Klarinet Archive - Posting 000883.txt from 2002/10

From: b5w@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Beethoven "clarinet" concerto
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 18:20:10 -0500

<><> Forest=A0E.=A0Aten wrote:
Bill, I'm not sure I understand about your views on clarinet not being
able to produce a sharp or biting attack?

....metaphors fail again. <sad smile> The ultimate answer is to
listen to string and reed attacks and to hear that they are different.
"Attack" refers, of course, to the initial milliseconds of sound before
the reed or string or wave form reaches a steady state.

However, here is my best attempt at justifying the words "bite" and
"pop":

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Notice that my descriptions do not say anything about the time consumed,
or the force required, for an attack. This is why I didn't use words
such as "sharp" or "hard" or "sudden" or "strong".

With a reed, you're holding the reed motionless with your tongue, but it
'wants' to begin vibrating. The vibrational forces are being held in
check. When finally you release the reed, "pop" suggests that
something has, in fact, been released and is now blooming or bursting
free from confinement.

In the case of a string, there is no vibrational force being restrained
or waiting to be released. The string is just sitting there. Thus
the metaphor of "pop" or "explode" isn't appropriate. Then, during the
few milliseconds when the moving bow makes contact (or reverses
direction), the bow slides gently across the string at first and then
'bites' into the string as the bow pressure is increased. (Obviously,
I'm not discussing an attack where the bow remains in constant motion
and only the fingering changes.)

So one of the attacks is a "pop" or small explosion, and the other
attack is a "bite" as the bow grabs ahold of the string more tightly.

But in what detailed way does "pop" sound different from "bite"?
Without a spectral graph, we can only listen and agree that they do
sound different, and perhaps (???) we'll agree that "pop" and "bite" are
as good a pair of names (symbols for the effect) as any other pair that
we can think of.

Cheers,
Bill

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