Analysing differences between the input impedances of five clarinets of different makes

Kowal, Paulina; Sharp, David and Taherzadeh, Shahram (2013). Analysing differences between the input impedances of five clarinets of different makes. In: Institute of Acoustics Annual Spring Conference 2013: Acoustics 2013, 13 May 2013, Nottingham, UK.

URL: http://www.ioa.org.uk/events/event.asp?id=238

Abstract

Physical differences between musical wind instruments lead to differences in their resonance properties and, consequently, in their playing characteristics. In this paper, input impedance measurements of notes from E3 to G6 in chromatic order are made on five clarinets of different makes; altogether a total of 200 measurements. A new approach to analysing differences between the magnitudes and frequencies of the peaks across a large number of impedance curves is presented. Three variations of the analysis approach are described as it is refined to give more useful results. Observed differences in the impedance curves are used to make predictions about some of the playing characteristics for particular notes on the five clarinets, for example their relative intonations and playabilities. Finally, initial results comparing differences in the impedance curves with the results of playing perception tests are discussed.

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