Klarinet Archive - Posting 000122.txt from 1997/11

From: PGAYR@-----.com
Subj: Re: Leblanc Tom R. thick walls??
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 00:45:14 -0500

David Blumberg wrote:
Another Instrument designer Anthony Gigliotti looks at the "notion" of
materials

not making a sound (tone) difference as ludicrous. I would wonder if the
Opus

has thicker walls then the Concerto, as since it is said to be an acoustical

twin of the Concerto (bore). Tom R. am I correct ?? (I have no information

either way, only a gut feeling, which is as unscientific as you get)

David Blumberg

Principal Clarinet Riverside Sym.

Adjunct Clarinet Instructor Univ. Penn.

reedman@-----.com

The Opus has the same OD's as the Concerto clarinet. The explanation for the
timbral differences comes in the weight of the horns as determined by the
keys. The added keys and posts and other added metals (end caps) change the
way the horn vibrates. I have noticed this difference on the Buffet Festival
clarinet also, which I can only attribute to weight and ........ unstained
wood.
This may sound stupid to some, but just ask a bassoonists about how easy it
is to ruin a good bassoon by changing the finish of the instrument. Trumpet
players also notice a distinct difference in lacquered and natural brass
instruments.
I think we are looking at a very simple item here:
Anything that is struck or energized transmits that energy according to its'
mass and particular molecular make up. Stike a piece of paper and a rock
with the same item and you get two different sounds. Duh.....!
The vibrating air colume going up and down the bore is putting energy into
the material that surrounds that bore. The quality, density, weight etc. of
that surrounding material cannot help but make a difference, how ever subtle
it may be, in the color and even the response of the sound.
To a tone deaf physicist who has an ear that cannot distinguish a flute from
an oboe, and whose machines cannot make the necessary distinctions, and and
who is otherwise insensitive might "logically" conclude that materials make
no difference. But to those of us who have a sensitivity to color and shape,
and who are close enough to the instrument to feel the subtlety of response,
connection of intervals, etc. it makes a big difference!
As a performer I have always thought that if it make a difference to me it
makes a difference to those who hear me, even if that difference is only
felt by them.
Tom

   
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