Klarinet Archive - Posting 000659.txt from 2000/08

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Plastic vs. Wood
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 19:33:28 -0400

You say below, that if you made an instrument out of plastic to very
precise specifications, you do not think that it would sound like a
wooden clarinet. I therefore conclude that you believe that the sound
of a clarinet is very much dependent on the material out of which it is
made. Thus, extending what you said, you appear to believe that a metal
clarinet, a plastic clarinet, a bamboo clarinet, etc. will sound
differently from a wooden clarinet even if made to very precise
specifications.

Why do you think this to be true? When you posed this question to
yourself in your note, all you gave was "In many ways I don't think so."
Personally, I am very interested in understanding how you came to this
conclusions.

There are others on this list who will argue very strongly that exactly
the opposite is the case.

les debusk wrote:
>
> What is the difference? Is it not the material but the design and
> components that make the sound correct? Or is there another side to the
> story? If you made a clarinet identical (size,bore,ring size,key
> position,ect..) to a, lets say, Buffet R-13 out of a heavy plastic would
> you not get the same tone and sound? In many ways i dont think so. But
> thinking about it, wood warps and cracks. Plastic doesn't. And many
> clarinet players often play with a barrel made of a sort of plastic
> because most of the time the wooden barrel has to be replaced every few
> years due to the change of the roundness and because it warps. Another
> question to this story is..... Does wood resonate more than a heavy
> plastic? And does the thickness and weight play into the sound
> production? In other words i know there has to an acoustic reason for
> wood. If there wasn't they could be made out of anything sturdy enough,
> true?
> Thank you,
> Les DeBusk
>
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--
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** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
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