Klarinet Archive - Posting 001106.txt from 1997/09

From: gdgreen@-----.com (contrabass-gdgreen)
Subj: Re: Eb clarinets/cornets in band
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 01:48:30 -0400

At 02:10 PM 9/24/97 -0400, Peter Stoll wrote:
>But for some reason, when playing up in piccolo territory at the top of
>loud tuttis, I've usually had to bring the notes UP. I read in a book on
>piano tuning that you usually have to stretch the extremes of registers
>further in their respective directions, ie.top up and bottom down

Actually, the reason that pianos are tuned with "stretched" octaves has
more to do with their inherent inharmonicity. It doesn't apply to other
instruments. The partials in the sound produced by a piano string are not
exact integer multiples of the fundamental - they tend to be sharp. If you
tuned two C's exactly an octave apart and sounded them, the second partial
of the lower C would sound out of tune with the first partial of the higher
C. Piano tuners cover this by tuning the octaves slightly wide: that way,
the partials end up close enough to the fundamentals of higher notes that
the instrument actually sounds in tune with itself. Unless you're playing
with a piano, the problem is more likely a sharp piccolo.

Grant

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Grant D. Green gdgreen@-----.com
www.contrabass.com Just filling in on sarrusophone
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