Klarinet Archive - Posting 000575.txt from 2003/09
From: "CLARK FOBES {USER_LASTNAME}" <reedman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Rubber lined barrels et al.
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 12:08:04 -0400
I don't know if any of you remember this, but I made hard rubber lined
barrels for about two years. My personal barrels are rubber lined.
This is a wonderful idea, the greatest advantage being that the bore is
impervious to moisture and will not change over time. Also, the principal
mass of the barrel is still wood. At that time I had a machinist making my
barrels and he tapered the outside of the insert and the oversized bore of
the barrel so that we could press fit the core. I then bored out the core
with my reamers.
Unfortunately, we ran out of the 8' of rubber I had scoured the country to
find and I have not been able to locate more. Rod rubber stock was a very
common product for years and used to make various insulating parts.
I have tried Delrin as a substitute, but the sound is much brighter. I
attribute this to the finish on the surface of the material rather than the
density.
Back to mass. A great deal has been said and written about material density
and wall thickness regarding tone production of the clarinet. Benade states
that the material a clarinet is made from has no influence on the sound and
I believe (someone correct me here if I am wrong) that he stated that the
wall thickness would have to be MUCH thinner to have any influence on sound.
His contention is that the sound of the clarinet is dictated by the bore
configuration and the tone hole lattice only. O. Lee Gibson makes a similar
statement in his book on clarinet acoustics.
I will be an iconclast here and say "Gentleman, this theory is not born out
by my extensive experience in making more than 500 clarinet barrels of
various materials, thicknesses and shapes."
The mass of the barell DOES influence the vibration and therefore the sound
as the performer perceives it.
Further, the outside shape of the barrel (distribution of weight over the
length of the barrel) influences the sound in subtle ways.
The material can determine the finish of the bore and DOES influence the the
drag on the air column which can change the sound dramatically.
HOWEVER, I do agree that the GREATEST influencing factor in mouthpiece,
barrel, joint and bell design is interior shape.
Clark W Fobes
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