Klarinet Archive - Posting 000264.txt from 2001/12

From: Bear Woodson <bearwoodson@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Deeper or Higher Timbre
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 06:10:41 -0500

Hello, Klarinet List.

> le jeu 06-12-2001 =E0 23:13, Tim Roberts a écrit:
> On Thu, 6 Dec 2001 20:03:23 -0000,
> "Tony Wakefield" wrote:
> >
> >Geoffrey Rendall in 'The Clarinet' states that the
> >narrower the bore, the lower the pitch, together
> >with richer harmonics. And conversely, the wider
> >the bore, the sharper in pitch, with poorer texture.
> >(Maybe this wider bore system is a specific criteria
> >in the design of student models - sharper pitch/
> >poorer texture?). He also says that tone is more
> >than likely to be affected by the choice of materials
> >used in the manufacture of the main body, and not
> >by the different bore sizes.

I find this to be VERY interesting, and want to know
more about the ability to play lower and deeper tone
quality, as opposed to a thinner, lighter timbre.

When I was in college in the Mid-1970's, one of our
professors explained that the different countries of Eu-
rope had different Concepts of Timbre, that were easiest
to notice in the Oboes, Clarinets and Bassoons. Austrian
Orchestras would use a thinner, higher tone, while Berlin
and American Orchestras would use a thicker, deeper
tone.

(That professor had us listening to records, and trying
to figure out WHICH Orchestra was playing! It was a
game that some of us music students would play in our
apartments. I was just beginning to get the hang of it,
after several months of trying, and then I moved away,
and eventually forgot about it.)

Now that I'm thinking about writing for the clarinet,
these questions come back. HOW do these players do
this? Is this a matter of tightening or relaxing the throat
when playing?

It seems that adjusting the Intonation AND Timbre,
while playing make the clarinet a LOT more compli-
cated than merely struggling with fingerings! Each
time I would write for an instrument, I'd study such
problems and develop a great respect for that instru-
ment. Now I am looking at the clarinet, and finding
more playing difficulties than I was aware of before,
so my respect is growing, but so are the number of
new questions.

I suspect that Deeper or Higher Timbre are con-
trolled by tightening or relaxing the throat. Is this
correct, or is more of it a matter of the design of
each instrument?

Bear Woodson
Composer, Tucson, Arizona, USA

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