Klarinet Archive - Posting 000737.txt from 1999/02

From: Keith <100012.1302@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] klarinet Digest 9 Feb 1999 07:09:12 -0000 Issue 1045
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 13:10:20 -0500

>From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subject: RE: [kl] Evette Clarinets
Message-ID: <2DCBFADAFCBBD21189D400805F6FA1AB16B8C5=RED-MSG-12>

>My analysis is like this. The embouchure/reed/mouthpiece is the tone
generator--like an electric guitar. The clarinet is just the amplifier.
One is far more important than the other. I would rather play Capriccio
Espanol on a Bundy with my Greg Smith mouthpiece and a good Zonda than us=
e
an R-13 and some stock mouthpiece.
<

My analysis is different. The clarinet is NOT an amplifier - it has no
energy input. It's a filter/resonator. If you take the mouthpiece out and=

blow it, you get an awful squawk. The mouthpiece generates LOTS of tones,=

and the clarinet filters them out, by resonating on certain frequencies
(determined by the fingering). I don't disagree with the importance of th=
e
first part of the instrument, though.

We can only find out the true difference, if any, between plastic and woo=
d,
first by lots more development on plastic clarinets by the best
manufacturer (there are thousands of polymers out there that have not bee=
n
used for clarinet manufacture), by skilled performers using them and the=
n
by the extensive double-blind tests as described here in a different
context. This won't happen any time soon, so the best we can do is to jud=
ge
an individual instrument in the way that we select any clarinet.

Manufacturing techniques for instruments are still a bit primitive. List
members have reported here about measurable variations in moulded
mouthpieces at the 0.1 mm level or more. The popular disposable cameras a=
re
moulded, including the lens, which needs a precision of 0.001 mm and a
surface smoothness 100 x better than that. I'll assert that this is far
better than the tolerance on any clarinet ever made. However, the
investment to do this is gigantic, and as we are not quite making clarine=
ts
by the tens of millions, we have to put up with less efficient and more
variable practices.

Keith Bowen =

ps - excuse the ream of posts from me today - I was away travelling on
business in Europe for 2 weeks, downloaded all the messages before I left=
,
and got caught up on the long flight back over the pond!

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