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Re: Why are c. 1900-era clarinets lighter?

Author: John Peacock
Date: 2025-08-10 23:32

I doubt that the wood on early clarinets was less dense. As we know, the quality of grenadilla being used in the early 20th century was higher than is commonly used today - so if anything it might be denser. But probably this is a small factor, and the following example indicates that it's basically about dimensions:

1982 R13. 749g including barrel but no mouthpiece. Bore 14.76 mm. Width of top of lower joint 29.30 mm

1936 Buffet. 715g. Bore 14.91 mm. Width of top of lower joint 28.88 mm

A decent guess is that the weight should scale in proportion to the square of the width minus the square of the bore, i.e. proportional to the cross-sectional area. And it does:

Weight ratio: 749/715 = 1.048
Area ratio: (29.3^2 - 14.76^2) / (28.88^2 - 14.91^2) = 1.047

This doesn't address why makers have tended to move towards thicker walls. You might guess it affects the sound via "thinner wall = brighter." But I also have a 1959 R13 that is slightly smaller than 1982 (734g), and it has a much less bright sound than either 1982 or 1936. So there's much more to it than just quantity of wood.

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