 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: HannahLynnLove
Date: 2011-03-09 01:36
Please help guys! I need to have an idea by tomorrow!
I absolutely CANNOT think of something I can do with music. Trust me, if I don't do something with music, I probably will not do a good job on it. Yeah, it's weird, but I get bored very easily. Keep in mind, I'm a freshman in high school. Please don't make it too complicated for my teenage brain ^^
• I have both a wooden & plastic clarinet (playing since 5th grade)
• My sister has a trumpet, but she just started playing it last September. I know some parts of it, but not too much.
• The project must be LONG-TERM. From 3 weeks to a month.
• It can't have any live animals. Not even fish. The closest thing we can use is a plant.
• It doesn't matter how stupid the idea is. Someone in my class is going to TALK to a plant and ignore the other one and see if it makes any difference. I'm 100% serious.
PLEASE! I don't want to do something boring :(
Hannah
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2011-03-09 01:48
Hmmm...just brainstorming here...
Maybe a study on the differences in embouchure on trumpet and clarinet...Like play your clarinet for 20 minutes and then try to play trumpet (even though you don't know a lot)...Over the 3 weeks or so see if your trumpet tone is better sooner. How long does it take your lip muscles to learn the switch?
Scientifically look at your embouchure. Learn the names of the muscles, work on developing certain muscles using different methods, etc... See if your sound has an improvement by working on a different group of muscles each week.
Play clarinet at one plant, play trumpet at another plant, and leave a third plant in complete silence. See which grows the most!
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-03-09 02:29
Do some research on clarinet reed mold. You could probably set up an experiment to see under what conditions mold is most likely to grow. Or put reed mold under a microscope and take pictures. Google "clarinet reed mold" without the quotes and also search this bulletin board.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-03-09 02:36
Could do all sorts of great stuff with harmonics and intonation. On the less-complicated side, perhaps look at the effects of pulling out at different spots on the clarinet on intonation, tested at (pick one?) different temperatures, different stages of warming up the instrument, different weather, different reeds, etc. Investigate how the effects change in different registers.
Or stick different objects inside the instrument while playing and see how that effects intonation.
Alternatively, you might try to find the resonant frequencies of various restroom stalls, measuring and testing the volume of various notes played.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: clariniano
Date: 2011-03-09 02:44
Compare the sound waves of players who sound good on their instrument compared to those who do not. I did this for a high school physics class, there are big differences in what the waves look like for players with good-quality sound and those with a poor one. you can do it with a mic and an oscilliosope (sp) computer program that lets you record (like a screen shot) of a sound wave at a particular instant, sort of like a camera.
Meri
Please check out my website at: http://donmillsmusicstudio.weebly.com and my blog at: http://clariniano.wordpress.com
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Author: HannahLynnLove
Date: 2011-03-09 04:43
I decided to try and see how temperate affects my sound. I am going to do this on a plastic clarinet obviously
However, he has to check it tomorrow. I'm not sure if it will pass, because it has to be long term :/
I hate involving music with plants, especially when the experiment has already been done before and just becomes a waste of time.
Boo. I hate science.
BUT, thanks for all the awesome ideas guys! I really appreciate it! I got more answers here than I did on Yahoo Answers :D
Hannah
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2011-03-09 07:53
Two long term idea-
1. The effects on reeds from wetting them with water or olive oil. There was a thread about this a few years ago. Some people (like me) said that they tried it on a reed or two, but not any big projects.
Basically, take 2 boxes of reeds- same strength, same brand- one box gets soaked in oil for a day and gets touched with oil every day to keep it saturated, the other just gets used as usual.
To get realistic results you have to play all the reeds for many hours to see if one type wears out more than another. Maybe you can have a clarinet friend split it with you- each person gets 5 of each reed and plays each one them for (for example) 15 minutes/day (75 minutes total each day per person).
At the end of the month, are there any differences between the oiled reeds and the regular ones? Did one batch last longer? Any tonal difference? Different "feel" for the player?
2. The effects of freezing reeds. Same as above except one box of reeds goes in the freezer when you are not using them, and the other box is used normally.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-03-09 10:45
You know, if you monitor the prevailing barometric pressure from day to day that would help the long term component (how do you sound on "low pressure" days .... as storms blow in? etc.).
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-03-09 13:59
Hannah -
What grade are you in? It makes a difference in what we can suggest.
Ken Shaw
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Author: BassClarinetBaby
Date: 2011-03-09 14:04
My friend looked at sound waves from the clarinet and all kinds of things in his physics assignment. I think he explored (theoretically) how changes in bell shape could affect sound. I'm not really sure though - it was still in the planning stages when he told me about it.
Never Bb, sometimes B#, and always B natural! ♫♪
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Author: Tony Beck
Date: 2011-03-09 20:34
You can download a nifty (and free) spectrum analyzer program that works with your sound card. Just add a good mic. There are a few techy things you could do.
http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~tuner/tuner_e.html
1.) Find out why the low register is "dark" sounding and gets "brighter" as you go up.
2.) Analyze the sound of various players. Why does a good clarinet tone sound good? (You probably have a wide range of players available in the band. This is similar to Clariniano's suggestion above)
3.) Look at the sound of the same clarinet with different mouthpieces. You will be surprised at the wide variation in sound spectrum and harmonics. Is there a compromise between easy playing and good sounding mouthpieces?
4.) How does reed strength (or brand) affect sound?
5.) Compare the sound spectrum of a Bass, Alto, Bb, A and Eb all playing the same notes. (Is there really a difference between Bb and A clarinet tone?)
6.) For a more involved project, how does the clarinet spectrum change from warm indoor concert hall to cold, rainy, windy, nasty football field?
Have fun!
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Author: HannahLynnLove
Date: 2011-03-09 23:56
My teacher said it was fine to do a temperature-changing idea, even thought it's not really long term :P
And Ken Shaw, I am a 9th grader.
Thanks for all the ideas guys! I might try some of these on my own someday when I have more time
Hannah
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