 The Fingering Forum
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Author: Jeremy
Date: 2002-04-22 04:30
Here's a good question:
What are the highest possible notes that saxes, flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, etc. are capable of producing? I don't mean the highest note that one can find a fingering for, I mean the highest note that a vibrating reed is capable of. I've heard that Bb5 (or Bb7 as it is listed on this site) is the highest that one can reach on an alto sax, but I have hit the C# above that. When does a note stop being a note and become a controlled squeak? If it is simply a matter of reed strength, then the alto sax should be able to play like piccolo flute on a size 6 reed. Conversely, if a note is a function of a vibrating reed, is it possible to go lower than the "lowest" note on reed instruments? I am well-learned in physics and understand the rules governing this processes, but I am frustrated at the limitations of reed (and brass, I should add) instruments. Thank you.
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Author: Torustubarius
Date: 2002-04-22 15:30
I imagine that it would be a question you could ask not about individual instruments, but more about individual reeds. No two reeds are identical, so variations in the scrape, fibrous structure of the reeds, etc. will play into the vibrations it is capable of producing. It does seem like it's always possible to force the sound up just one tone higher doesn't it? I suppose with high notes, the sky is the limit and you could theoretically just keep going farther and farther up the scale until you couldn't hear it anymore. Like that sax player dude who plays for Saturday Night Live; it seems like sometimes he does just that.
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Author: Gnomon
Date: 2002-04-22 20:34
The lowest note is limited by the length of the tube. A standard clarinet's lowest note is written as E (it is really a D). If you want a model that can get down to written Eb (concert Db), you need to get with with a tube a couple of inches longer.
There is no limit on the highest note. You can keep on getting higher and higher harmonics until nobody can tell it from a squeak.
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Author: Jeremy
Date: 2002-04-23 06:40
Urg. Eventually the practical use of higher harmonics becomes zero anyway and some fingerings might be too complicated for quick playing. And I know that lowest notes are a function of the length of the tube........but there must be a way to go lower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Author: Eoin McAuley
Date: 2002-04-23 08:38
I've heard you can make saxophones play lower by putting something in the bell. You can change the pitch of clarinets by putting a piece of string down the bore, but I can't remember whether it makes it play lower or higher.
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Author: Jeremy
Date: 2002-04-26 04:47
How does that string thing work?
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