass of air and creating most > of the sound > >
>On a brass instrument, the libs vibrate and excite the air column to >
>vibrate. That's why these are also called "lip-reed" instruments. > > >
>><< > >Perhaps it's not the tone (darkness...sorry Dan) that the > >
>material affects but the projection of sound. Can softer materials
>absorb > > sound more than harder materials? > >>> > >Yessiree. If the
>material is really soft it will affect the sound. > > Certainly, if the
>material is too soft, you won't even be able to make an > instrument out
>of it. But any reasonably hard material such as wood, metal > or
>plastic will work. FYI, the difference in thermal absorption between >
>copper, brass, silver and wood is very small. Between the metals there
>is > only a difference of at most .06 percent. Between the metals and
>wood > there is a difference of just over 2 percent. > > Note that wood
>absorbs 2 percent less thermal energy than metal does. > However,
>because of losses due to porosity the combined losses of >
>thermal/porosity effects is slightly greater in wood than in metal. For
>a > highly polished, smooth dense wood, the difference from metal is in
>the 2 > percent range, putting it just on the edge of detectability by
>the player > (not by the listener). > > There are also viscous losses
>due the flow of the air through the tube. > Even if the surfaces are
>perfectly smooth, there will still be viscous > losses due, in essence
>to the air rubbing against itself and the smooth > walls. > > Bottom
>line, once again, the material doesn make any difference in real life. >
> > > > ><< > >I always thought this was so. Part of > > "setting up" a
>clarinet is polishing the bore; does this affect the > > sound/timbre of
>the instrument? Again, I thought this was so. Please > > explain. > > >> >
>>Can't explain... Don't know enough! But I do know that some say the
>clarinet > >to buy is the one with a porous looking interior (see paper
>by Hite I believe > >at his web site on barrels). > > > >I do think that
>the level of polish on all commercially made professional > >instruments
>is sufficiently high enough to produce the same effect though. If >
>>there is such an effect, I would guess it would be affecting the way in
>which > >standing waves are reflected inside the bore. Much in the same
>way as frased > >holes affect the timbre of an instrument. > > > > As
>I've mentioned in previous posts, having smooth surfaces and rounded >
>corners (which you refer to as fraised holes) is VERY important and has
>a > MAJOR effect on the playing character of a wind instrument. This is
>due to > turbulence caused by rough or jagged surfaces. But again, this
>is > independent of material. > > > > > -------------------------- >
>Jonathan Cohler > cohler@-----.net > > >
>
>Attachment Converted: C:EUDORAATTACH.FOLTNFA331.TMP
>