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Material makes no difference?

kevgermany

ex Landrover Nut
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Just north of Munich
I just found this....

Ok, so it's not a sax, we've no guarantee the geometry is the same, but it makes me wonder. Clarinets make their sound the same way as a sax or flute - longitudinal standing waves. Unlike guitars, violins etc.
 
In this particular example, the shape of the wooden bell is probably different from that of the metal bell. So he may be comparing bell geometries rather than materials.
 
Oh dear ..... they both sounded the same to me!!
 
The material of the metal bell may very well vibrate differently than the wooden one, but acoustic science tells us that in regular woodwind instruments, no coupling takes place between the wall vibrations and the sound waves inside that are emitted into the room. My guess then is that the internal dimensions of each bell are slightly different which causes any perceptible difference in the "color" of the sound.
 
To those who can't hear the difference - try listening through some decent headphones. The difference is unmistakable.


It seems to make more difference to the higher notes than the low ones. I find that really hard to believe. I'd have to play them myself to be truly convinced.
 
To those who can't hear the difference - try listening through some decent headphones. The difference is unmistakable.

Yep, I've tried with a decent pair of headphones - still can't hear any difference........ I guess it's a decent pair of ears that I need. At least they both sounded very nice to me.
 
They are so obviously different shapes and point in different directions and we can't see the mic position. I can hear a slight difference. Had to listen twice to the low register sample. Less difference than a change of reed. He makes a very pleasing sound with both. He does look the part to get nerdy about necks and bells. Which end of the clarinet? He is fascinating to watch lol.

However, this video has awakened the smoldering want I have for a Bass clarinet. :w00t:
 
This is always going to be subjective. Interesting to read other peoples thoughts though. They sound the same to me but then, it's not surprising.
 
The wooden bell sounds fatter and fuller to me, but it's a very different shape, so unless two bells of exactly the same internal geometry were compared it proves nothing about the alleged effects of wood v metal.
It's interesting to see the shape of the wooden Backun bell resembles some of the things you see on old basset horns, so the popularity of these wooden bells with classical players may be a reaction against the ongoing trend for instruments to be louder and brighter than they used to be. There was someone on Radio 3 a while ago talking about playing Elgar on vintage instruments who mentioned that full fortissimo these days is louder than it was in the 1930's and the timbre was more muted in those days...
There seems to have been a lot of debate on other woodwind forums about these wooden bass clarinet bells, so you can do a bit of googling if you want to.
As players we perceive things that no one else will notice eg differences in reeds etc and a microphone does not detect sound the same way we do, it turns a 3 dimensional sound pressure wave into a two dimensional voltage and can only tell you what was happening on the surface of a small diaphragm, so recordings are a poor substitute for the real thing and as such it's difficult to form an opinion without having direct experience.
If anyone ever gets to play one of these wooden bells, do let us know
I wonder what happened to these wooden saxophones - Nova Wooden Saxophones
 
I listened to this earlier this morning, just straight from my phone, no speakers or earphones and I detected a difference. Also I was interested in his reasons for recording with one rather than the other.
 
How about the bowes? Different? The Selmer bow should be attached to the wooden bell.
 

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