 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Bvan
Date: 2012-02-22 23:14
Hi all, this is Bryan from Backun Musical.
We here at BMS have a secret project in the works, and it starts with a question for you:
In a perfect world, if you could try a barrel made from ANY wood, what wood would that be? Feel free to be creative...
Bryan Vance
Backun Musical Services
www.backunmusical.com
Post Edited (2012-02-22 23:17)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: oca
Date: 2012-02-22 23:41
Hi Bryan!
My suggestion would be Bolsa Wood!
Bolsa wood is very, very light and fragile. I would assume that this would provide much amplification and maybe give a saxophone like sound.
Try to use woods that are extreme in their physical properties.
Violin players judge the wood of the instrument by grain. Try concentration grain and low concentration grain.
Maybe use the same type of wood that Stradivarius, Amati, and Guarneri used too make their violin! Use the same processes that luthiers use to make their wood suitable for their instruments.
Also, please don't use an exotic wood just because it is exotic and sells for loads of money
I wish Backun luck
Post Edited (2012-02-22 23:48)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-02-22 23:52
Bvan wrote:
> In a perfect world, if you could try a barrel made from ANY
> wood, what wood would that be? Feel free to be creative...
A wood that is impervious to cracks would be ideal. Since such a wood doesn't exist and the likely goal here is to provide a barrel with maximum "look at me" factor how about burl? It would be horrifyingly difficult to manufacture barrels from reliably but would look pretty awesome and you could probably charge a small fortune for a burl barrel.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: CocoboloKid
Date: 2012-02-22 23:53
I'd have to cast a vote for either pink ivory, boxwood or snakewood!
|
|
|
|
|
Author: alto gether
Date: 2012-02-23 00:22
And in order to answer your question accurately, I'd need to know which woods are stablest under changes of temperature and humidity. But if we are blue-skying woods, howabout bubinga?
|
|
|
|
|
Author: rtmyth
Date: 2012-02-23 00:27
The same one I, and many others, have used for many decades. I never had a problem with that wood. Maybe ebony would ( no pun ) be a candidate.
richard smith
Post Edited (2012-02-23 00:30)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Sylvain
Date: 2012-02-23 01:26
plywood
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
|
|
|
|
|
Author: mvjohnso
Date: 2012-02-23 02:45
My vote is for Zebra Wood, and a second place vote for Oregon Myrtle (maybe Sitka Spruce but that stuffs expensive because guitar players drove it to near extinction).
Fyi here's an interesting database for any interested and too lazy to google:
http://www.guitarbench.com/tonewood-database/
Post Edited (2012-02-23 02:56)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2012-02-23 02:54
that tree from Avatar, that would be cool.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 03:05
What about artificial petrified wood?
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Bvan
Date: 2012-02-23 03:12
Thanks for all the great suggestions. Keep them coming!!
Bryan Vance
Backun Musical Services
www.backunmusical.com
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Alseg
Date: 2012-02-23 03:17
Attachment: ZebrawoodOakBocoteBarrels.jpg (76k)
Zebra wood and Bubinga, as suggested above, PLAY nicely but are more porous than you might suspect.
I will try to attach pics of some. A Bubinga that I made is out on trial, so I do not have a picture.
Since Yugoslavian mountain maple works well on bassoons, you might think it would do well on a barrel for clarinets........wrong! Didn't play as well as I thought.
Oak did not work out at all!
Bocote is nice (see picture) but I had one crack, although others have done well.
The burl used on fine smoking pipes (Corsican Briar) such as used by Dunhill or Charatan might be nice....but costly. That would be my choice.
One could get biblical with Olive-wood or Acacia.......Hey, Acacia with gold hammered on it in fine sheets, and maybe some angels!! (Where is Indiana Jones when you need him) ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
Then of course there is Rhino horn, Ivory, and Mastadon tusk* to get farther afield. *yep...available on Cabot handgun grips.
I guess the project ain't so secret now.
Anyway the picture shows , for those who are curious, a Zebra-wood (on the left), oak, and a Bocote barrel.
Disclaimer......I make and sell barrels and am not in connected with the original poster. I am just a small mote on his ocean. I am just showing some of the woods mentioned.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
Post Edited (2012-02-23 03:36)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2012-02-23 03:21
I'd vote for cedar. Even if the clarinetist stinks, the clarinet won't. Also it might protect against those nasty worms that like to eat pads.
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
|
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-02-23 03:48
Woody wood (pecker).
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ursa
Date: 2012-02-23 06:09
I'll second Mr. Segal's suggestion of briar. None of my briar pipes has ever cracked--it would seem a logical material to investigate for clarinet bits and pieces.
Cheers, Ursa
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Chris J
Date: 2012-02-23 07:42
Jarrah, from Australia, is a very hard and dense wood. Might be worth a shot to see what a barrel would be like from it?
Chris
|
|
|
|
|
Author: ttay1122
Date: 2012-02-23 08:06
Particle board. Hahahaha kidding. I guess Lignum Vitae is the hardest most dense wood on the earth (before petrified wood) so it would be interesting the see the effect it might have on a clarinet.
These are also very dense hard woods that could be tried:
Olneya tesota
(Desert Ironwood)
Cercocarpus betuloides
Mountain Mahogany.
Taylor
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-02-23 08:39
Lignum Vitae would be interesting. I'd also like to see one made from a very dense burl timber such as Australian Mallee or Gidgee.
Tony F.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 09:01
Birdseye Maple.
(and please, FSC wood only)
--
Ben
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Dan Oberlin ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 11:09
Another vote for hard rubber.
D.O.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: bradfordlloyd
Date: 2012-02-23 11:42
How about something easily locally-sourced and renewable (i.e., good dense material with minimal growing time for replenishment)? I'm no arborist or barrel maker, but perhaps myrtlewood? Various species of maple? Birch? Walnut? Brazillian cherry?
Heck, maybe the question should be "what other wood can we mix with carbon fibers (a la "Greenline") to develop a new material that works better, is cheaper, more sustainable, etc.?"
At the end of the day, I'm less concerned about what the wood grain on my barrel looks like and more concerned with how it works, and if I can afford to buy several different versions for different occasions.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: dgclarinet
Date: 2012-02-23 12:55
I have about a zillion pine trees in my back yard. You can cut a few of those down and make all the barrels you want. I'd even buy one.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 13:13
> How about something easily locally-sourced and renewable (i.e., good
> dense material with minimal growing time for replenishment)?
Most politicians would meet all these criteria, probably worldwide. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
--
Ben
Post Edited (2012-02-23 13:14)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: RefacerMan
Date: 2012-02-23 14:22
I vote for red snakewood. I saw an absolutely beautiful Hiniker oboe made out of snakewood.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Bvan
Date: 2012-02-23 15:13
Hey, more great suggestions. Thanks.
A lot of these are on the list for consideration already (Snakewood, MDF, Plywood, Cherry etc), but we'll keep adding to it.
Keep them coming!
Bryan Vance
Backun Musical Services
www.backunmusical.com
|
|
|
|
|
Author: CocoboloKid
Date: 2012-02-23 16:52
I wonder if this secret project is something similar to the organic fiber-fusion process that Jeff Weissman and Chris McKenna use to make piccolos out of a tremendous variety of exotic woods that otherwise could never hold up to instrument making...perhaps we'll be seeing an even greater rainbow of Backun barrels soon!
Post Edited (2012-02-23 16:53)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: rtmyth
Date: 2012-02-23 19:07
lignum vitae is the perfect choice. Ebony second.
richard smith
|
|
|
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 19:16
Is depleted uranium a type of wood?
|
|
|
|
|
Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 19:31
"What about artificial petrified wood?"
I believe that is what Buffet uses in their Greenline series.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-02-23 19:31
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> Is depleted uranium a type of wood?
[sarcasm] If we follow along with the (dubious) theory that the higher mass of fatboy-style barrels makes them sound better then surely a barrel that weighs in at over a kilogram would be superlative. [/sarcasm]
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-02-23 20:31
Wenge and Boccote are very pretty woods particularly on curved sufaces.
....................Paul Aviles
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Tom Puwalski
Date: 2012-02-23 20:47
I'd be into fossilized Eucalyptus, who cares what it sounds like, cool is cool.
Tom Puwalski
|
|
|
|
|
Author: saxlite
Date: 2012-02-23 21:22
How about Tiger Wood(s)
Never gets a hole-in-one, but might crack under stress....
Jerry
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 21:42
I have a recorder made of snakewood, which is used for violin bows. It's extremely dense and heavy -- heavier than grenadilla. The instrument's I've seen are jet black. Unfortunately, it has a reputation for cracking. Maybe Pernambuco would work, if you can get any.
Kal Opperman said he had made a barrel of oak, which played beautiful but absorbed water so fast that he had to touch it up every few minutes.
He made me a barrel of cocus wood that plays wonderfully. It's my #1 barrel. The dust when you drill it is toxic, though.
He also made me a barrel out of European boxwood, which is what most of the museum instruments are made of. It grows only in small trees and must be aged for many years before it becomes stable. The sound is rather light and old-fashioned (whatever that means), good for chamber music. Bill McColl had Buffet make him a Bb/A set out of box, but I don't believe he plays it.
Loree makes oboes and English horns out of violetwood, which players seem to love.
I suggest a double-walled barrel made of sterling silver, perhaps with gold or platinum plating.
Ken Shaw
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ursa
Date: 2012-02-23 22:40
How about Persimmon wood?
Just think of all the old golf clubs that could be recycled...a near-limitless supply of aged Persimmon is out there, just waiting to be cherry-picked from second-hand stores...and I have a few clubs that I would gladly donate.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: bill28099
Date: 2012-02-23 22:41
How about locust, it's extremely hard, resistant to rot and cheap. You could make $100 barrels.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: clarinetkane
Date: 2012-02-24 01:05
Koa wood from Hawaii!
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2012-02-24 20:21
This is a very, very strange thread.
It seems that even at the high reputation clarinet tech company that no one cares much about the properties of the material.
Maybe clarinet aesthetics are dominated by the instrument's appearance rather than by its sound, intonation and response; or, maybe, the material really doesn't matter.
Bob Phillips
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Alseg
Date: 2012-02-24 20:45
Wenge does not do well......I tried it.
Bocote? See my thread (above) with a picture of it.
As far as hard rubber goes......Dr. Henderson has some made from his Chedeville formula. Maybe contact him at Drs. products. or via his subsidiary, chedevillemp.com/barrel/
As far as mass ...... a naked singularity might do well to
provide that dull dank colorless sound that will be the result of trying to achieve the ultimate "dark" sound. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
Yes, that's it......the elusive dark matter in the universe will do well to gobble up the sound, this thread, and everything else.
|
|
|
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
