 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-12-03 13:43
OK, somewhat silly or at least trivial topic, but I'm curious.
I read over and over here about how this or that ligature or barrel "dampens" the sound. I learned as a student long time ago that suppressing parts of a sound wave in any way "damps" the sound, so a ligature may well damp the tone (or the higher frequency parts of it), but it doesn't make the sound wetter (by making it more damp, or dampening it).
Are these in effect two different verbs, "to damp" and "to dampen," or is "dampen" a correct term in acoustics? Trouble is, my spell checker doesn't flag either, since it isn't contextually sensitive. I did look the words up in an old (paper) unabridged Webster's I still own, and the definitions there are a little ambiguous, although the only one that carries a specific acoustical (or electrical) meaning is "damp" used as a verb.
Are both terms correct as applied to sound, or is "dampen" misused in an acoustical context?
Karl
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-03 14:17
Karl -
In this context, I understand "dampen" to mean reducing high frequencies or otherwise blocking offensive parts of the tone. I've never seen it used literally to refer to water.
"Damp down" meaning close the damper in a fireplace to reduce the heat, or, only figuratively, to create the sort of tone that reminds you of wet cardboard.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2013-12-03 14:20)
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Author: Peter B
Date: 2013-12-03 14:29
In Dutch we have two similar words of the same origin and each covers one of these meanings: "damp" (noun) translates to "steam" in English, so that refers to moist, and "dempen" (verb), as far as waves (sound or any other wave form) are concerned, would mean a reduction of wave amplitude, so ''to dampen". Generally speaking, such dampening would be frequency dependent, so for sound, the amplitude reduction (volume reduction) may be different for overtones. Surely, the dampness of a reed will have some dampening effect. At first sight, I find both "to damp" and "to dampen" in both meanings in online dictionaries, but as I'm not a native English speaker, I can't really comment on that.
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Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2013-12-03 15:56
The Oxford English Dictionary reveals that the verb damp means "to affect with 'damp'" where the noun means steam or mist. Thus 'to stifle, choke, extinguish'. First citation is in 1564; first use acoustically 1840.
The verb dampen, a derivative of the verb damp, appears first in 1630 and is more generally used of the emotions, 'dampen ones spirits'.
It appears that a 100 hundred years ago a ligature would both damp a reed's vibrations and you would damp it first before playing. Failure to damp it first would dampen the listener's appreciation. Modern usage has changed.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-12-03 22:53
We neglected to mention dampers for pianos..........a musical staple (and I mean staple as a basic need).
................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-12-04 02:14
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> A damper damps -- it does not dampen.
>
Thanks! I was just going to ask about that.
Karl
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2013-12-04 18:44
not to dampen your spirits, but they are synonymous.. dampen used to be 3rd form of damp. sorta like light-lite-litten(?)
damp
.............
v.t.
7. to make damp; moisten.
8. to check or retard the energy, action, etc., of; deaden; dampen.
9. to stifle or suffocate; extinguish: to damp a furnace.
10. to check or retard the action of (a vibrating string); dull; deaden.
11. to cause a decrease in amplitude of (successive oscillations or waves).
--------------------------------------------
damp·en (dmpn)
v. damp·ened, damp·en·ing, damp·ens
v.tr.
1. To make damp.
2. To deaden, restrain, or depress: "trade moves . . . aimed at dampening protectionist pressures in Congress" (Christian Science Monitor).
3. To soundproof.
v.intr.
To become damp.
dampen (third-person singular simple present dampens, present participle dampening, simple past and past participle dampened)
(transitive) To make damp or moist; to make slightly wet.
(transitive) To depress; to check; to make dull; to lessen.
(intransitive) To become damp; to deaden.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-12-05 20:14
I can't write a poem if I'm damped,
'cause the dampening dampens my vamp.
The words just can't flow
if the flow is too slow
and the rhyme can't proceed up the ramp.
Limericks "Я" Us
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Author: GBK
Date: 2013-12-05 22:12
You don’t want to dampen the sound.
Play a reed that is free and not bound.
Bonade, Rovner, Spriggs,
Or just tie it with twigs.
Try all, dismiss none, until found.
...GBK
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