 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: pmjerome
Date: 2010-11-03 13:40
Hi
I am curious to know what other players thoughts are about the subtleties in different types of wood.
Several Manufacturers offer Grenadilla or Rosewood but Schwenk and Seggelke offer:-
African Blackwood (I am guessing is Mpingo as opposed to Grenadilla)
Cocobolo
Mopane
Rosewood
Boxwood.
People say that rosewood is a brighter more focused sound. Would you agree and what are your thoughts about the characteristics of the other types of wood
Pete J :oD
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2010-11-03 15:58
Depending on local dialect - Mpingo, Ebony, and African Blackwood are synonymous with Grenadilla. Rosewood too is a member of the Dalbergia family with Grenadilla. The other wood has a different ancestry. You would need identical clarinets made of the different woods to make a statement about their sound - or, if material makes no difference then nothing.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2010-11-03 18:33
I take a more open view of different wood materials based on different wood mouthpieces that I've owned and the trial of Rosewood Patricolas.
I will "go out on a limb" (pun intended) here and say that rosewood tends to a softer, more subtle sound. It's down side (beside volume, if that's what you need) is that it is far less stable than African Blackwood. I've had two rosewood mouthpieces develop cracks straight down the table and they swell with use and the weather to a fairly noticable degree.
I would further say that unless you find someone with direct experience with some of the other woods, I would recommend sticking with good old African Blackwood for a clarinet body. However, Boxwood has a great reputation from days of old, since that was the "go-to" material before Mpingo (I really like the look of the boxwood/gold key model).
....................Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-11-03 18:43
Grenadilla/Mpingo/Blackwood is the most dense and (subject to being seasoned well) is the most dimensionally stable of the tropical hardwoods.
Rosewood/kingwood can by nature be very dry, so may need more care and maintenance than blackwood to ensure it doesn't crack (but can be just as hardy or as prone to cracking as any type of wood).
Cocobolo is a very waxy/oily wood, but can sometimes be porous with open vessels entering the bore which may need sealing. The dust from it can cause allergic reactions.
But as has been said, little can be gained without trying instruments made from the different woods to get an idea of how they all perform.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2010-11-03 22:15
Except for the woods' different responses to moisture (as noted above) you can change the tone quality so much with different reed/mouthpiece/ligature combinations that I am not convinced the material makes all that great a difference on sound, given instruments of equal quality construction.
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Author: pmjerome
Date: 2010-11-04 01:22
It is a hard one to call without having identical instuments (except the wood) lined up infront of you and I doubt I'll be in a situation like that.
On the seggelke website there is a 1500€ mark up for boxwood which i am sure is justifiable somewhere along the line.
I always think that with with the price implications of different wood it would open up a whole new world of sound. But for the cost implications you could have a field day finding a more personalised set up with mouthpieces barrels and bells.
I hadn't thought about the moisture tollerances of the woods only the density and therefore different resonance. So thank you for pointing that out too.
Oh and could you imagine being proud owner of a brand new cocobolo clarinet pair only to find your allergic to them!!! Ha!
Thanks everyone for your comments. More food for thought! :oD
Pete J :oD
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Author: pmjerome
Date: 2010-11-04 01:27
I would love to read the thoughts of someone who's played or does play on instruments made from the other woods tho. Especially boxwood.
Pete J :oD
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Author: srattle
Date: 2010-11-04 01:46
I just recently visited Seggelkes workshop. I didn't have a chance to try out different woods from him, since he didn't have any finished samples other than grenadilla.
But after talking with him, I have a little insight into the boxwood instruments.
He actually dissuaded me from buying a boxwood instrument. He said that although the acoustical properties of boxwood are amazing, it cracks much too easily, and tends to project less than grenadilla.
I think the price markup has more to do with the rarity in good boxwood. I think Seggelke has a certain amount of quality instrument ready boxwood, but not so much, and it's a bit like, when it's gone, it's gone.
A boxwood instrument seems to be more of a speciality thing, rather than an everyday instrument.
Seggelke seemed to recommend grenadilla to me, but maybe you should send him an e-mail and see what he thinks directly.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2010-11-04 08:26
IMO the most "open view" (quoting another post) is of trying to find the truth based on real evidence, rather than assuming things on personal (or no) experience that isn't real evidence. There is general research about comparing different materials, mainly for flutes, which gives some reliable information.
Some examples from my experience.
I have two wood mouthpieces of the exact same model. They play different just like different model and different material mouthpiece can play.
When I tried several clarinets of the same model, made of both grenadilla and rosewood, there wasn't a distinct difference between the different wood clarinets, that didn't exist between same wood clarinets.
Although these examples are not rpoof, they show two things. First, if a certain type of wood makes a difference, it should be a consistent difference. IME this isn't the case at all. Second, finding differences between different instruments made of different woods prove nothing about the effect of those materials.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-11-04 08:53
...and besides, subtleties like these are more than likely lost to the audience who's sitting 5+ yards away from the sound source...
--
Ben
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