 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-02-07 10:18
Attachment: Harmonics.jpg (599k)
After recently posting to a thread about phone tuners, and having recently finished a physics unit on sound and harmonics, I decided it would be fun to use the iPhone tuner I have (Tonal Energy) to examine the harmonics in my sound. After trying to alter the upper harmonics at will using voicing, I decided it would be interesting to try some different equipment to see what the effect on the upper harmonics was. Given the "ligature debate" that often goes on here, I found the results for different ligatures to be interesting, so I thought I would post them here for discussion.
The following was done entirely on a Buffet R13 Prestige A clarinet, a Clark Fobes CWF mouthpiece, a Clark Fobes rubber-lined cocobolo barrel, and a Peter Leuthner #4 reed. The ligature was the only variable; everything else was kept constant.
I positioned the reed on the mouthpiece, attached the first ligature, and played a low C (concert A), "pausing" the analysis as soon as everything settled in so that I could take a screenshot. I then removed the first ligature and replaced it with the second one, ensuring that the reed didn't change its position, and did the same thing again and again. I then loaded all of the screenshots into photoshop and stitched them into the graph you see on the left. Each bar along the x-axis represents a harmonic or overtone, with the leftmost bar being the fundamental (1st harmonic) and the rightmost bar being the 8th harmonic. The y-axis represents loudness in decibels. The different ligatures are color-coded. The graph on the right is simply the left graph stretched out, so that the close-together decibel levels are more easily distinguishable.
The first thing that struck me is that the results for the 3rd harmonic (the 12th, which sounds when the register key is pressed), more than any other harmonic, mirrors my anecdotal observations of the various ligatures. The VD Optimum with vertical rails, which I always perceived to be the "brightest" or "most pingy" ligature, allows for a significantly louder 3rd harmonic than the other ligatures. Conversely, the Rovner Dark, which I perceived to be the most "dark" or "muffled" ligature, gives a quieter 3rd harmonic.
I also found interesting the big difference the ligatures seemed to have had on the even-numbered partials (which are suppressed but not totally absent due to the clarinet being essentially a stopped tube). I had just assumed that these would not be affected as much because of their general absence from the clarinet's sound, but apparently they are affected just as much as the other harmonics.
Of course, this was all completely subject to the reliability of my phone, the app, my reed, my embouchure/air, etc., so the results may or may not be completely accurate (although I did feel that I did a fairly good job of maintaining a constant embouchure and air support throughout.) Also keep in mind that I'm not trying to argue that ligatures do or do not significantly change one's tone as perceived by the audience - just simply putting my findings out there for discussion. Hope you found this interesting.
Post Edited (2015-02-07 10:21)
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Author: cxgreen48
Date: 2015-02-07 10:37
I enjoyed this analysis; thanks for sharing. I always believed ligatures could make a difference in tone, although a very small difference.
I wish this app was available on Android phones though :(
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2015-02-07 14:09
Read the article in the Clarinet and Saxophone Society GB comparing harmonics with the Silverstein ligature and others. Silverstein came out on top.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-02-07 18:06
Silverstein needs to be tested against the two BG Duos, the gold-plated inverse Bonade, the solid silver Ishimori, the Peter Spriggs, and the Marc Jean, among others, before it can claim to be anywhere near the "top."
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-02-07 18:34
I like this - it at least tries to use data instead of anecdotal opinion to make the point about how ligatures can affect tone.
There are many of us, though, who wouldn't deny that ligatures can make a difference *to the player* in terms of sound, response and, as a result, playing comfort. The other half of the issue, which you recognize in your final paragraph, is whether or not ligatures matter in what reaches the audience. Specifically, at least in the last go 'round we had, whether it affects "projection." Obviously, you'd need a different test setup, at the very least a co-worker operating the electronics at the back of a hall, to get real data on that part.
Nice presentation.
Karl
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2015-02-07 18:42
Max, thanks for posting this. It's quite interesting! It proves a point that some deny--there may not be a lot of differences between ligatures, but the differences are still there.
I do like Karl's suggestion. It would be interesting to check the results at various locations in a large hall.
Post Edited (2015-02-07 18:45)
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-02-08 03:02
Ideally, this test should be done with a large sample of players with a variety of mpc/reed/clarinet setups, as well as with a large selection of ligatures, and then the average dB levels of the harmonics between all the players could be taken.
The player would be sitting on stage in a concert hall or other acoustically good room, and recording equipment would be set up at several distances to see how the perceived sound changes over a long distance. Perhaps the player could be allowed to see the sound analysis on a screen so they can make sure they're playing the fundamental at the same volume each time (you'll notice that I wasn't totally consistent with my volume; I played the fundamental a little more quietly when I played the Optimum w/ vertical rails, though the 3rd harmonic was louder anyways.)
Perhaps the players could test a few notes in different registers and at piano/pianissimo, mezzo-forte, and forte/fortissimo volumes. All I tested was C below the staff (since it left my other hand free to use my iPhone) at forte, which doesn't give you a sense of how the ligatures affect the 2nd and 3rd registers and at other volumes.
Post Edited (2015-02-08 03:08)
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2015-02-08 19:23
Seabreeze, please read the article before jumping to the wrong conclusions. I think you misunderstood my comment. I was referring to a scientific test done by Leslie Craven and a friend of his that owns a scientific instrument that measures harmonics in tone etc. please forgive my layman terms I only play the clarinet for a living. :-)
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2015-02-08 20:26
I've decided to delete the link I posted earlier and I apologize for posting it before I read the "article." I refuse to continue to be responsible for directing anyone to such a biased, unscientific piece of promotional crap.
jnk
Post Edited (2015-02-09 08:47)
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-08 21:31
Max:
I applaud your taking the time to "come to the table" with scientific findings.
I suppose I could spend the next series of paragraphs talking about how, what we both agree was the most preliminary of tests on your part, has flaws--as all testing is subect to--but you're the first to humbly admit to places where the tests could be improved. Still more, testing is not only for the purposes of noting results, but as a framework to better testing protocols, that lead to further and more refined testing inquiry.
Under the theory that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," your tests are certainly more rigorous than anything I've ever done.
But with that said, and having read the article Peter refers to, if the testing was the most accurate and perfect we could devise, I'm still at a loss to address the following and potential "but the Emporer has no clothes on" realization:
Have we reached conclusion that human beings, particularly those in our audience, universally find certain harmonics appealing? I ask this because we certainly could have legitimate disagreement with each other on the bboard as to whose clarinet sound we like best and why. And I would suspect that much of that sound difference ties back to different harmonics.
Case in point: I don't like Gervase DePeyer's sound, and love Jon Manasse's. Others would be no less honorable if their conclusions were different, or even directly opposite to mine.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-02-09 00:33
WhitePlainsDave brings up a good point: The results didn't determine how "good" the ligatures were, they simply determined the volume of the harmonics produced. Many people like a sound with fewer harmonics present, and many like a sound with lots of harmonics present, so the results shouldn't be misconstrued to mean that the VD Optimum with vertical rails is "best" or that the Rovner Dark is "best." Any one of the ligatures tested could be the "best" depending on the player's and listeners' preference.
Another thing: About two years ago, I heard Anthony McGill perform the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Mainly Mozart Chamber Orchestra, and yesterday I heard the San Diego Symphony's principal Sheryl Renk perform the same piece with the SD Symphony. Both of their interpretations were great in the context of the orchestras they were playing with, but if you'd placed Sheryl Renk in the smaller chamber orchestra without changing her interpretation/sound, it would've seemed too bold and bright, and if you'd placed Anthony McGill in the larger symphony without changing his interpretation/sound, it would've seemed too dark and subdued. The trick is that they're both able to alter, among other things, the amount of upper harmonics they produce in order to have an appropriate level of projection over the group they're playing with, which makes a case for being flexible in your brightness/darkness and not limiting yourself to "I'm a bright player" or "I'm a dark player."
Of course, this is primarily the job of the player and not the ligature, but it is worth noting that Anthony McGill used a leather ligature (Rovner?) and Sheryl Renk used an Ishimori metal ligature.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-02-09 01:09
Right on target, maxopf. Many of the world's great clarinetists keep an assortment of ligatures in their case to match the music and the acoustics of the place where they will be performing. The best ligature for the Capriccio Espanol may not be the best for the Brahms Quintet. To further complicate the matter, metal ligatures do not all play brighter than fabric and leather ones, The Ishimori gold plays bright, but the Ishimori solid silver yields a weightier, denser sound, and the solid copper one can be quite dark. The Charles Bay gold-plated inverse is noticeably more covered and rounder in sound than the BG Revelation, and so forth.
Just as painters choose (or mix) a color by unassisted sight perception and intuitive feel, without having recourse to a spectrometer to give them a digital wave-length analysis, so will musicians, clarinetists included, choose their gear based on the judgment of their unassisted ears and sensory apparatus rather than a digital (or analog) readout of the wavelength values and combinations. Analytical data can only serve to further explain the reasons for the artist's sense that a particular choice is correct; it cannot dictate to the artist which choice to make.
Post Edited (2015-02-09 03:53)
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