Klarinet Archive - Posting 000660.txt from 2000/08

From: les debusk <sflane@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Plastic vs. Wood
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 20:25:13 -0400

Im sorry i didn't mention my reason for saying i didn't think so. At the end
of the email i asked a few questions about how wood resonates and how it
matters acoustically. I my self think that wood plays an important role in
tone quality and some how in acoustics by the way of something that i dont know
of. In both tone quality and acoustics i have no clue how wood plays in. But
there must be a reason to start off with. Why was it first made of wood and
why it has stayed the same and only used mainly for professional line
clarinets? There has to be something that wood has sound wise and tone wise
that other materials dont. Correct? I dont think that the material should
matter because theory suggests there be no difference, but in turn i think that
there is a good reason for the clarinet to be made of wood. And the reason i
have no clue. That's why i ask, is there a reason? Acoustically, tone,
something? Sorry about the way i put it down.

Les DeBusk

Daniel Leeson wrote:

> 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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> --
> ***************************
> ** Dan Leeson **
> ** leeson0@-----.net **
> ***************************
>
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