Klarinet Archive - Posting 000698.txt from 2004/07

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Sound character based on medium, and the subject of beating a dead h...
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 14:46:04 -0400

Instead of working constructively here, I have been reviewing what Benade had
to say about material influencing tone. He seems to have waffled back and
forth a bit. In "Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics" pages 499 - 501, discussing
"The effect of Wall Material on the Playing Properties of Wind Instruments" he
states "If the walls are thick enough not to vibrate and if they are smooth
and nonporous, experiment and theory agree that switching materials will makes
changes in the damping that are generally less than the two-percent change that
most musicians are able to detect."

Later, in 1977, in notes prepared for a course in Acoustic Evolution of Wind
Instruments,(taught at Case Western University) he states (regarding wood vs.
metal) "Experiment shows that a player can just about (usually) detect a
change of 2% so that wood vs. metal is just detectable."

He goes on to say that he is not sure if a listener can detect the change.

He was much interested/concerned with the porosity of different materials and
the sharpness vs smoothness of edges. He states "All this goes to show that
the material from which the instrument is made may be expected to play an
important role in its playing behavior from energy considerations alone."

One wishes Benade had lived a much longer life, as he had understanding of
the math/physics as well as a musicians knowledge and sensitivity.

Walter Grabner
http://www.clarinetxpress.com/
World-class clarinet mouthpieces

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