Klarinet Archive - Posting 000273.txt from 2011/06

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Identifying mystery clarinet
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:59:58 -0400

fred jacobowitz <fbjacobo@-----.us> wrote:
> That's why I mentioned the fact that I tried R-13s made of both
> materials. You know that your 'objectively measured spectra...'
> business is not realistic, so don't hide behind that fig leaf.

What does that mean? If the difference is not present when measured
objectively, then it's superstition and imagination, not fact.

Step back and think about it objectively. A metal-walled flute or
saxophone is very thin. Metal tubes conduct sounds very well. It is
intuitively sensible that it might vibrate sympathetically with the
sound column inside the instrument, resulting in some (unpredictable)
effect on the sound. That's probably why the quality metal clarinets
were all double-walled.

But we're talking about a solid, dense, hard wood (or resin) tube a
quarter of an inch in thickness. Wood is a sound insulator. There's no
way that the acoustic wave inside the clarinet is anywhere near powerful
enough to cause sympathetic vibrations sufficient to affect the tone.

> We hear all the time about a scientific study that proves what people
> have known all along (such as "moderation in all things is healthy").

And we hear all the time about things that "everyone knows" that are
utter nonsense.

> As for materials, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck...

I don't remember anyone suggesting that we make a clarinet out of a
duck, but it's worth a shot.

--
Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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