Klarinet Archive - Posting 000809.txt from 2000/06

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Proposal for oboe fingering
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 18:51:34 -0400

On Tue, 20 Jun 2000, Dee D. Hays wrote:

> Could you elaborate a bit more? On the surface, it does not make
> sense that changing the fingering system would make an oboe sound not
> like an oboe.

I don't know all the acoustical details, but it is easier in the case of
the bassoon to see why the fingering system would affect much more about
the sound. On the bassoon, you have the larger part of the instrument on
the wing joint. This calls for long "chimneys" for the tone holes. They
are there in order to make it possible for the fingers to cover the holes.
In the mechanics of the Boehm system, there is no need for this thickened
part of the body of the instrument, but it turns out that this feature
accounts for a large part of what we regard as the unique tone of the
bassoon.

Also, if you compare an oboe and a clarinet, you will notice that there is
more difference than just the connections between keys. As you go down
the bore, the oboe has a succession of larger and smaller holes, some
covered by plateau keys, some by keys with holes in them which have to be
covered by the fingers, etc. The Boehm system includes not just the
machanical aspects, but also the arrangement of tone holes and keys which
goes with it. I assume that no one has ever been able to figure out how
to apply the Boehm system mechanics without changing the design of the
tone holes.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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