Studying the clarinet with an artificial mouth: Comparison of playing frequencies between model and measurement

Abstract

In the field of musical acoustics, instruments, such as the clarinet, are often played with the use of an artificial mouth or playing machine in order to objectively measure the playing characteristics such as sound levels, playing frequency, regime changes, etc. The purpose of this research was to study the tuning tendencies of the clarinet experimentally and compare this to the models found in literature. A clarinet was artificially blown to determine the playing frequencies for varying levels of blowing pressure and reed opening. These measurements could then be compared to computational models of the clarinet. The experimental results will be presented and compared with the theoretical values from past studies that predicted playing frequencies both analytically and computationally. Finally, suggestions for improving the models will be presented and discussed.In the field of musical acoustics, instruments, such as the clarinet, are often played with the use of an artificial mouth or playing machine in order to objectively measure the playing characteristics such as sound levels, playing frequency, regime changes, etc. The purpose of this research was to study the tuning tendencies of the clarinet experimentally and compare this to the models found in literature. A clarinet was artificially blown to determine the playing frequencies for varying levels of blowing pressure and reed opening. These measurements could then be compared to computational models of the clarinet. The experimental results will be presented and compared with the theoretical values from past studies that predicted playing frequencies both analytically and computationally. Finally, suggestions for improving the models will be presented and discussed.