Klarinet Archive - Posting 000806.txt from 1999/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] blow out - AND the effect of materials!
Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 15:09:32 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.38
> Subj: Re: [kl] blow out - AND the effect of materials!

> On Sun, 16 May 1999, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:
>
> > And what is absolutely fascinating about this discussion every time we
> > have it is the passions that it raises in people. This one and "dark
> > sound" are probably the source of more energy being expended in
> > defense of one's views than almost any other topic.
>
> Yes, and I would say that in addition to the two you list, another one
> certain to raise blood pressures and adrenaline is "the effect of
> materials" on woodwind performance characteristics. And now, I'm going to
> mix two of those controversial subjects in the same message! Everybody
> get the Prozac ready! ;-)

Most intelligent contribution on this subject that I have read so
far. Ed makes points without telling me "It exists! Like it or
not." Very well stated points. Thank you Ed. I'm not there, but
I enjoyed reading a well-reasoned approach to the problem.

Dan Leeson

>
> Earlier in this thread, I weighed in on the topic of blow out, introducing
> the matter of depolymerization to the discussion. Now, for a person such
> as myself, who is inclined also to accept the position of acousticians
> that the material from which the instrument is constructed has relatively
> little influence on the way it sounds, it might at first seem somewhat
> contradictory to also claim not only that blow out exists, but also that
> the phenomenon would have an effect on the deterioration of the tonal and
> response characteristics of an instrument.
>
> In other words, if depolymerization occurs (and it does) and if that
> contributes to changes in the instrument which we characterize as "blow
> out," and if one accepts the position that the material has a small
> influence, almost an infinitessimal one, on the musical characteristics of
> the instrument, then depolymerization alone, and the results of it on the
> material, should not have much effect on the musical results.
>
> But, the reply would be that the culprit is *dimensional changes*. We
> discuss this periodically all the time on all the woodwind lists, so I
> don't remember if I'm repeating myself on KLARINET, but briefly, the
> position of materials scientists could be summarized in a very elementary
> way thusly: All rigid materials capable of sustaining structures such as
> musical instrument bodies, (except metals and ceramics), consist of long
> chains of carbon atoms, bound together by molecular structures called
> "polymers." Over time, these polymers break down, causing ever shorter
> chains of carbon atoms. This results in fundamental changes of various
> sorts in the qualities and characteristics of the material.
>
> But, it is not my position that this process or the changes which it
> brings about are alone responsible for the phenomenon which some call
> "blow out," but rather that there are several factors, including
> polymerization, which might cause dimensional changes in an older
> instrument. Others might include the effects of repeated swabbing,
> cumulative changes due to many wettings and dryings of the wood, changes
> which might occur due to the effects of prolonged atmospheric, humidity
> and temperature variables, the natural tendency of wood to change at
> different rates in different axes according to the eccentricities of its
> own grain, the effects of the response of the wood to the forces applied
> to it in construction of the instrument, etc.
>
> As some have pointed out in this discussion, what we need is a set of
> detailed and accurate measurements of an instrument near the beginning of
> its useful life span, and then re-measurements of the same instrument
> after 20, 40, or 60 years of use. Another thing that would be useful, but
> impossible to achieve, would be a comparison of the playing
> characteristics of the new instrument and the same one as a "senior
> citizen." In the latter case, besides the long time span, there are far
> too many variables to be able to come to any supportable conclusions.
>
> Does anyone have an old clarinet and exact measurements of it as a new
> instrument?
>
> Ed Lacy
> el2@-----.edu
>
>
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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