 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ben
Date: 2003-01-27 02:59
How would a rosewood barrel of similar dimensions compare to a barrel made out of ebony, in sound and resistance?
Rosewood is the lighter of the two woods right?
Would it therefore be more prone to warping or cracking?
Does varnishing the barrel have any affect on the sound?
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-01-27 09:13
Rosewood is no more prone to cracking than blackwood. Varnish has no effect on the timbre of an instrument whose wood does not vibrate ie. wind instruments. A barrell is only about 3 inches out of a total length of 24 inches. It is unlikely that a 1/8 section is going to have too much effect on the resistance as a whole; maybe only a little.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-01-27 12:22
Hiya Ben,
The hole down the middle of most any barrel is highly polished, and should not contribute (directly or indirectly) to resistance in the air column...
Where the barrel meets the mouthpiece and clarinet body, any abrupt change in diameter may interfere with passage of the sound.
Tapers and or chambers built into the barrel may make some effect on the overall sound and contribute to the resistance of your instrument AS A WHOLE...
Here's the bottom line - if it has a warranty, and plays well for you, then it is worth your money and time in selection.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-27 15:21
Anything made from Rosewood will have a "brighter" sound than the Grenadilla wood. Rosewood is not more prone to cracking than any other wood.
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Author: James
Date: 2003-01-27 21:23
Barrels do make a big difference, even if the they are on three inches out of twenty four.
-James
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-01-27 21:50
"Brighter" sound from Rosewood?
Prove it. Get three barrels of identical dimensions made of hard rubber, Grenadilla, Rosewood or Titanium.
Wrap each one in duct tape to disguise the material.
Have someone else play them on their horn, and randomnly switch throughout a familiar passage of music.
Afterwards, publish your findings.
Telling some young player with limited funds to spend money on an unprovable technologic breakthrough diverts attention from practice.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-01-28 00:46
Synonymous Botch wrote:
> Wrap each one in duct tape to disguise the material.
Of course that would completely change the experiment ...
Perhaps playing in a totally dark room ...
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2003-01-28 01:15
Synonymous Botch,
Brenda said >>Rosewood will have a "brighter" sound>> and I don't have any problems with this statement even I personally have slightly different opinion. To ask her to prove it sounds kind of insulting. I probably would have to ask Mark Pinner to prove his ridiculous statement "Varnish has no effect on the timbre of an instrument whose wood does not vibrate ie. wind instruments", but I would rather NOT.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-01-28 12:30
What I mean to say is that young players need concrete direction when it comes to spending money on equipment.
How many of us have drawers full of 'impovements' that cost a stack and didn't help - or worse?
Topflight professionals in most any field stress FUNDAMENTALS...
they only adopt the gizmos that actually work.
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Author: James
Date: 2003-01-28 12:38
us "youngersters" are well enough to make our own decisions, we know know what works for us. I am not going to change my clarinet or mouthpiece becuase someone says theres something better or brighter or darker. This extra talk is just in fun.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-28 16:28
From my 42 years of experience of owning both grenadilla wood and rosewood clarinets and barrels--and having bought and sold hundreds of instruments to students and professional players--rosewood tends to sound brighter than the darker, more dense grenadilla wood. Ask anyone who works with both woods. I don't have to prove anything that is based upon my experience. I don't tell starving students to purchase anything--expensive or otherwise. I merely share my experience from years of buying, selling and playing the clarinet. I'm not a sax player or a flute player--just the clarinet (and guitar). It's merely observation. Take it or leave it.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-01-28 22:36
With a Janka relative hardness rating of 2300 for Caribbean Rosewood and 2540 for Grenadilla I think I'll leave it, thank you.
Personally, I would choose Lignum Vitae for barrels, but it wears out the tools too quickly.
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Author: Mark P. Jasuta
Date: 2003-01-28 23:12
I think we have too many variables. If it were possible to get one instrument made of each material by the same manufacturer and of course played by the same person with the same mouthpiece. We would still be hard pressed to get any definitive results, because, as we all know, no two instruments, even from the same manufacturer will sound alike. What we need to be concerned about is the "density" of the wood. Basically the rule of thumb is a more dense wood will yield a warm, dark sound, while a less dense wood a lighter, brighter sound. If my memory serves me correctly rosewood is not as dense as grenadilla. Whether or not this difference is noticeable or not, I would have to go with Brenda's experience in this case. So I'm with Brenda on this one.
Mark
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-01-29 00:07
Mark P. Jasuta wrote:
> Basically the rule of thumb is a more dense wood will
> yield a warm, dark sound, while a less dense wood a lighter,
> brighter sound.
I'm sorry, but where did you get this "rule of thumb"?
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