Klarinet Archive - Posting 001598.txt from 1998/04

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: [klarinet] Wood vs. Plastic vs. Metal
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 08:40:13 -0400

>1. The difference in sound is, in part, quality. Though some excellent
>plastic clarinets have been made, most are of sub standard workmanship.
>2. Every material in this world resonates at a slightly different frequency.
>Wood is denser than plastic, and therefore resonates more slowly. Slower
>frequency of resonation causes what is described as a "darker" sound. Metal
>resonates fastest of all.

I can't say for sure what the differences are (to me they are intangibles
but real all the same), but this weekend I discovered there really do seem
to be some. I played my girlfriend's son's entry-level Vito. Sorry,
LeBlanc, 't'ain't the same thing as a Concerto, an old Auguste Buffet, or a
Selmer Center Tone. Not even close. It did not SOUND like wood: I don't
know how else to say that. There was resonance, I suppose, but the tones
the horn produced had a whole different depth to them: as in,
shallower-sounding. The plastic instrument was not appreciably easier to
play than my Selmer, and the tone was not as focused.

Ken

Kenneth Wolman Information Technology Morgan Stanley Inc.
750 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 212-762-1685
My unpaid life: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/1649
"I only wish I could write with both hands, so as not to forget
one thing while I am saying another." -- St. Teresa of Avila

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