Klarinet Archive - Posting 000083.txt from 2000/05

From: Topper <leo_g@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bells & whistles
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 06:15:18 -0400

At 08:41 AM -0500 5/2/00, Mark Thiel wrote:
>But the bell is very much part of the (modified) cylindrical shape of
>the bore,
>and certainly not just a sound radiator. Arthur Benade said (and I
>think wrote in
>Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics) that one of the main purposes of the
>bell is to make the lower notes (of each register) sound like the
>others. A typical
>note will emanate mainly from the first hole opened in the bore and the
>first
>2 or 3 farther down. The bell is supposed to make the end notes sound
>more like this lattice
>of open holes and less like the sound you get if the clarinet is sawed
>off square
>at the length needed to produce a note.
>
>Re: clarinets going flat when loud. Benade had a clarinet which he
>modified so
>that it would go FLAT when QUIET. (This was ~30 years ago.) One of his
>
>favorite things to do was to hand it to a clarinettist and ask them to
>play
>a dimenuendo. He would always be ready to catch the clarinet when it
>was
>dropped in utter shock. Of course this wasn't just a toy; it was
>serious research
>to see if he could cure this very real problem. Unfortunately he found
>that
>you can't really make the pitch more consistent over dynamics without
>making other compromises -- like mainly the tuning between registers if
>I remember correctly.
>
>Mark Thiel

Yes, this sounds like a part of what I was looking to understand. In the
first sentenece the words "very much part of the (modified) cylindrical
shape" suggestes making the notes sound in succession alike and relative to
each other but as I read on it is also pitch and overtone/harmonice
interrelative throughout the entire range and a suggestion seems to be made
to the succeeding registeres almost clarifying that even though we have a
bore length of what we have broken up by so much surface area of
matemeatically concise venting based on all prinicipals of the instrument
we still treat the end of the bore unlike a double reed or flute and here
now the mouthpiece and reed design quietly comes to mind; that the bell is
not only sized to pitch and flared as an extension of of the though of the
size, taper, and length of the bore, but of the material, thickness and the
volume all in comparison to the entire design of the instrument. I am also
sure that the the bottom bell ring does more than keep the wood from
splitting.

Cheers, Leo

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/leo_g@-----.com/
"You Take The High Notes" http://helius.carroll.com/p/leo_g/ There is a
difference between "dealers" and musicians that love not only the sound of
music but the tools which make it possible for people to play music. It's
important to set things free so they may ultimately find their way to
their intended parties. I am especially interested in Musical Instrument
History and technical data. Please email me with interesting links. Thank
you:-) Leo

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