Klarinet Archive - Posting 000674.txt from 1997/11

From: "Jerry Korten" <jerryk@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Dan's material apprehensions
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 18:34:53 -0500

>> It is obvious from the simple playdough experiment that the "classical"
>> assumptions about how the clarinet sound is generated are incorrect.
That
>> was the only purpose of my posting the results of this experiment. You
are
>> inserting the phrase "probably doesn't matter", not me. In fact, I
bothered
>> to pursue the issue to make this discovery for myself. You on the other
>> hand appear to be arguing for the sake of it and not making any
>> investigation into the matter yourself! Have you tried changing bells?
Have
>> you tried damping the vibration on a bell?
>This is little more than a "shoot the messenger" argument. You pose,
>I counter, and the reaction is, "Well if you're so smart, make the
>discovery yourself." That won't do. The onus of establishing truth
>to an argument is on the back of s/he who makes the assertion. Those who
>suggest that the argument has logical or physical fallacies are not
>obliged to do anything but point them out.
Not what I said. I asked if you had done the experiment. For without a
doubt it debunks the myth that the material in the clarinet is involved
with the type of sound produced. If an experiment is available to prove
this to you and you refuse to do it then how can you argue that what is
shown is not true? Don't forget you are asserting that there is no
difference in sound based on material. Have you established this as a
truth?

>The most recent case was in Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's last
>theorem. His had errors in it. All that was necessary was to point
>them out. Those who did were not able to right the boat, but they
>pointed out the flaws.
Yes, the assumption that the material has no effect on a Clarinet's sound
also had errors and I am pointing them out.

>Science has run this way for more than 2 millenia, and your suggestion
>that those who disagree must do the work to establish a scientific
>basis for their disagreement probably can't play the Ginastera
>variations either. (Had to throw that one in!
I have done the work, the experiment can be done in a double blind test, it
can even be recorded with a spectral analyzer to produce quantifiable data
if you don't trust your ears. Of course you will ask me to do this and I
shall in time for Dr. Pyne's meeting. The experiment of placing playdough
around the bell of the instrument is a simple experiment, mostly thought up
to provide a qualifiable result (a change in what one can hear is not an
objective experiment except to the witness). The issue of the change in
resistance can also be proven quantifiably. However given the simplicity of
the playdough experiment I urge you to try it and see for yourself, you
must be curious at least...

Jerry Korten
NYC

   
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