Klarinet Archive - Posting 000458.txt from 2004/11

From: Tom Flavel <tom@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] silver keys
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:56:42 -0500

Hi,

I have a question to which I've never been able to find a satisfactory
answer: Why are silver (plated?) keys considered "better" than nickle?
I'm struggling to see how they'd affect the sound, so I assume it's a
purely tactile preference...

For that matter, why are flutes made of silver? Does it produce a better
tone because of the inner surface of the bore is made of silver?

If so, would an ideal sax be made of silver, too? I assume brass is
therfore used because a solid silver saxophone or trombone, etc, would
be prohibitivley expensive (though I've seen $14k solid silver flutes,
which I believe somebody was mentioning in another thread).

And the thought occurs that metal clarinets and the other "silver" brass
instruments must be made of nickle, then?

Ok, so that was several questions :)

Thanks for any input,

--
Tom

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