Klarinet Archive - Posting 000411.txt from 1998/03

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Scientific American Article
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 14:44:34 -0500

> << I
> consider this material to have the same acoustical qualities as a regual
> grenadilla wood clarinet. It is not plastic, but a material with some
> "life"
> in it. >>
>
> I understand you are in the business of selling instruments, but do not give
> the consumer misinformation. You can consider concrete wood if you like, but

There is no misinformation given here. It was not stated anywhere in the
post that grenadilla has a better resonance than plastic. Let us take the
philosopher's approach here: premises and conclusions. To give you an
example of how this works:

Premises:
1. All men are mortal.
2. Socrates is a man.
Conclusion:
THEREFORE Socrates is mortal.

Now lets apply it to what our B&H representative said, and what you have
to say.

1. Greenline sounds like natural wood.
2. Natural wood sounds like plastic.
THEREFORE Greenline sounds just like plastic.

I saw nothing in the B&H post to refute this. Therefore, you are
screaming for no real reason.

By the definition, Greenline is a plastic, yes. But does ANYONE use the
term plastic these days? Vinyl. Polymer. Resonite. No, everyone's got a
fancy term for their plastic. If Buffet wants to use a fancy term for
theirs, more power to them. It's not misinformation, it's just another
term. Cops don't think they're running around wearing plastic vests -
they say their wearing Kevlar. And the manufacturers don't advertise it
as plastic, they advertise it as Kevlar. Bet you own at least one piece
of polyester clothing - when's the last time you looked on a labe to see a
40/60 cotton-plastic blend?

Buffet isn't the only manufacturer out there who does this. If your going
to attack them, then you better be ready to attack the entire plastic
industry. This isn't 1984 here - there's no need to shrink the dictionary
by eliminating all extra words and resoriting to using one (and
consequent variations on it) in all cases.

Shouryu Nohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe; ICQ 6771552
Coffee Drinker, Musician, Otaku, Jesus Freak, Admirer of Women
(Not necessarily in that order)
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Thermal expansion...how embarrasing..." - Ikari Shinji