Klarinet Archive - Posting 000736.txt from 2004/07

From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Tony=20Pay?= <tony_pay@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Character of sound based on medium
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 14:40:37 -0400

--- Lars Kirmser <musictrader@-----.com> wrote:

> Again, PLEASE understand this elementary fact: the acoustic principles of
> woodwinds are UNIQUE and quite different from the acoustics of brasswinds.

Rather, SOME of the acoustic principles of woodwinds are different from the
acoustic principles of brasswinds. They have in common that they consist
fundamentally of a vibrating aircolumn, as distinct from a vibrating instrument
body, as in string instruments.

And please DON'T SHOUT, particularly when you're on insecure ground yourself.

One of the ways in which the two systems are similar is that vibrations of the
walls of the material, whilst not broadcasting significant energies themselves,
may affect the response of the instrument as a second order effect. This
should be especially obvious when you consider the mouthpiece/reed vibrating
system. Here, whether the mouthpiece vibrates significantly or not makes a
difference to how the reed vibrates. Similarly, massive thick-walled brass
mouthpieces respond differently from light, thin-walled ones.

In passing, that some experiment with some guys listening to some tubes proved
that they couldn't tell the difference between some honks isn't at all
interesting, I'd say. I, and others of us who don't care, get on with the far
more important job of finding some clarinet made of some material made to some
design whose response allows us to play music in the way we think it ought to
go.

The fact that *most* people can't hear what our concerns are in this regard
doesn't mean that those concerns are meaningless. Those concerns, and the fact
that we *can* hear the difference between how we played yesterday and how we
play today, constitute what allows us to get better.

Some of us *do* get better. And part of that is the process of changing reeds,
instruments, mouthpieces, etc, as well the process of practising.

Be thankful for it -- and if you've any sense, employ it to the extent it works
for you.

Tony

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