Klarinet Archive - Posting 000212.txt from 2000/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bells & Whistles
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 07:30:23 -0400

At 10:52 PM 5/2/2000 -0400, David Niethamer wrote:
>In the vague recesses of what's left of my memory, I recall seeing Benade
>at some conference or other with a bell that had very little taper on the
>inside. It had the usual outside shape, as I recall, so that it wouldn't
>*look strange* to the casual observer.
>
>I also have a similar vague memory of the Selmer Mazzeo clarinets using a
>variation of this bell.
>
>If we accept the fact that "material doesn't matter" (wood vs. plastic or
>whatever) and accept that it is the bore and tone hole design and surface
>of the bore that most affect the sound, then how can a bell ring - on the
>*outside* mind you, and furthest away from the mouthpiece where the sound
>is generated - have an effect on the sound? I know that different bells
>affect the sound/tuning of clarinets, but it has to be in the bore and
>taper, since the wood is too thick to vibrate in any significant way, no?
>
I could probably be convinced that, if ANYWHERE on the body of a clarinet,
significant vibrations MIGHT exist on the bell section, it being relatively
thinner than other parts, although those resonances are probably excited
ONLY by the long-fingered notes. A pressure-fitted ring might be expected
to have some minor effect, assuming all the above to be true. My
deep-seated suspicion, though, is that it is primarily decorative and/or
protective of the relatively thin and damage-prone end of the instrument.
If the bell is designed with thick wood it may not be necessary, and
plastic clarinets often leave them off as a pure cost-cutting measure.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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