Klarinet Archive - Posting 000871.txt from 2003/03

From: Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Introduction
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 09:44:03 -0500

Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
> The saxophone, having a CONICAL bore, overblows an octave, as does the
> oboe (yes, it really is conical). The clarinet, being basically
> cylindrical, overblows the twelth.
>
> Bill Hausmann

Bill, I still remain a confused person with respect to a wind instrumnet
overblowing of an octave as contrasted with a 12th. Your comment above
suggests that it is the geometry of the bore of the instrument that
determines the nature of the overblow; i.e., conical overblows an octave
while cylindrical overblows a 12th.

While I do not doubt that the bore geometry does have an impact on the
overblow phenomenon (though I have no idea why), I still point out that
a clarinet with a cork stuck in the moutpiece end of the barrel, and
with a hole in that cork big enough to hold an oboe reed, and with such
a reed inserted in that hole, will produce an instrument with a
cylindrical bore that overblows an octave.

So the bottom line is that cylindricity cannot be the only factor that
determines how a wind instrument will overblow.

You may remember that the last time I noted this peculiar phenomenon, a
half dozen members of the list actually did the experiment. And while
all agreed that the clarinet overblew an octave under these peculiar
circumstances, I don't remember anyone explaining why this happened.

My comments here are not meant to be argumentative. On the contrary, I'm
simply trying to understand this matter more thoroughly than I do now,
and which, I add, is only modest knowledge in the first place.
--
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**Dan Leeson **
**leeson0@-----.net **
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