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Re: Clamp that sucker down!

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-02-27 22:19

WhitePlainsDave wrote:

> I admit to high probablity of "cause and effect" bias when I
> test a reed against a mouthpiece whose ligature I tightened,
> such that I know its degree of tightness. But I feel that I
> get suboptimal results when the "ligs too tight," and know,
> rather than feel--as any of us would--that "a loose lig ruins a
> gig."
>
> This would suggest that I got the physics wrong, or my
> analogies don't apply [that well] here, or maximum reed tip
> vibration doesn't equate with maximum playabilty.
>

My experience is very similar to yours. I'm not sure where the diving board analogy breaks down, but it may have to do with the fact that the free end of the diving board is *free* - it isn't limited by a restraining surface under it. Also, its vibrations are not nearly as complex as those of a reed. The board's dimensions are not tapered (AFAIK) from front to back nor from side to side. So the vibration should be uniform (with or without harmonics) over the board's entire length. A reed's vibration is complex laterally as well as longitudinally, which could be more affected by where across the width of the butt section the force of the ligature is applied. I'm interested, as you are, in a more detailed explanation from an engineering point of view. But the bottom line is that the structures of a diving board and a reed are different enough that the effect of firmly anchoring one end could easily produce different results.

FWIW, I often wish I could play clarinet with only one hand and hold the reed with the thumb of the other. Reeds seem to be most playable when testing them that way, which makes me suspect that pressure exerted at the center of the butt end is less restrictive than when the pressure is focused in other places. But that's a purely anecdotal observation that probably doesn't contribute anything to the discussion you've tried to start here.

Karl

Karl

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Clamp that sucker down! new

WhitePlainsDave

2015-02-27 20:32