Klarinet Archive - Posting 000696.txt from 2004/07

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] Character of sound based on medium
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 14:00:06 -0400

If the material of *any* woodwind body (as opposed to reed or ligature)
can be shown unambiguously to affect the vibration recipe, this won't
prove the case for clarinets, BUT.......

It would certainly prove that the possiblity can't be ruled out for
clarinets (yet).

Here's a simpler and less ambiguous experiment:

Begin with a penny whistle because (A) it lacks reed and ligature; (B)
the air supply and embouchure can be held constant with an air pump and
a piece of heavy rubber tubing slipped over the whistle's mouthpiece;
and C) the penny whistle's body is lightweight, which allows
comparatively extreme changes to its mass without affecting the air
column's shape.

The experiment would be to put tape over the tone holes, thereby
eliminating fingering as a variable, and then to graph the resultant
audio spectrum. It wouldn't matter which note is produced nor how
beautiful it is. The goal would be only to produce several graphs of
the tone without disassembling the setup, thereby giving us an
indication of the tone's variability under constant air temperature,
misture, pressure, flow volume, etc.

After making the intinial graphs, wrap something around the whistle's
body and fasten the wrapping securely such that the wrapping becomes an
integral part of the whistle's body and dramatically increases its mass.
Lead tape (such as sold at aquarium stores) and a flexible quick-drying
adhesive that can't be accused of compressing the whistle's body come to
mind.

Graph the tone again and compare the 'before' and 'after' graphs. If
the graphs appear to be identical, this would not prove that material
cannot affect tone, but if a noticeable (and repeatable) difference does
show up, this would prove that body material can affect tone while the
air column's shape and air supply are held constant.

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