Klarinet Archive - Posting 001054.txt from 1998/11

From: "Hiroshi Nagatsuma" <hiroshi@-----.jp>
Subj: RE: [kl] Wagner; Fiume March; Helium and Pitch
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 11:48:21 -0500

Although this has not a big relationship with clarinet playing, a horribl=
e
incident occurred in an African village several years ago. Whole of
them,young and old,all died during a night.Geologists concluded that duri=
ng
that night a huge mass of carbon dioxide at the bottom of a lake nearby c=
ame
up to the surface to suffocate the villagers without their even knowing i=
t.I
read this article in a magazine published by New York Academy of Science.
Provably geologists will know this incident in more detail.I don't like t=
o
be suffocated while playing clarinet or flute!
-----Original Message-----
@-----.com>
@-----.org>
=93=FA=8E=9E : 1998=94N11=8C=8E27=93=FA 13:41
=8C=8F=96=BC : Re: [kl] Wagner; Fiume March; Helium and Pitch

>A book that I find to be an excellent introduction to the "Ring" is Robe=
rt
>Donington's "Wagner's 'Ring' and Its Symbols". It includes many example=
s
of
>the connections and development of the motives.
>
>Mark Gustavson
>
>MARY A. VINQUIST wrote:
>
>> For preparation to hear Wagner's Ring, I suggest the following:
>>
>> George Bernard Shaw [no relation], "The Perfect Wagnerite." GBS was a
>> great admirer of Wagner's music. This short book gives a good summary=
of
>> the plot and the underlying ideas. It is, or used to be, available in
>> paperback.
>>
>> Also, no study of Wagner is complete without listening to Anna Russell=
's
>> brilliant parody lecture, recently reissued on CD.
>>
>> If the suggested books are not availabe at your bookstore, think music
>> library....
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Gary Van Cott asks about Fiume March. The West Point Band has an
enormous
>> library of marches. When I was there many moons ago they had nearly
2,000.
>> There are usually some WPB players lurking. Maybe one of them could
>> check, or you could call the band music library.
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Concerning Tony Pay's remarks on helium, he is correct about the
>> physiological mechanism that signals the need for breathing. It is no=
t
>> triggered by lack of oxygen, but by increased blood concentrations of
>> carbon dioxide. That's why you don't feel suffocated when an
unpressurized
>> plane climbs to, say, 20,000 feet, but simply black out.
>>
>> A terrible example of this happened about 20 years ago in Staten Islan=
d,
>> New York. A worker went into a large tank that had stored natural gas
but
>> was then apparently empty. After a few seconds, he collapsed, and
several
>> others who went in to rescue him also collapsed. All died. It turned
out
>> that the tank had been purged with nitrogen. The men were breathing p=
ure
>> nitrogen and had no inkling that they were getting no oxygen.
>>
>> If you breathe helium, that does not stop your body from metabolizing
>> oxygen and producing carbon dioxide. Therefore, holding your breath f=
or
a
>> few seconds after inhaling helium would not stop carbon dioxide from
>> building up, because your body would metabolize the oxygen you had tak=
en
in
>> during preceding breaths. However, you wouldn't want to take more tha=
n a
>> couple of inhalations of helium, since on each exhalation would would =
get
>> rid of carbon dioxide without taking in any more oxygen.
>>
>> Also, helium molecules are the smallest of any substance except hydrog=
en.
>> Helium passes through microscopic holes in, say, latex rubber balloons=
,
>> which is why they go flat so much faster than balloons filled with air.
>> Your lungs are constructed to permit gases to pass through the walls o=
f
the
>> cells into the blood. Helium would get into your blood more quickly t=
han
>> oxygen, or anything else. I don't know that physiological effect it
might
>> have, but at least one of the noble gases, xenon, is a powerful
anesthetic.
>> Yet another reason to avoid more than a single lungful of helium.
>>
>> Tony has brilliant insights about "stale" air playing flatter than
"fresh"
>> and using that to control pitch. It's the sort of great idea that mak=
es
>> you say "why didn't I think of that?"
>>
>> I suppose everyone has burped while playing and heard the pitch go WAY
>> down. I wonder if I could create an instant A clarinet from my Bb by
>> swallowing air....
>>
>> Best regards.
>>
>> Ken Shaw
>>
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