 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Library Geek
Date: 2007-04-13 12:23
I've always wondered this: If properly taken care of (controlled humidity and temperature), does the sound (pitch, tone) of a wooden clarinet get better (richer, darker?) as it ages? I guess I think of this because I've read that violins do this.
Just wondering.
Ann
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Author: clockwiser
Date: 2007-04-13 13:14
clarinet's value decreases with time, its the opposite to string instruments. I really don't know why this is the case.
i found this question really interesting
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Author: Library Geek
Date: 2007-04-13 13:21
Perhaps they descrease because of the "spit" that goes into the clarinet from blowing into it. It probably "breaks down" the wood. Obviously, this doesn't happen with stringed instruments.
Ann
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Author: kilo
Date: 2007-04-13 13:38
The soundboard in an acoustic string instrument such as the violin plays a more integral part in the production of musical tones than does the wooden body of a clarinet. That's why they don't make violins out of hard rubber, plastic, or blackwood sawdust/epoxy composites. The "mellowing" of a violin's tone over time is a complex phenomenon and I'm not sure that it can be completely explained but it probably has something to do with the stability of the wood as it reaches some sort of equilibrium. I read an article about this a few years ago and wish I remembered more of it.
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Author: Koo Young Chung
Date: 2007-04-13 13:41
Violin: Vibration is twofolds
1.body resonance--wood fiber crystalize with time and this makes distinctive old instruments' sound.
2.air resonance--doesn't change at all
These are roughly equal in part.
Clarinet: Most resonance(95%) is air.
That's why the clar. sound doesn't get better with time.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-04-13 13:48
one reason old instruments lose value is because they were not made to as exacting standards as new ones. The intonation on newer clarinets is simply better than those of 100 years ago.
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Author: hans
Date: 2007-04-13 14:10
Library Geek,
Re: "It probably "breaks down" the wood", I recall reading something to that effect on Naylor's web site and I can see some evidence of minor roughening (loss of shine) in my barrel. Fortunately the rest of my 19 year old clarinet shows no signs of it whatsoever.
Regards,
Hans
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Author: Henning
Date: 2007-04-13 14:49
No, it doesn´t!
This has to do with the way the tone is produced. In a violin the plates are vibrating and thereby contributing to the tone production. The tone in a WWI as the clarinet, is produced by the length of the air column in the instrument, which itself is depending on (it´s length), what tone holes are covered.
Post Edited (2007-04-13 14:51)
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2007-04-13 16:57
I don't know if a clarinet improves with age or not. I recovered my 60 year old Penzel Mueller Brillante a few months ago and began to play it again.
I was astonished how good it sounded; pure, limpid, and I have to say lovely. I don't know if age has improved it or if I've developed a super embouchere in my old age. Maybe a little of both. Anyway a happy surprise for me.
I've 5 clarinets now and am about to spring for a Yamaha, Hamiton keys and all. I've heard some good things about it...I hope the yea sayers are right!
Clarinet Redux
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