Clarinet Sounds
In the “New Harvard Dictionary of Music” a statement is made that theClarinet plays (or acts) as a stopped-pipe resonator. It actually sounds anoctave lower than one would expect. It is similar in length to a flute orsoprano sax but sounds an octave lower. Can you explain why the clarinetsounds as a stopped-pipe as opposed to the flute or sax which sound as openpipes?
———- from Glynn Furr ofCary, NC
As anyone who’s ever heard Prokoviev’s “Peter and the Wolf” knows, the clarinet is actually a fossilized cat. Flutes are fossilized birds. Some birds are as big as cats, but they’re still birds and therefore make a comparatively high pitched or, scientifically speaking, “Tweaty” noise compared to a clarinet, or cat. The term “stopped pipe” refers to a bird caught in the cat’s throat. Probably the cat was nabbed by instrument makers before he could finish chewing his meal. They make most musical instruments in other countries, where there are no animal protection laws.
As anyone who’s ever heard Prokoviev’s “Peter and the Wolf” knows, the clarinet is actually a fossilized cat. Flutes are fossilized birds. Some birds are as big as cats, but they’re still birds and therefore make a comparatively high pitched or, scientifically speaking, “Tweaty” noise compared to a clarinet, or cat. The term “stopped pipe” refers to a bird caught in the cat’s throat. Probably the cat was nabbed by instrument makers before he could finish chewing his meal. They make most musical instruments in other countries, where there are no animal protection laws.