Tr : ACOUSTICAL MATERIALS SCIENCE

----------
De�: Sarn Richard Ursell <thcdelta@ihug.co.nz>
� : wim.hoogewerf@fnac.net
Objet�: ACOUSTICAL MATERIALS SCIENCE
Date�: Lun 20 d�c 1999 3:41

******Hi Jessica,

I'm copying my reply (including your original email) to The Alternate
Tuning Internet Mailing List (more info at
<http://www.pacificnet.net/~nowitzky/tuning>).

Hello. My name is Jessica and I am doing a science/math project. I am study
how different chemicals applied to clarinet reeds affect the intonation of
notes.

++++Sarn says:

This sort of thing always interested me.

This is the kind of experimentation I used to do as a child, and, I have a
veiw to physicalmodeling experiments with this sort of thing.

*****I was searching on the net for some information about intonation,
where I happened to come across your website.

+++++Welcome aboard!!!

(Please list owner, send this to her).

******It had a lot of information that was interesting, but only a little
amount that was applicable to my
project. In my experiment, I used 4 size 3 V12 Vandoren Bb clarinet reeds. I
played a Concert Bb with all 4 of the reeds and recorded the intonation off
of my automatic chromatic tuner set on 440 as the pitch. I soaked a reed in
orange juice, another in vinegar, the 3rd in vegetable oil, and the last in
sugar water. I allowed them to be immersed for 5 minutes.

+++++Not that I am challengeing this experiment, but I feel that they should
have been emersed for about a week for the juicy goodness to REALLY sink in.

****I took them out and let them dry, and then I played the Concert Bb
again. I took the initial
and final readings and compared the change. The results were that the
vinegar affected the reed the most. I'm not sure if this is part of your
expertise, for this project is kinda "different", however, i was wondering
if you could tell me what causes the intonation fluctuations with the added
substances and if there is a more accurate way of calculating the intonation
changes besides subtracting the initial and final readings off of the tuner.

+++++This experiment, and question could have me typeing for about four
hours, and still not finish.

I feel intuitively that William Sethares and Brian McLaren would love this
sort of thing, and I can see that there are certain limitations of "merely"
designing a unit gong of unit size of unit strikeing enegry of unit
strikeing position etc.... and changeing only its composition, and acessing
the raw data from sonograms produced.

When trying to apply a generalization as in terms of a mathematical formula,
model, whathave you, it is noteworthy that these thing break down at
extremes, as all formulae modeling a physical system do.

And, subtle nucance in shape of a horns curvature would DRASTICALLY effect
the sound!

Little did I realise HOW MUCH alloy composition of whatever instruement
would RADICALLY effect the sound it produced, and I have a need to know the
epistemological classification of whatever branch of science pertaining to
the acoustical propertys of alloys/materials.

I have read engineering and materials science textbooks about Creep
strength, Poisson's ratio, tensile strenght, and these provide a VERY rough
and ready basis for materials analysis and classification, however, when we
want to do REALLY alternative/kinky/exotic/weird experiments, like repeated
exponentionally increasing loads over a 2 month period, these "base
information packages" would breakdown.

My point being,-with a few raw informational sonograms, how the hell can we
predice how a clarinet reed will sound if soaked in copper sulphate
solution, radioactive substances, gold dust etc..?

These questions have very real implications for experimental music,-physical
modeling and music based on pure mathematics, in my honest opinion are the
next big thing.

In addition to this, wood is a complex substance, as is bone, bamboo etc....

******If and when you have time, i would greatly appreciate your reply.
Thank you
very much. :)

++++I would love to talk with you about these concepts, anytime.

Study well!

Sincerely,

Sarn to....

Sincerely,

Jessica
11th grade student
Lyman High School
Longwood, FL

******I'm not much of a reed player myself, but I would imagine that if
soaking
the reed in different liquids caused intonational changes, they'd just be
compensated for in practice by adjusting the length of the "tuning barrel"
(or whatever it's called, we trombonists call it a tuning slide).

I presume that as you're changing reeds in your experiment, you're being
careful to put the mouthpiece/barrel back on in the same tuning position
(perhaps fully closed/shortened). I guess a thicker reed might cause the
clarinet to appear slightly shorter, resulting in a slightly higher pitch.
So if soaking the reed made it thicker, maybe you'd get a higher note.

Your experiment may also result in changes in "timbre", maybe causing less
of a "clarinetty" sound. But your tuner won't help you measure that.
Clarinets are almost the only instrument whose "frequency spectrum" has
only odd harmonics (it skips the even harmonics because the tube is closed
at one end). This give clarinets that "oo" sound (as in mOOn).

Regarding your method of calculating the intonation changes, it would make
more sense to divide your readings instead of subtracting them, since pitch
is geometric rather than arithmetic. For example, to go up an octave, you
double the frequency. "Cents" are commonly used as a unit of measurement
for intervals; 1200 cents = 1 octave.

Anyway, perhaps some of the tuning list folk can better assist you. Many
of them are performers, some of them are instrument builders. And your
topic sounds relevant to expermental musical instrument design.

Good luck (and happy T-day)!
--Mark (nowitzky@alum.mit.edu, AKA tuning-owner@onelist.com)

++++++Excellent points.