Klarinet Archive - Posting 001164.txt from 1997/10

From: noname <hakan@-----.net>
Subj: Re: Clarinet material and Reed Questions
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 15:49:20 -0500

Laine wrote:
>
> I was wondering if someone would please give some insight to the following
> two questions, for those of us on this list who may be beginners or
> "recovering clarinetists"??
>
> Is a wooden clarinet always better than a plastic clarinet? What is the
> difference (besides price) in the two?
>
> What is the difference in reeds? Size? Brand? Do some reeds play better
> with certain makes of clarinets?
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Laine

Wood is as everybody knows the traditional material in manufacturing
woodwinds. In the 17:th century an earlier on European Boxwood (Buxus
sempervirens) was the ordinary material to make instruments of (still
professional Recorders are often made out of Boxwood. Today the wood
most used are "Blackwood", African Blackwood (Dalbergia Melanoxylon,
Diospyros Melanoxylon, Diospyros crassiflora, Diospyros tomentosa,
Diospyros assimilis) also called Ebony and Grenadilla. The "finest" wood
(among sculptors, carvers, furniture makers) is considered Gaboon Ebony
(Diospyros dendo). There are also simmilar woods from Ceylon (Diospyros
ebenum).

Other woods used for instrument making is Rosewood - African
Rosewood/Bubing (Guibourtia demeusii) - Brasilian
Rosewood/Palisander/Jacaranda (Dalbergia nigra) - Honduran Rosewood
(Dalbergia stevensonii) - East Indian Rosewood/Malabar (Dalbergia
latifolia) - Madagascar Rosewood/Faux Rose (Dalbergia greveana).
For Bassons the standard is Sugar Maple/Hard Maple (Acer saccharum).
Flutes were once commonly made of Cocobolo (Dalbergia granadillo,
Dalbergia retusa) or Cocus (?). Oboes are also mady of
Violetwood/Kingwood/Amaranth/Purpleheart (Peltogyne paniculata,
Dalbergia cearensis).
Also Applewood (Pyrus malus), Beech (Fagus sylvatica, Fagus granifolia),
Cherry (Prunus serotina, Prunus virginiana, Prunus cerasus, Prunus
avium), Ironwood (approx. 75 different spicies), Ivorywood
(Balfourodendon riedelianum), Kaneelhart (Licaria cayennensis),
Olivewood (Olea europea), Padouk (Pterocarpus spicies), Pearwood (Pyrus
communis), Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), Plumwood (?) and a assume
other woods too have been used to make professional musical woodwind
instruments (does anybody know if Lignum Vitae (Guaiacum sanctum,
Guaiacum officinale, Guaiacum arborium) - the hardest and most densest
wood there is - has been used to make instruments.

Wood is relative easy to manufactur, and before the plastics of this
century, there were no substitutes. Sometimes metal has been used - and
as with the flute it has given a better sound - but metal is harder to
shape. Wood - especially the harder ones - are very resonant, and "by
nature" gives a preferable tone quality. However wood is not a stabile
material, and will change and age - change its form and maby crack -
especially with woodwinds when the cycle of getting moist when played
and then dried, makes the wood change form.

Plastic have been tried and there is still research done, but a material
that gives the same tone quality has not yet been found. Plastic
clarinets could be made very professional, and with Oboes the top-joint
many times are made of or lined with plastic so it won't crack. But
professional player mostly want wood - therfore all professional
clarinets are made of wood, and the plastic ones are not that throughout
worked, because if they were, they would have the same price tag as the
wood clarinets.

Today recearch are being made with synthetical fiber-materials as carbon
fibers, and also by trying to stabilise wood by impregnation, heat and
preassure, powdericing, etc. But not that much money are put into the
recearch of acoustics behavior meant for musical purposes (acoustical
recearch for industries - noise reduction etc. are made, and the
instrument manufacturing companies can use that information).

A book on the subject: "Acoustics of Wood" by Bucur

Reeds:

Reeds are also a wood - Arundo Donax - and as such also unstable and
difficult to manufacture. The grovers also unfortunately (to my
knowledge) does not try to grove a cane that has the right
chracteristerics to be made into a reed. The do not, like wine-grovers,
trie to find a plant that gives the best cane for reeds. They know they
can sell their cane anyway.

I can only recomend some books on the subject: "Perfect a Reed...and
beyond" by Ben Armato and "Reed Guide" by George T. Kirck. Also books
about reedmaking for oboes can also be read to get more knowledge.

Hekan Lundberg