Klarinet Archive - Posting 000881.txt from 2003/03

From: Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Introduction
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 14:20:45 -0500

This is a very lucid description, but what it says to me is that the
clarinet -- closed at one end due to clarinet reed action -- overblows a
12th, but when closed at one end due to oboe reed action, it overblows
an octave. And since that fails to make sense, the thinking must be
wrong in my head.

To make sure that I did not say it incorrectly, I restate:

a clarinet with a clarinet mouthpiece and reed will overblow a 12th as
we all know;

a clarinet with a cork (with a hole in it) replacing the mouthpiece and
an oboe reed stuck in the cork's hole, will overblow an octave.

Aren't both cases a cylindrical instrument with one closed end?

Dan Leeson

Dee D. Flint wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dan Leeson" <leeson0@-----.net>
> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 9:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [kl] Introduction
>
>
>
>>... 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.
>
>
>
> Quick summary:
>
> Cylindrical bore open at both ends - overblows octave
> Cylindrical bore closed at one end - overblows the 12th
> Conical bore - overblows octave regardless of whether it is open at both
> ends or closed at one end.
>
>
> So it is a little bit more than bore alone.
>
> Now we relate this to musical instruments. Some flutes and piccolos are
> made as conical bores and others are made as cylindrical. Lets address the
> cylindrical ones. Flutes are OPEN at both ends. i.e. You blow across a
> hole at one end and the flute is open on the other end (the end is actually
> the lowest open tone hole). When you overblow, it jumps the octave.
>
> The clarinet, however, acts like a cylinder closed at one end due to the
> reed action. So it overblows the 12th. It has to do with the way the sound
> wave nodes form. Haven't you noticed that although the clarinet and flute
> are the same length, the clarinet plays much lower than the flute? Again it
> is due to the way the nodes form in a cylinder closed at one end. What
> would happen if you made the clarinet a conical bore? Well you would have a
> saxophone!
>
> Notice that oboes and saxes are both conical bores. Thus regardless of the
> type of reed (single or double) driving them, they overblow the octave.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

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