 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dan Oberlin
Date: 2002-05-08 22:08
Yesterday I picked up the Yamaha YCL CSV which one of our
local music stores had ordered for me to play test. (I asked for
three specimens to try, but Yamaha only sent one, and took
three weeks to do it!) The instrument plays quite nicely
right out of the box. As I was putting it together I noticed
an interesting modification of the bore in the bell. The flair
of the bell on, e.g., an R13 is approximately linear for the
first inch or so below the tenon socket. On the Yamaha there is
a very pronounced deviation: imagine a circle and draw a radial segment from the center to the circumference. A line which bisects this segment will intersect the circle in two points which are
the endpoints of an arc with opening < 180 degrees. If this bisecting segment represents the approximately linear flair of
an R13's bell from 1/4 of an inch below the tenon socket to 5/4 of an inch below, then the circular arc approximates the taper of the Yamaha's bell through that section. The deviation from a linear
taper maxes out at, maybe, 3/16 of an inch. Pretty dramatic!
I wonder whether this is for tuning purposes or to modify the
sound of the "long" notes. Anyone know?
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Author: ken
Date: 2002-05-09 00:59
Hi Dan,
From your description, this profile seems to be similar to the Buffet RC Prestige which has a curved bore expansion at the top of the bell. I think this plays a big part in the tonal 'make-up' of the RC. It could also sharpen tho E/B 12th a bit.
Ken
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Author: Heidi
Date: 2002-05-09 02:10
Hi Dan,
That was quite a description...my brain hurts. Anyway, I asked a Yamaha dealer about that when I was buying mine earlier this year. He said that it made the tone better and darker. I really enjoy the sound of this instrument as compared to others. I find it very consistant throughout.
Happy Yamahaing,
Heidi
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Author: john gibson
Date: 2002-05-09 02:53
Uh....what did you say? the intersecting diameter of the first 1/4 inch is perpendicular to the outside polarity of projection through
the circumferance differential by virtue of spatial increments alloted only every 5/4 inch or so? Isn't that an inch and a quarter?
PLEASE...DON'T TELL ME YOU "just noticed" THIS!!!! You must have stared at it for a long time!!! Maybe even used tweezers on it.
Dan...How does the damned thing play?
John
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Author: Dan Oberlin
Date: 2002-05-09 10:38
John,
I really like the way the instrument plays.
Using a 67 mm Fobes barrel and calibrating
the tuner to A=443 (to compensate for the
80 degree temperature in the spare bedroom
which is the music room at my house) the intonation
is very good. The only anomaly is that the
low F seems about 10 cents sharper than the low
E. I was happy to find that the instrument has
a little more resistance than my three-year-old
R13. The scale seems more uniform and the sound
more focused than that of the R13. I used a
minidisc recorder to do some "side by side"
comparisons with the R13 and my wife and I both
prefered the sound of the Yamaha. Even though
the Yamaha is straight out of the box, it's
more fun to play than my highly-tweaked R13.
Dan
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Author: Obscuratus moribundum
Date: 2002-05-09 22:27
Why the Hell couldn't you just say 'Egg shaped' or 'Oval'?
Aren't you missing Star Trek?
PS - The ellipsoid cavity induces resonance-based stress in the
key plating that causes enharmonic enhancement of the 4th.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-10 03:40
LOL! .... or as a Yamaha brochure (around 1998) puts it:
"Until now the V-Series clarinets were only available to a select few. They are the top of our line, representing the very pinnacle of the clarinet-making art.
"The CSV has been created for players who prefer a clear focussed tonal centre; it delivers a sound which is bright and full of life.
"The SEV is for those who like a round, full sound. with an abundance of rich overtones. It is highly resonant and includes metal joint rings.
"Both models are hand-crafted from the most select materials, and feature uniquely contoured inner bore configurations."
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-05-10 23:11
I believe y'all should know that Dan is a Professor of Mathematics [more highly advanced math than this engr. ever had!!] as should be evident from his post. Since he, his brother and my kids were childhood playmates, and I worked for his father [a brillant patent attorney] I speak with some authority! His {
Dan's} cl playing went past me years ago. This is the first thread I can recall re: bell design, my only contribution so far is to suggest looking into Benade's investigations/publications, also Gibson has a Chap.12, pg 44 brief discussion, and others of our "good books" may also help. Velly interesting! Don
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Author: Heidi
Date: 2002-05-11 01:52
Hi Don...
Thanks for clearing up the fact that our wordy friend here is a mathematician..I figured as much.;)
Heidi
My brain still hurts from reading that...owwwwww:)
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-11 15:43
I lost a lot of interest in trying to understand it, and smiled instead, when I read "radial segment ". I thought that by definition a segment was a part of a circle cut off by a chord, and that there could be no such thing as a radial segment. Or is a 'radial' segment what is left of a sector after its included segment is removed from it, i.e. an isosceles triangle?
Why would a mathematics professor use the term 'radial segment'? Does his country use a different terminology from mine?
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