In message <[email protected]>, Paul Scott
<[email protected]> writes
1.311 transposing instrument
Instruments whose notated pitch is different from concert pitch. Most
of these instruments are identified in their name by their fundamental
pitch - this being the note whose wavelength is equal to length of the
instrument. For example Concert A is 440Hz, the speed of sound in air
is 343m/s, therefore an A clarinet (or any other A wind instrument)
will have a length of 343/440 = 78cm. (Or be a power of 2 longer or
shorter.)
We could probably get to the truth from here but this is not correct as
stated. My A clarinet is not 78cm long. It is significantly shorter.
I don't know if this is more accurate for a brass instrument. It could
be. I guess you would be talking about a trombone in 1st position or a
valved instrument with the valves not depressed. For an A clarinet a
low C (sounding concert A 220Hz) you would be fingering a note which
only used about 1/2 the length of the instrument. For a C above that
(sounding A 440Hz.) you would be using most of the length of the
instrument but this is the 2nd harmonic of a cylindrical bore which is
probably not a reasonable place to apply your description.
It would be nice to have a "simple but accurate" description of the
fundamental of a woodwind instrument. I've obviously made a mistake in
thinking it's similar to a brass instrument. My trombone is about 11ft
mouthpiece-to-bell and the fundamental is Bb next to A=110, so that
makes sense - 11ft ~ 4x78cm.
Is there any chance you could give me that description?
This note is always written as middle C in the treble clef, and is
usually referred to as "being in 'X'" where X is the fundamental of
the instrument it's written for.
As mentioned above this not the fundamental for a woodwind even if it
is for a brass instrument. The most common fingering for a woodwind is
the six finger note which is D (in the upper register for clarinets or
G for a bassoon). From there we get to a C by either adding one finger
or by removing most of the fingers. Neither using either the tube with
no fingers down or all fingers down is really equivalent to a brass
instrument for the purposes of this discussion. From one point of view
you would call a bassoon an F instrument, a normal clarinet (Bf) an Eb
instrument (equivalent to an F recorder).
I'd love to have the description completely accurate. I'll alter my bit
to say "for a brass instrument the fundamental is etc etc etc". Seeing
as you understand woodwind, would you do the same for the woodwind side?
Cheers,
Wol
--
Anthony W. Youngman - [email protected]
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