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Clarinet Acoustics

A site dedicated to understanding the clarinet


Where to start
Introduction to clarinet acoustics is just that, and a good place to start. If you
can't remember much about sound, try the introduction of How do woodwind
instruments work? If you strike a term or idea you don't know, try
the Basics list on the navigation bar.
News: A new scientific paper on vocal tract effects in the clarinet. Also,
the NICTA-UNSW clarinet robot won an international competition for music
robots.
Data for each note: Acoustic response, Spectra,
Sound files and Fingering







We have measured these for standard fingerings on a Bb clarinet: just click on
the image above. For some notes, measurements on an A clarinet are available
for comparison. The acoustic response tells us how easily the clarinet responds
to every frequency. For explanations, see What is acoustic response and why is
it important?See also What is a sound spectrum?
Multiphonics
multiphonics
C4 & A#5 D#4 & C#6 F#4, G#5, D6 & G6
D4 & B5 E4 & C5 G#4, C5, A#5 & E6
D#4, D#5 & B5 F4 & G#5
D#4, F5, C#6 & E#6 F4 & A5
Explanatory notes
Introduction to clarinet acoustics
What is acoustic impedance and why is it important?
How Do Woodwind Instruments Work? An introduction to sound and wind
instruments
Pipes and Harmonics Why do closed conical bores have the same set of
resonances as open cylindrical bores?
Flutes vs Clarinets Why do these cylindrical instruments sound so
different?
What is a decibel? and what are dBA and dBC?
What is a sound spectrum?
Loudness and spectra What makes a note sound loud is not a trivial
problem.
Clarinet Fingering Legend
Note names MIDI numbers and frequencies
How harmonic are harmonics?
See also Basics in our navigation bar
This site includes the results of Paul Dickens, a student completing his PhD in
Music Acoustics, with contributions from Jane Cavanagh, Ryan France, John
Tann and Joe Wolfe. Our collaborators include Mark O'Connor of The Woodwind
Group and clarinettists Catherine McCorkill and Catherine Young. Thanks to
Juliet Richters.
You can hear Catherine McCorkill play Stamitz.
Catherine Young plays Graphic Designs by Ronald Caravan.
The International Clarinet Association
A page of clarinet links.
Research and scholarship possibilities in music acoustics at UNSW
Acknowledgement
Our research work on clarinets is supported by the Australian Research
Council and Yamaha Music Australia. Reeds were supplied by Legere(synthetic)
and Vintage (cane).

Clarinet acoustics: an introduction
A clarinet, a reed and a player: how do they work together? This introduction to the
science of clarinets requires little technical knowledge of acoustics. For background
on topics in acoustics (waves, frequencies, resonances, decibels etc) click on
"Basics" in the navigation bar at left. For more technical data about each note on the
clarinet, see the Clarinet Acoustics home page.
News: the NICTA-UNSW clarinet robot won an international competition for
music robots.
How does a clarinet work? An overview
The reed controls the air flow
Playing softly and loudly
Control parameters for playing
The clarinet as a 'closed' pipe
Harmonics of a closed pipe
How the reed and pipe work together
Spectrum and registers of the clarinet
Tone holes
Register holes
Cross fingering
Other effects of the reed
Cut-off frequencies
Frequency response and acoustic impedance
Vocal tract effects
The effect of reed hardness
More about register holes
More detailed information
Scientific papers on the clarinet

To set the mood, listen to Catherine McCorkill play a couple of
phrases from the Mozart concerto.

Overview
The clarinet player provides a flow of air at a pressure above that of the atmosphere
(technically, about 3 kPa or 3% of an atmosphere: applied to a water manometer, this
pressure would support about a 30 cm height difference). This is the source of power
input to the instrument, but it is a source of continuous rather than vibratory power.
In a useful analogy with electricity, it is like DC electrical power. Sound is produced
by an oscillating motion or air flow (like AC electricity). In the clarinet, the reed acts
like an oscillating valve (technically, a control oscillator). The reed, in cooperation
with the resonances in the air in the instrument, produces an oscillating component
of both flow and pressure. Once the air in the clarinet is vibrating, some of the
energy is radiated as sound out of the bell and any open holes. A much greater
amount of energy is lost as a sort of friction (viscous loss) with the wall. In a
sustained note, this energy is replaced by energy put in by the player. The column of
air in the clarinet vibrates much more easily at some frequencies than at others (i.e. it
resonates at certain frequencies). These resonances largely determine the playing
frequency and thus the pitch, and the player in effect chooses the desired resonances
by suitable combinations of keys. Let us now look at these components in turn and in
detail.
The reed controls the air flow
The reed is springy and can bend. In fact it can
oscillate like a spring on its own---for a clarinettist this
is bad news: it's called a squeak. Normally, the reed's
vibration is controlled by resonances of the air in the
clarinet, as we shall see. But it's also true that the reed
vibration controls the air flow into the clarinet: the two
are interconnected.

Let's imagine steady flow with no vibration, and how it depends on the difference in
pressure between the player's mouth and the mouthpiece. If you increase this
pressure difference, more air should flow through the narrow gap left between the tip
of the reed and the tip of the mouthpiece. So a graph of flow vs pressure difference
rises quickly: it has positive slope. However, as the pressure gets large enough to
bend the reed, it acts on the thin end of the reed and tends to push it upwards so as to
close the aperture through which the air is entering (the arrow in the sketch at left).
Indeed, if you blow hard enough, it closes completely, and the flow goes to zero. So
the flow-pressure diagram looks like that in the graph sketched below.

The reed (as any clarinettist will tell you) is the key to making a sound. The player
does work to provide a flow of air at pressure above atmospheric: this is the source
of energy, but it is (more or less) steady. What converts steady power (DC) into
acoustic power (AC) is the reed. The first part of the graph is something like a
resistance: flow increases with increasing pressure difference. Just like an electrical
resistance, an acoustic resistor loses power. So in this regime, the clarinet will not
play, though there is some breathy noise as air flows turbulently through gap
between reed and mouthpiece. The operating regime is the downward sloping part of
the curve. This is why there is both a minimum and maximum pressure (for any
given reed) that will play a note. Blow too softly and you get air noise (left side of
the graph), blow too hard and it closes up (where the graph meets the axis on the
right). (In the diagram above, the upper curve could represent a stiffer reed or a more
open mouthpiece, or less lip force: in call cases, more pressure is required to close
the reed.)
Readers with a background in electricity, seeing the region of the curve in which
flow decreases with increasing pressure, will recognise this as a negative (AC)
resistance. Whereas a positive resistance takes energy out of a circuit, a negative
resistance puts energy into the circuit (as happens in eg. a tunnel diode oscillator). In
the clarinet, it is indeed this negative AC resistance that provides the energy lost in
the rest of the instrument. Most of the energy is lost inside the bore, in viscous and
thermal losses to the walls, and a relatively small fraction is emitted as radiated
sound.
Playing softly and loudly
This diagram allows us to explain something about how the timbre changes when we
go from playing softly to loudly. For small variation in pressure and small acoustic
flow, the relation between the two is approximately linear, as shown in the diagram
below at left. A nearly linear relation gives rise to nearly sinusoidal vibration (i.e.
one shaped like a sine wave), which means that, even if the fundamental in the sound
spectrum is strong, the higher harmonics are weak. This gives rise to a mellow
timbre. (Have a look at the spectra for different dynamic levels on the
notes E3, G4 or A6. Note that the increase in the level of higher harmonics is much
greater than that in the fundamental.)


As we play more loudly, we increase the pressure (which moves the operating point to
the right) and we also increase the range of pressure. This means that the (larger) section
of the curve we use is no longer approximately linear. This produces an asymmetric
oscillation. It is no longer a sine wave, so its spectrum has more higher harmonics.
(Centre diagram.)
When we blow even harder, the valve closes for part of the part of the cycle when the
pressure in the mouthpiece is low due to the standing wave inside the instrument. So the
flow is zero for part of the cycle. The resultant waveform is 'clipped' on one side
(diagram at right), and contains even more high harmonics. As well as making the
timbre brighter, adding more harmonics makes the sound louder as well, because the
higher harmonics fall in the frequency range where our hearing is most senstitive
(See What is a decibel? for details). Conversely, playing in the linear range of this
playing curve gives few high harmonics, so the minimum playing level of the clarinet
can be very quiet indeed, a feature often used by composers.
While talking about decibels, we should mention that spectra, including those on
our clarinet site are usually shown on a decibel scale. This means that one notices easily
on the spectrum a harmonic that is say 20 dB weaker than the fundamental, even though
it has 10 times less pressure and 100 times less power. What is important is that your
ear notices it too, because of the frequency dependence referred to above. However, it is
much more difficult to notice the presence of harmonics if you look at the waveform.
Control parameters for playing
For any given fingering, reed and mouthpiece set-up, the player can make a range of
sounds, varying the pitch, loudness and spectrum. Various control parameters are
available to the player: pressure in the mouth can be varied, so can the bite force, the
position at which the lip presses on the reed, and sometimes the configuration of the
vocal tract. To investigate this, we used the 'robot player' to vary these parameters in a
controlled way. We report these results in more detail on the clarinet robot site, along
with links to a scientific report on that project.
The clarinet is a 'closed' pipe
The clarinet is open at the far end or bell. But it is (almost) closed at the other end. For a
sound wave, the tiny aperture between reed and mouthpiece---a much smaller cross
section than the bore of the instrument---is enough to cause a reflection almost like that
from a completely closed end. The rest of the clarinet is approximately cylindrical. Of
course there are a few irregularities in the bore (discussed later), and there's the bell, but
if you take the bell off it doesn't make a huge difference to the sound of most notes. (In
fact if you take the lower joint off as well as the bell, you still get a reasonable clarinet
sound for the available ranges.)

The behaviour of closed and open pipes are explained in Open vs closed pipes (Flutes
vs clarinets), which gives more explanation of this animation.
For the purposes of this simple introduction to clarinet acoustics, we shall now make
some serious approximations. First, we shall pretend that it is a simple cylindrical pipe--
-in other words we shall assume that all holes are closed (down to a certain point, at
least), that the bore is cylindrical, and that the mouthpiece end is completely closed.
This is a crude approximation, but it preserves much of the essential physics, and it is
easier to discuss. (We look at many of the complications in turn below and when
explaining the real results.)

The natural vibrations of the air in the clarinet, the ones that cause it to play notes, are
due to standing waves. (If you need an introduction to this important concept,
see standing waves.) What are the standing waves that are possible in such a tube?
The fact that the clarinet is open to the air at the far end means that the total pressure at
that end of the pipe must be approximately atmospheric pressure. In other words, the
acoustic pressure (the variation in pressure due to sound waves) is zero. The mouthpiece
end, on the other hand, can have a maximum variation in pressure. Now the distance
between a zero and a maximum on a sine wave is one quarter of a wavelength. So, the
longest standing wave that can satisfy these conditions is one that has a wavelength four
times the length of the instrument, as shown at the top of the next figure: it has zero
pressure at the open end (called a pressure node). Inside the tube, the pressure need not
be atmospheric, and indeed the maximum variation in pressure (the pressure anti-node)
occurs in the mouthpiece. The standing wave is sketched below. The bold line is the
variation in pressure, and the fine line represents the displacement or the amplitude of
the vibration of the air molecules. The displacement curve has an anti-node at the bell:
air molecules are free to move in and out at the bell but, in the approximation where the
mouthpiece is closed, there is little acoustic flow in the mouthpiece. (There is of course
DC flow, but that does not affect the standing waves directly.)

The frequency equals the wave speed divided by the wavelength, so this longest wave
corresponds to the lowest note on the instrument: D3 on a Bb clarinet. (See standard
note names, and remember that clarinets are transposing instruments, so that D3 is
written as E3 for the Bb clarinet. Hereafter we refer only to the written pitch.) You
might want to measure the length of your instrument, take v = 350 m/s for sound in
warm, moist air, and calculate the expected frequency. Then check the answer in
the note table. (You will find that the answer is only approximate, because of end
corrections.)

You can play (written) E3 with this fingering, but you can also play other notes by
overblowing--by changing your embouchure and changing the blowing pressure. These
other notes correspond to the shorter wavelength standing waves that are possible,
subject to the condition that the sound pressure be zero at the bell and a maximum in the
mouthpiece. The first three of these (solid lines) are shown in the diagram below.

These three notes are approximately members of the harmonic series. Notes with these
frequencies have the (written) pitches shown below. The complete harmonic series has
the frequencies f
o
, 2f
o
, 3f
o
, 4f
o
, 5f
o
etc. The clarinet, under these conditions, plays
(approximately) the odd members of the series only. The missing even harmonics and
their waves are shown in dashed lines and in parentheses in the diagrams. (You might
like to compare this with the analogous diagram for the flute, which has all harmonics
present.) There is also a more detailed discussion of the harmonic series of open and
closed pipes.

Harmonics of the lowest note on a clarinet. Recording of notes played using only the fingering for
the lowest note.
The notes in the diagram are the harmonics of the fundamental. The notes in the sound
file are those played by overblowing, without using register keys (which is one reason
why they don't sound pretty and don't start cleanly). You will observe that the played
notes are successively flatter than the harmonic frequencies. The third is slightly flatter
than B4, the fifth is about a semitone flat, the seventh more flat again. This is due to
effects of the reed (itself a deformable element approximately in parallel with the bore)
and effects of the bell (longer wavelengths penetrate less into the bell before being
reflected.)
How the reed and pipe work together
To sum up the preceding sections: the bore of the clarinet has several resonances, which
are approximately in the ratios of the odd harmonics, 1:3:5, but successively more
approximate with increasing frequency--we'll see why below under frequency response.
The reed has its own resonance--which is approximately what you hear when you
produce a squeak. One good way to produce a squeak is to put your teeth on the reed. In
normal playing, with your lower lip touching the reed, you damp (ie reduce the strength
of) the reed's resonances considerably. This allows the resonances of the bore to 'take
control'. To oversimplify somewhat, the clarinet normally plays at the strongest bore
resonance whose frequency is lower than that of the reed. (We shall see below
how register holes are used to weaken the lower resonance or resonances and thus make
one of the higher resonances the strongest.)
When the clarinet is playing, the reed is vibrating at one particular frequency. But,
especially if the vibration is large, as it is when playing loudly, it generates harmonics
(see What is a sound spectrum?). The reed vibration tends to have both odd and even
harmonics. However, in the low registers at least, only the odd harmonics set up, and
are in turn reinforced by, standing waves. Consequently, the sound spectrum in the low
registers has strong first and third harmonics, but weak second and fourth.
Spectrum and registers of the clarinet
In the section on harmonics above, each of the standing waves in the sketch above
corresponds to a sine wave. The sound of the clarinet is a little like a sine wave when
played softly, but successively less like it as it is played louder. To make a repeated or
periodic wave that is not a simple sine wave, one can add sine waves from the harmonic
series. So E3 on the clarinet contains some vibration at E3 (f
o
), some at B4 (3f
o
), some
at G#5 (5f
o
) etc. The 'recipe' of the sound in terms of its component frequencies is called
its sound spectrum. The predominant presence of odd harmonics in the lowest
or chalumeau register gives this register its characteristic 'hollow' timbre. (See the
discussion of general features of the chalumeau register on the page for the note E3.)
From about E4 up to A#4, the even harmonics become more important. This range
overlaps approximately with what clarinettists call the throat register. The notes in this
range have only two bore resonances that coincide well with harmonics, and so pitch of
notes in this range is easier to 'bend' than that of notes in the chalumeau register. Once
the speaker key is used, the systematic difference between odd and even harmonics
almost disappears, and the timbre becomes bright and clear. (See the discussion of
general features of the clarino register on the page for the note B4.) This difference in
timbre is one awkwardness associated with the 'break' between A#4 and B4; the other is
the fingering difficulty 'to cross the break'---moving several fingers and a thumb
simultaneously. The register that uses only the speaker key as a register hole (see
below) is called the clarino register. The altissimo register uses the hole for the left
index finger as a register hole as well. (See the discussion of general features of the
altissimo register on the page for the note C#6.)
Opening tone holes
If you open the tone holes, starting from the far end, you make the pressure node move
up the pipe, closer to the mouthpiece---it is very much like making the pipe shorter.
Starting near the bell, each opened tone hole raises the pitch by a semitone, which
requires a pipe that is about 6% shorter. After you open all of the right hand finger
holes, as shown below, you have the fingering for C4, which is shown below.

Observe that this note, which uses only a little more than half of the length of the
clarinet, is still lower than the lowest note on a flute. (For a Bb clarinet, written C4 =
sounding Bb3, the lowest note on a flute is B3 or C4.) This is one of the big advantages
of a closed pipe: you get low notes with a shorter pipe.
For the moment, we can say the an open tone hole is almost like a 'short circuit' to the
outside air, so the first open tone hole acts approximately as though the clarinet were
'sawn off' near the location of the tone hole. This approximation is crude, and in practice
the wave extends somewhat beyond the first open tone hole: an end effect.
(For the technically minded, we could continue the electrical analogy by saying that the
air in the open tone hole has inertia and is therefore actually more like a low value
inductance. The impedance of an inductor in electricity, or an inertance in acoustics, is
proportional to frequency. So the tone hole behaves more like a short circuit at low
frequencies than at high. This leads to the possibility of cross fingering, which we have
studied in more detail in classical and baroque flutes.)
The frequency dependence of this end effect means that the low note played with a
particular fingering has a smaller end effect than does the corresponding note in the next
register. If the clarinet really were a perfect cylinder with tone holes, then the registers
would be out of tune: the intervals would be too narrow. This effect is removed by
variations or perturbations of the cylindrical shape, including the shape of the
mouthpiece, an enlarging of the upper region of the bore, and a gradual flare in the
bottom half of the instrument, leading to the bell.
Register holes
Holes can also serve as register holes. For instance, if you play Bb3 (call this frequency
f
o
) and then open the register key (or speaker key), you are opening a hole one third of
the way down the (closed part of the) instrument. (See the middle diagram below.) This
hole disrupts the fundamental, but has little effect on the higher harmonics, so the
clarinet 'jumps up' to F5 (3f
o
). One can imagine a clarinet that had a separate register
hole for each note, but that would be a lot of keys. In fact, only one register hole is used
for the second register from B4 to C6. Looking at the diagram below, we see that it its
position is a compromise: for B4 it is well below the pressure node, and for C6 well
above. This is not a big problem in practice. The register hole is small, so it is not really
a 'short circuit', except at low frequencies. So it does not too much affect the third and
higher harmonics. It does however disrupt the fundamental, and that is its purpose: to
stop the instrument dropping down to its bottom register.

We mention in passing that the saxophone has two dedicated register holes for the
second register and an automated mechanism that allows only one key to operate the
hole appropriate to each end of the range. Multiple register keys have been tried on the
clarinet, but have never become popular.
The speaker key is the register key used for the second register. In higher registers,
other register holes are used: the altissimo register uses the hole that is normally closed
by the index finger of the left hand. This hole is designed primarily as a tone hole, so it
is bigger than it need or should be for an ideal register hole. This defect is not so
important because it is used only for high frequencies, where its inertance is large.
However some players partly cover this hole (half-holing) when using it as a register
hole.
Let us open an aside to answer a question that has been asked a few times: "If
the speaker key destroys the first resonance, but none of the others, why is it that
the sound spectrum in the clarino register has only harmonics 3, 6, 9 etc? What
happened to the fifth harmonic?" One can verify the basis of this question by
looking at the spectra for E3 and B4.
When we play E3, the reed vibrates at the frequency of E3 (about 147 Hz for a
Bb clarinet). In a steady vibration, only harmonics (odd or even) of this
frequency are possible, and they are exactly harmonic. (SeeHow harmonic are
harmonics?.) The odd harmonics are supported by the resonances of the bore,
and so the resultant sound spectrum is rich in odd harmonics but has weaker
even harmonics, at least at low frequencies. (See How the reed and pipe work
together.)
When we play B4, the reed vibrates at the frequency for this note (about 440 Hz
for a Bb clarinet), which is three times the frequency of E3. Again, in steady
vibration only harmonics (odd or even) of this frequency are possible. The fifth
resonance of E3 (approximately G#5) is still present, as the impedance spectrum
for B4 shows, but there is nothing to put energy into a vibration at that
frequency.
Observe also that we are now in the clarino register (about which see the general
comments on the page for B4). The resonances that one might have expected to
support the 3rd and 5th harmonics of B4---ie the 9th and 15th harmonics of E3--
-are not close enough in frequency to be of any help. However, the acoustic
response of the clarinet is strong enough to help all of the harmonics of the reed
to some extent, and the resultant sound spectrum has no strong differences
between even and odd harmonics.
We return to discuss register holes in more detail below, after we have discused the
frequency response.
Cross fingering
On the modern clarinet, successive semitones are usually played by opening a tone
hole dedicated to that purpose. Being a closed, cylindrical pipe the clarinet overblows a
twelfth, and so one would need eighteen tone holes to cover the chalumeau and throat
registers before repeating fingerings using the speaker key as a register hole. Because
players don't have this many fingers, the clarinet requires keys and clutch mechanisms,
so that one finger can close or open two or more holes. When cross fingering is used, it
is usually used to control other holes. For instance, one of the fingerings for the
note B3 is a simple fingering: the right hand index finger closes its hole, and the right
ring finger opens tone hole with a key (upper figure below). The other is a cross
fingering: all three fingers on the left hand, plus the middle finger on the right close
their holes.

An open tone hole connects the bore to the air outside, whose acoustic pressure is
approximately zero. But the connection is not a 'short circuit': the air in and near the
tone hole has mass and requires a force to be moved. So the pressure inside the bore
under a tone hole is not at zero acoustic pressure, and so the standing wave in the
instrument extends a little way past the first open tone hole. (There's more about this
effect under Cut-off frequencies.) Closing a downstream hole extends the standing wave
even further and so increases the effective length of the instrument for that fingering,
which makes the resonant frequencies lower and the pitch flatter.
The effect of cross fingerings is frequency dependent. The extent of the standing wave
beyond an open hole increases with the frequency, especially for small holes, because it
takes more force to move the air in the tone hole at high frequencies. This has the effect
of making the effective length of the bore increase with increasing frequency. As a
result, the resonances at higher frequencies tend to become flatter than strict harmonic
ratios. Because of this, often one cannot use the same cross fingerings in two different
registers. Because the clarinet's tone holes are relatively large, cross fingering makes
only modest changes to pitches in the chalumeau and clarino registers, but they can
sometimes be useful in adjusting the pitch.
A further effect of the disturbed harmonic ratios of the maxima in impedance is that the
harmonics that sound when a low note is played will not 'receive much help' from
resonances in the instrument. (Technically, the bore does not provide feedback for the
reed at that frequency, and nor does it provide impedance matching, so less of the high
harmonics are present in the reed motion and they are also less efficiently radiated as
sound. SeeFrequency response and acoustic impedance. To be technical, there is also
less of the mode locking that occurs due to the non-linear vibration of the reed.) As a
result, cross fingerings in general are less loud and have darker or more mellow timbre
than do the notes on either side. You will also see that the impedance spectrum is more
complicated for cross fingerings than for simple fingerings, especially in the region
around 1.3 to 2 kHz.
We have studied cross fingerings more extensively on flutes than on clarinets, by
comparing baroque, classical and modern instruments. (We have not yet studied a
chalumeau or classical clarinet to compare with the modern instrument.) See cross
fingering on flutes or download a scientific paper about crossfingering.
Other effects of the reed
As well as controlling the flow of air, the reed has a passive role in clarinet acoustics.
When the pressure inside the mouthpiece rises, the reed is pushed outwards.
Conversely, suction draws the reed in towards the bore. Thus the reed increases and
decreases the mouthpiece volume with high or low pressure. (Techncially, we say it is
a mechanical compliance in parallel with the bore.) Indeed, it behaves a bit like an extra
volume of air, which could also be compressed and expanded by changing pressure in
the mouthpiece. It has the effect of lowering the frequency of each resonance a little.
However, soft reeds move more than hard reeds, so soft reeds lower the frequency more
than do hard reeds. Further, this effect is greater on high notes than on low, so soft reeds
make intervals narrower and hard reeds make them wider. This is useful to know if you
have intonation problems. (See also tuning.)
Cut-off frequencies
When we first discussed tone holes, we said that, because a tone hole opens the bore up
to the outside air, it shortened the effective length of the tube. For low frequencies, this
is true: the wave is reflected at or near this point because the hole provides a low
impedance 'short circuit' to the outside air. For high frequencies, however, it is more
complicated. The air in and near the tone hole has mass. For a sound wave to pass
through the tone hole it has to accelerate this mass, and the required acceleration (all
else equal) increases as the square of the frequency: for a high frequency wave there is
little time in half a cycle to get it moving.

So high frequency waves are impeded by the air in the tone hole: it doesn't 'look so
open' to them as it does to the waves of low frequency. Low frequency waves are
reflected at the first open tone hole, higher frequency waves travel further (which can
allow cross fingering) and sufficiently high frequency waves travel down the tube past
the open holes. Thus an array of open tone holes acts as a high pass filter: some thing
that lets high frequencies pass but rejects low frequencies. (See filter examples.) This is
one of the things that limits the ability to play high notes on the clarinet. The stiffness of
the reed is another: a clarinet will only play notes with frequencies lower than the
natural frequency of the reed.
The player can alter the cut-off frequency, and this is one of the effects used to achieve
the spectacular glissando in the opening bars of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The
player begins by gradually sliding the fingers off the tone holes, with the principal effect
of changing smoothly the end effect at the open tone hole, and so the pitch. This
provides most of the glissando up to the thorat register. From this register up, the player
changes the position and force of the lower lip on the reed, thereby changing its natural
frequency and also uses the resonances in the vocal tract. Normally, the resonances of
the instrument are so strong (have such high acoustic impedance--see below) compared
with those of the vocal tract that the latter make only modest changes to the pitch.
However, the player can reduce the strength of the instrument resonances by lowering
the cut-off frequency below that of the note being played. To do this, the fingers are
kept very near to the tone holes, partially covering them, so that the tone holes are
effectively very small. In this state, the resonances of the vocal tract can be stronger
than those of the instrument, so the note played tends to follow that of the tract
resonances, which the player increases smoothly--with some considerable help from the
change in the natural frequency of the reed as the player's bite changes simultaneously.
There is a detailed discussion of these effects in this paper.
There is a more detailed explanation of cut-off frequencies and their effects here.
Frequency response and acoustic impedance of the clarinet
The way in which the reed opens and closes to control the air flow into the instrument
depends upon the acoustic impedance at the position of the reed, which is why we
measure this quantity. The acoustic impedance is simply the ratio of the sound pressure
at the measurement point divided by the acoustic volume flow (which is just the area
multiplied by the particle velocity). If the impedance is high, the pressure variation is
large and so it can control the reed. In fact, the resonances, which are the frequencies for
which the acoustic impedance is high, are so important that they 'control' the vibration
of the reed, and the instrument will play only at a frequency close to a resonance. (There
is further explanation on What is acoustic impedance and why is it important?). The
section below shows how the major features of the clarinet's shape give rise to its
acoustic impedance spectrum, and thus to how it operates.

This figure shows in black the calculated impedance spectrum for a simple cylinder (the
impedance is given in decibels: 20 log
10
(Z/Pa.s.m
-3
). A suitable reed attached to the
input of this tube would play near the frequencies of the peaks, which are in the ratios of
the odd harmonics 1:3:5:7 etc (see open and closed pipes for more explanation, and/or
compare with the comparable curves for a saxophone). The curve in red is for the same
cylinder, with a simple bell at the end. Note that the bell makes the pipe longer, so each
peak and trough has been moved to lower frequencies, as expected. Note however the
change in the overal shape: all of the resonances are now weaker (extrema are smaller).
This is because the bell helps the sound waves in the bore to radiate out into the air.
(Incidentally, the presence of a large, effective bell is what makes brass instruments
loud: try playing a trombone with the tuning slide taken off.) More sound radiated
means less sound reflected, so the standing waves are weaker.
This effect is less noticeable at low frequencies: the first maximum and minimum are
not weakened very much, because the bell is much smaller than the wavelengths of the
low frequency waves, and so is not very effective at radiating these waves.
(Incidentally, this frequency dependent effect of the bell is what makes brass
instruments brassy: the bell-less trombone has a sound that is darker, as well as softer.)
The effect of the bell is that of a high pass filter: it allows high frequencies to radiate out
of the instrument, rather than reflecting back up the bore to help establish the standing
wave. In this, it acts much like the cut-off frequency effect of the tone holes. In fact, one
purpose of the clarinet's bell chiefly is primarily to provide a high pass filter for the
lowest few notes, so that they have a cut-off frequency and so behave more similarly to
the notes produced with several tone holes open.
We could state this another way: for all of the notes on a clarinet except the lowest few
in the chalumeau and clarino registers, the array of open tone holes acts as a high pass
filter. For the few notes mentioned, however, few or no tone holes are open, so the
reflection condition is different, and so a purely cylindrical clarinet would have a
noticeably different timbre for these few notes. So the bell performs a similar function
for these notes. At frequencies well above the cut-off, the bell has other functions,
including directional radiation of high frequencies.
So that is one reason why the clarinet departs from its approximately cylindrical shape
for the last few tone holes. It is also non-cylindrical for a few centimetres at the other
end. Which brings us to the effect of the mouthpiece.

Here, the red curve is the same as the one we saw above: that for a cylinder with a bell.
Now the black curve is for a cylinder plus a bell plus a conical constriction at the
opposite end, which has approximately the same effect as a mouthpiece: it reduces the
cross sectional area of the bore gradually as it approaches the reed. This has several
effects.
First, it raises the impedance overall. This is because it functions like a horn or an
impedance matching transformer, connecting a small area (where the same flow would
require more pressure and therefore high impedance) to a large area.
Second, it does this more effectively at high frequency for maxima (all of which are
shifted by 8-10 dB) than for minima (where the high frequency minima are much less
deep than are the low frequency minima). This however is not important to the clarinet,
because it operates at maxima, but is an important consideration in the design of flutes.
Third, it makes the peaks and troughs asymmetric. At high frequencies, the minima
move to lower frequencies while the maxima occur at higher frequencies.
Of course the bore is not exactly cylindrical: there are local variations in radius,
particularly near the barrel. The effects of these are to make subtle differences to the
relative tuning of the registers.
Vocal tract effects
In the simplest model, the mouth is considered as a source of high pressure air, and the
reed is loaded acoustically only by the acoustic impedance of the bore of the clarinet,
which is downstream. The acoustical effects of the vocal tract (upstream) are often
small. They can, however, be important and even dominant if the player produces a
resonance in the vocal tract whose acoustic impedance is comparable with that of the
bore. This is easier to do in the higher registers, where the instrument's resonances are
weaker. Vocal tract resonances are important in various effects including pitch bending
and the famous glissando from Rhapsody in Blue. We have recently published
a scientific paper on vocal tract effects in the clarinet.
The effect of reed hardness
In the preceding section we have ignored the compliance of the reed, discussed above.
This acts in parallel with the bore, and its impedance decreases at high frequency, so its
effect is to reduce the rise in impedance with frequency: softer reeds give lower overall
impedance at high frequency. Further, the very high resonances are weaker and occur at
lower frequency when you use a soft reed.

On this figure, the single dots are the experimentally measured impedance spectrum
for E3, with a value of the compliance corresponding to a hard reed. The continuous
line (actually the experimental points joined together) shows the spectrum for a soft
reed. At low frequencies, there is not much difference, but you can already see a slight
difference in frequency: the hard reed plays sharper, all else equal. As you go to higher
frequencies, you see that the soft reed gives lower peaks. Lower peaks are harder to
play, so the hard reed makes it easier to play high notes. (Unfortunately, a hard reed also
makes it easier to play squeaks.)
To understand more about the detailed shape of these impedance curves, see the
discussion of the experimental results for E3.
More about register holes
Now that we know about impedance spectra, we can better understand the effect of
register holes, which we met above. In the graph below, the single dots are the
experimentally measured impedance spectrum for E5, which plays at the second
maximum of the curve. The continuous line is that for C#6, which plays at the third
maximum. The only difference in fingering is that the hole for the left index finger is
opened, and here acts a register hole. Notice that its effect is small at high frequencies.
(As we saw above, the inertia of air in the hole effectively 'seals' the hole, so that high
frequency waves pass by as though it were closed).

At low frequencies, however, the effect is greater, and this register hole substantially
reduces the height of the second maximum. It also raises its frequency, and takes it out
of the harmonic series with other peaks. These effects, especially the former, make the
second peak harder to play, and so (provided you use the appropriate embouchure), the
instrument will play the third maximum, which is C#6.
We have not mentioned the first maximum. It has already been weakened and shifted by
the speaker key, which is open here. However, its maximum is not all that weak and a
careless embouchure and low blowing pressure could find you dropping down to a
muffled low note near that frequency. Further, the fourth peak is pretty high, too. With a
hard reed and blowing hard, there's a danger of jumping up to this note, too. Which is
why the altissimo register is hard to play. (There is more discussion of the altissimo
register on the experimental page for C#6).
More detailed information
Now it's time to look at the set of measured impedance spectra and relate them to the
sounds and sound spectra produced. Go to clarinet acoustics and click on the names of
the notes.
Scientific papers on the clarinet
We have recently published two conference papers concerning the influence of the
player's vocal tract on the pitch and timbre of wind instruments:
Chen, J.M., Smith J. and Wolfe, J. (2009) "Pitch bending and glissandi on the
clarinet: roles of the vocal tract and partial tone hole closure" J. Acoust. Soc.
America, 126, 1511-1520.
Dickens, P., France, R., Smith,. J. and Wolfe, J. (2007) "Clarinet acoustics:
introducing a compendium of impedance and sound spectra". Acoustics
Australia, 35, 17-24.
Fritz, C. and Wolfe, J. (2005) "How do clarinet players adjust the resonances of
their vocal tracts for different playing effects?", J. Acoust. Soc. America 118,
3306-3315.
Fritz, C., Wolfe, J., Kergomard, J. and Causs, R. (2003) "Playing frequency
shift due to the interaction between the vocal tract of the musician and the
clarinet". Proc. Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference (SMAC 03), (R. Bresin,
ed) Stockholm, Sweden. 263-266.
For further reading, we recommend
A technical reference: The Physics of
Musical Instruments by N.H. Fletcher and
T.D. Rossing (New York: Springer-Verlag,
1998).
Other references, some less technical, are
listed here.
If you found this page already too technical,
try How do woodwind instruments work?.
For background on topics in acoustics
(waves, frequencies, resonances etc)
see Basics.
For examples of what high pass filters do to a
sound, see Filters.
Also in this series:
Introduction to flute acoustics
Introduction to saxophone acoustics
Introduction to brass acoustics
Guitar acoustics
Violin acoustics
Didjeridu acoustics
Vocal tract acoustics and speech


This web essay won the 2002
Acoustical Society of America's
Award for
Technical Writing for Acoustics
Professionals.


How Do
Woodwind
Instruments
Work?
Overview
A simplified introduction to the
woodwind family and how they work.
This page describes their different
shapes and different types of excitation
(air jet or reed) and how these give rise
to some of their different behaviours. It
gives links to more detailed pages about
the acoustics of the individual
instruments.
Something about sound
The woodwind family of
instruments
The air column determines the
pitch
The harmonic series
Flutes vs reeds: open and closed
ends
Conical bores: oboes, bassoons
and saxophones
Flutes
The air jet or reed excites the
vibration
Clarinets
Saxophones
Oboes and bassoons
More about woodwinds




Something about sound
First, a little information about sound. If you put your finger gently on a
loudspeaker you will feel it vibrate - if it is playing a low note loudly you can see
it moving. When it moves forwards, it compresses the air next to it, which raises
its pressure. Some of this air flows outwards, compressing the next layer of air. (More
about loudspeakers.) The disturbance in the air spreads out as a travelling sound wave.
Ultimately this sound wave causes a very tiny vibration in your eardrum - but that's
another story.


Frequency
At any point in the air near the source of sound, the molecules are moving backwards
and forwards, and the air pressure varies up and down by very small amounts. The
number of vibrations per second is called the frequency (f). It is measured in cycles per
second or Hertz (Hz). The pitch of a note is almost entirely determined by the
frequency: high frequency for high pitch and low for low. 440 vibrations per second
(440 Hz) is heard as the note A in the treble clef, a vibration of 220 Hz is heard as the A
one octave below, 110 Hz as the A one octave below that and so on. We can hear
sounds from about 15 Hz to 20 kHz (1 kHz = 1000 Hz). A contrabassoon can play Bb0
at 29 Hz. When this note is played loudly, you may be able to hear the individual pulses
of high pressure emitted as the reed opens and closes 29 times per second. Human ears
are most sensitive to sounds between 1 and 4 kHz - about two to four octaves above
middle C. That is why piccolo players don't have to work as hard as tuba players in
order to be heard. (This link converts notes, frequencies and MIDI numbers.)
The woodwind family of instruments
Some of the woodwinds are shown in the picture at right. (Click on the piecture for an
enlarged version.) A metre rule at left gives the scale. From left to right are bassoon,
clarinet, alto saxophone, cor anglais, oboe and flute. They are shown approximately in
order of range: the lowest notes are Bb1 (58 Hz) on the bassoon, C#3 (139 Hz) or D3 on
the A or Bb clarinet, C#3 on the alto saxophone, E3 (165 Hz) on the cor anglais, Bb3
(233 Hz) on the oboe, B3 or C4 (262 Hz) on the flute. The picture is not complete: to
the flute could be added piccolo (one octave higher), alto flute (a fourth lower) and bass
flute (one octave lower). Similarly there are the soprano, alto and bass clarinet; the
musette, oboe d'amore and bass oboe, the contrabassoon and several saxophones:
sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and contrabass. (In this picture, the crooks
(thin metal tubes joining reed to body) on the bassoon and cor anglais have been rotated
90 to show their shape. With the instruments positioned as shown, the bassoon crook
would normally protrude towards the viewer, and the cor anglais crook would bend
away.)
Woodwind instruments have a long, thin column of air. The lowest note is played with
all the tone holes closed, when the column is longest. The column is shortened by
opening up holes successively, starting from the open end. At the other end there is
something that controls air flow: an air jet for the flute family and cane reeds for other
woodwinds. We shall look at these elements in turn.
The air column determines the pitch
A sound wave can travel down the tube, reflect at one end and come back. It can then
reflect at the other end and start over again. For a note in the lowest register of the flute,
the round trip constitutes one cycle of the vibration. (In the lowest register of clarinets,
two round trips are required: see Flutes vs clarinets). The longer the tube, the longer the
time taken for the round trip, and so the lower the frequency. In woodwind instruments,
the effective length is changed by opening and closing finger- holes or keyholes along
the side. This is the way pitch is changed within the same register of the instrument: all
holes closed gives the lowest note, and opening the holes successively from the bottom
end gives a chromatic scale. (The use of simple and cross-fingerings to change the
length of the standing wave is discussed in much more detail and with specific
examples in Flute acoustics, and the principles are the same for all woodwinds.)
Changing the effective length of the pipe is not the only way of changing pitch,
however: on any wind instrument, you can usually play more than one note with the
same fingering.
The harmonic series
The sound waves going up and down the instrument add up to give a standing wave, a
vibration pattern of the air in the instrument. Several different such patterns are
possible. On a flute, with all keys down, you can play about seven or eight different
notes. Their pitches (approximate) are given below. The frequencies of these sounds are
whole number multiples of the frequency of the lowest (f
1
). We call them the harmonic
series. Try playing the series on any instrument, without changing the fingering. You
will notice the half-sharp on the 7th. (For more detail, see Flute acoustics and Clarinet
acoustics
Eight
harmonics of the lowest note on a flute.
Harmonics and the different instrument bores
Why can the air in the flute vibrate in these different ways? Well, the tube is open to the
air at both ends, so the pressure is pretty close to atmospheric, but the air is free to move
in and out. Inside the tube the pressure can be higher or lower, but the air is less free to
move. The diagram on the left shows the different vibration patterns or modes that
satisfy the condition of the flute: zero pressure and maximum vibration at both ends.
The top graph is the pattern of a wave whose length is twice that of the flute (2L, say),
the second has wavelength 2L/2, the third 2L/3, and so on. The frequency is the speed
of sound divided by this wavelength, and that gives the harmonic series f
1
, 2f
1
, 3f
1
etc.
(This is a slight simplification: the pressure node is a little distance outside the pipe, and
so L, the effective length of the tube that should be used in such calculations, is a little
longer than the physical length of the tube. The end effect is about 0.6 times the radius
at an open end.)

These graphs show the wave patterns in the three simplest air columns: open cylinder,
closed cylinder and cone. The red line represents sound pressure and the blue line
represents the amount of air vibration. These pipes all have the same lowest note or
fundamental. Note that the longest wavelength is twice the length of the open cyclinder
(eg flute), twice the length of the cone (eg oboe), but four times the open length of the
closed cylinder (eg clarinet). Thus a flutist or oboist plays C4 using (almost) the whole
length of the instrument, whereas a clarinetist can play approximately C4 (written D4)
using only half the instrument (ie removing the lower joint and bell).Important: in all
three diagrams, the frequency and wavelength are the same for the figures in each row.
When you look at the diagrams for the cone, this may seem surprising, because the
shapes look rather different. This distortion of the simple sinusoidal shape is due to the
variation in cross section along the tube. See Pipes and harmonics, where this point is
discussed in detail.
There is a more detailed discussion of standing waves in pipes in the introduction to
flute acoustics, introduction to clarinet acoustics and introduction to saxophone
acoustics, which also have a discussion of the use of register holes to produce
harmonics. The effects of different bores are discussed in more detail in Pipes and
harmonics.
Flutes vs reed Instruments
Reed instruments are different: the end in the player's mouth is not open to the outside
air, so the air is not maximally free to move in and out. The pressure is not fixed at
atmospheric - in fact it can have its maximum value at this closed end. Consider the
clarinet: it is mainly cylindrical and is open to the outside air at the bell end, but closed
at the end in the mouth.
The vibration patterns that the clarinet can play are shown in the diagram in the middle.
The lowest wave is four times as long as the tube (4L'), the next is 4L'/3, the next 4L'/5
etc. So it only produces the odd members of the harmonic series (see above). Two
consequences: first, that a clarinet can play nearly an octave lower (twice the
wavelength) than a flute of the same length. Second, it "overblows a twelfth" - you have
to go up 12 scale steps (3 times the frequency) before you can restart the same
fingering. This is explained in more detail in the introduction to clarinet acoustics.


The bores of woodwind instruments. The diameters are exaggerated. The flute (top) and clarinet (middle)
are nearly cylinders. The oboe, saxophone and bassoon are nearly conical (right). (See also Pipes and
harmonics and Flutes vs clarinets.)
Conical bores: oboes, bassoons and saxophones
What about oboes, bassoons and saxophones? Like the clarinet, they are closed at one
end and open at the other, but the difference is that their air columns are in the shape of
a cone. The resulting pressure and air motion vibrations are shown in the right hand
diagram. When these waves get out into the outside world, they have the same
frequencies as those from an open pipe of the same length. So an oboe, which is about
the same length as the flute or the clarinet, has a lowest note close to that of the flute
and, like the flute, it plays all of the harmonic series. To say more requires mathematics.
Flute players can control which vibration pattern or mode they produce by the way they
blow. In reed instruments, there is an octave hole or register hole which helps obtain the
higher notes. Its purpose is to open up the tube to the outside air at or near one of the
points where the air pressure should be atmospheric for the high vibrations.
Flutes
To set the mood, listen to flutist Geoffrey Collins play some Debussy.
I expect that most of us have played a note by blowing over the top of a bottle. The air
in the bottle is springy and can vibrate, rather like a spring with a mass on it. When you
blow across the top of the bottle, the stream of air from your lips can be deflected up or
down by the expanding and contracting air in the bottle. When the stream is deflected
down, some of it goes into the bottle, increasing the vibration. Thus the power in the
stream of air can sustain the vibration in the bottle. (For an analysis of the sound made
blowing across the top of a bottle, see Helmholtz Resonance).
The mouthpiece of the flute (diagram below) works on the same principle - a jet of air
passes a volume of air (the air in the tube of the instrument) which can vibrate. This is
an oversimplified account, so go follow this link for a more detailed introduction to
flute acoustics.
Air jet or reed excites the vibration

Reeds
Reeds are made of springy cane and can vibrate on their
own. Attached to the instrument, they are (usually!)
forced to vibrate at the natural frequency of the air in the
tube. When the pressure falls, the reed tends to close and
to let less air in, when the pressure goes up the reed opens
a little and lets more air in. Once again the power in the
air stream from the player's lungs is used to sustain the
vibration in the in the air in the instrument. (This is
explained in more detail in the introduction to clarinet
acoustics.)

You can make a double reed out of a plastic
drinking straw. Cut a V shaped point on the end
of the straw as shown in the diagram at right.
Put the cut end in your mouth, squeeze slightly
with you lips and blow. The sound probably
resembles that of a beginning oboist! You can
"tune" it by cutting pieces off the other end, and
with fast scissor work you can even play a little
tune - provided that the notes go only upwards!

The Clarinet
To set the mood, listen to Catherine McCorkill play a couple of phrases
from the Mozart concerto.
The clarinet has a single reed which swings in and out, cutting off and opening the
stream of air as the pressure in the tube goes up and down, so in principle the operation
is much like that of the double reeds. Clarinets come in a range of sizes, from sopranos
that are 3/4 the size of the normal one, to contrabass clarinets which look like a
plumber's nightmare. We saw above that the clarinet has only the odd numbered
members of the harmonic series, so the gap between the first register and the second is a
frequency ratio of three (a musical twelfth, or 19 semitones). All other woodwind
players can play a scale of one octave and then use (nearly) the same fingerings again
for the next register. A clarinetist must ascend twelve scale steps to repeat the
fingerings. Because this exceeds the number of fingers on standard players, clarinets
have four or five keys for the little fingers and extra keys for the knuckles of the index
fingers. (See also the Introduction to clarinet acoustics.)
The Saxophone
To set the mood, listen to a movement of a quartet for saxophone, flute,
bassoon and cello.
The saxophone has a mouthpiece and reed much like that of a clarinet, but it is
approximately a conical tube (like the oboe and bassoon) rather than a cylinder (like the
clarinet). So it plays all the harmonics and has an octave between first and second
registers. See the Introduction to saxophone acoustics. (See also Pipes and
harmonics for some explanations about the importance of the conical bore and how it
changes the harmonics.)
The saxophone has a larger bore angle (and so a wider diameter at the bell) than any of
the other woodwinds and this makes it possible to play rather louder. Like clarinets,
saxophones come in a large family from tiny sopraninos to huge contrabasses. We have
just posted a data base on saxophone acoustics. See this French saxophone site for a
great series of pics on the fabrication of saxophones.
Double reeds: Oboes and bassoons
In the oboe and bassoon the sound is produced by a double reed (see the diagram and
photographs above). (We players of double reeds have been accused of spending half
our lives making reeds and the other half complaining about them.) The bassoon is the
bass of the woodwind family - a long, folded conical tube reamed and mandrilled into
four pieces of maple. Both have conical bores, like the saxophone, but their smaller
angle makes them less loud than the saxophone.
The oboe theme from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (UNSW
Orchestra conducted by Emery Schubert.)
Open vs Closed pipes
(Flutes vs Clarinets)
This page compares the acoustics of open and closed cylindrical pipes, as
exemplified by flutes and clarinets, respectively. An introduction to the
woodwind family (and to sound waves) is given in How Do Woodwind
Instruments Work? This site discusses only cylindrical pipes. Instruments
such as saxophones and oboes have approximately conical bores. For the
behaviour of cones compared with cylinders (and the wave patterns in flutes,
clarinets, oboes etc), see Pipes and harmonics. For a background about
standing waves, see Standing waves from Physclips.

The flute (photo at left) is a nearly cylindrical instrument which is open to the
outside air at both ends*. The player leaves the embouchure hole open to the
air, and blows across it. The clarinet (right) is a roughly cylindrical instrument
which is open to the outside air at the bell, but closed by the mouthpiece, reed
and the player's mouth at the other end*. The two instruments have roughly
the same length. The bore of the clarinet is a little narrower than that of the
flute, but this difference is not important to the argument here.
We compare open and closed pipes in three different but equivalent ways then
examine some complications.
Standing wave diagrams
Air motion animations
Frequency analysis
End effects and end corrections
Real instruments: further complications!
Higher resonances in the time domain

Standing wave diagrams
First let's make some approximations: we'll pretend a flute and clarinet are the
same length. For the moment we'll also neglect end corrections, to which we
shall return later. The next diagram (from Pipes and harmonics) shows some
possible standing waves for an open pipe (left) and a closed pipe (right) of the
same length. The red line is the amplitude of the variation in pressure, which
is zero at the open end, where the pressure is (nearly) atmospheric, and a
maximum at a closed end. The blue line is the amplitude of the variation in the
flow of air. This is a maximum at an open end, because air can flow freely in
and out, and zero at a closed end. These are what we call the boundary
conditions.

Open pipe (flute). Note that, in the top left diagram, the red curve has only
half a cycle of a sine wave. So the longest sine wave that fits into the open
pipe is twice as long as the pipe. A flute is about 0.6 m long, so it can produce
a wavelength that is about twice as long, which is about 2L = 1.2 m. The
longest wave is its lowest note, so let's calculate. Sound travels at about c =
340 m/s. This gives a frequency (speed divided by wavelength) of c/2L = 280
Hz. Given the crude approximations we are making, this is close to the
frequency of middle C, the lowest note on a flute. (See this site to convert
between pitches and frequencies, and flute acoustics for more about flute
acoustics.)
Note that we can also fit in waves that equal the length of the flute (half the
fundamental wavelength so twice the frequency of the fundamental), 2/3 the
length of the flute (one third the fundamental wavelength so three times the
frequency of the fundamental), 1/2 the length of the flute (one quarter the
wavelength so four times the frequency of the fundamental). This set of
frequencies is the (complete) harmonic series, discussed in more detail below.
Closed pipe (clarinet). The blue curve in the top right diagram has only
quarter of a cycle of a sine wave, so the longest sine wave that fits into the
closed pipe is four times as long as the pipe. Therefore a clarinet can produce
a wavelength that is about four times as long as a clarinet, which is about 4L =
2.4 m. This gives a frequency of c/4L = 140 Hz one octave lower than the
flute. Now the lowest note on a clarinet is either the D or the C# below middle
C, so again, given the roughness of the measurements and approximations,
this works out. We can also fit in a wave if the length of the pipe is three
quarters of the wavelength, i.e. if wavelength is one third that of the
fundamental and the frequency is three times that of the fundamental. But we
cannot fit in a wave with half or a quarter the fundamental wavelength (twice
or four times the frequency). So the second register of the clarinet is a musical
twelfth above the first. (See clarinet acoustics for more detail.)
* It's worth adding that the flute is not entirely open at the embouchure: the hole across which the player
blows is smaller than the cross section of the pipe. This narrowing does have an acoustic effect.
Nevertheless, it is sufficiently open that large oscillating flows of air can enter and leave the pipe with
very little pressure difference from atmospheric. Low pressure, high flow: this boundary condition is a
low value of acoustic impedance. The clarinet is not completely closed by the reed: a small, varying
aperture is left, even when the player pushes the reed towards the mouthpiece. However, this average area
is much less than the cross section of the clarinet so the reflection of the acoustic wave is almost
complete, and the acoustic flow is very small, in spite of the large acoustic pressure produced by the
vibrating reed. High pressure, low flow: it is a high value of acoustic impedance. See Flute
acoustics andClarinet acoustics for details.

Air motion animations
A few notes about these animations. First, the density variations are not to
scale: sound waves involve variations of density that are a tiny fraction of a
percent. The variation shown here is vastly exaggerated to make it clear.
Second, instead of using sine waves, as we did in the diagrams above, we use
a very short pulse, Again, this is done for clarity. Third, we do include end
corrections: the reflection at the open end occurs slightly beyond the end of
the pipe (which is why the animations gradually get out of phase). Fourth, we
exaggerate the amplitude of the wave that leaves the tube. In practice, only a
small fraction of the energy is lost this way.
Let's send a pulse of air down a cylindrical pipe open at both ends (such as a
flute, shakuhachi etc). It reaches the end of the tube and its momentum carries
it out into the open air, where it spreads out in all directions. Now, because it
spreads out in all directions its pressure falls very quickly to nearly
atmospheric pressure (the air outside is at atmospheric pressure). However, it
still has the momentum to travel away from the end of the pipe. Consequently,
it creates a little suction: the air following behind it in the tube is sucked out (a
little like the air that is sucked behind a speeding truck).
Now a suction at the end of the tube draws air from further up the tube, and
that in turn draws air from further up the tube and so on. So the result is that a
pulse of high pressure air travelling down the tube is reflected as a pulse
of low pressure air travelling up the tube. We say that the pressure wave has
been reflected at the open end, with a change in phase of 180. In the open-
open pipe, there is such a reflection at both ends. (This is what physicists call
an 'arm-waving argument': it's neither rigorous nor quantitative. If you'd like a
formal explanation, see Reflection at an open pipe.)

Now let's look at reflections in a cylindrical pipe closed at one end (such as a
clarinet or a pipe used as a didjeridu). The reflection at the closed end is easy:
the high pressure pulse pushes against the closed end, which pushes back
(Newton's third law) and it 'bounces' off the closed wall. A high pressure pulse
is reflected as a high pressure pulse, with a phase change of zero in pressure.
Now compare the periods of the oscillation in these two examples and note
something important: one complete cycle in the closed-open pipe (below) is
four laps of the tube, and is almost twice as long as that in an open-open pipe
(above), which is two laps.

A cylindrical pipe closed at both ends is rarely used deliberately in music
acoustics. It has a period that is slightly shorter than does an open-open pipe. I
say 'slightly' because it has no end corrections.

These animations were made by George Hatsidimitris.

Frequency analysis
Now, back to comparing cylinders that are open at one end, and either open or
closed at the other, like the flute and clarinet in our example.


The graph at right is the measured acoustic impedance of a simple cylindrical tube
of length 597 mm -- between the length of a flute and a clarinet -- and an internal
diameter of 15 mm, which is comparable with that of both. We measure at one end, and
the far end is open. At low frequencies, this curve looks somewhat similar to the
measured impedance of a flute with all the holes closed (Open a new window for flute
lowest note response curve). This curve also looks somewhat similar (again, at low
frequencies) to the measured impedance of a clarinet with all the holes closed (Open
a new window for clarinet lowest note response curve). This is not so surprising because
both flute and clarinet are approximately cylinders and both are open at the far end. The
difference is this: the flute is open to the air at the embouchure and therefore operates at
or near the minima of Z (the acoustic impedance), while the clarinet is closed and
operates at or near the maxima of Z.
This figure is taken from a scientific paper that explicitly compares the measured
properties of clarinets and flutes with those of simple cylindrical pipes, and explains
many of the complications that are discussed only briefly on this site.
First let's think of this curve as the impedance spectrum for a flute. (See introduction to
flute acoustics.) Looking at the minima of the spectrum, we expect that it will play at
the frequencies of about 260 Hz, 520 Hz, 780 Hz, 1040 Hz, 1300 Hz etc. You can try
this and find that it does: these are approximately the frequencies of the notes C4, C5,
G5, C6, E6 etc - we say that it plays the harmonic series 1f, 2f, 3f, 4f etc where f is
the fundamental frequency (here about 260 Hz) and the others are higher harmonics.
Note that the seventh harmonic lies between A and A#, as indicated. If you don't have a
flute or clarinet handy, you can listen to the sound files below.
Let's now think of the graph above as the impedance spectrum of a clarinet with all tone
holes closed. (See introduction to clarinet acoustics.) The pipe used is slightly longer
than the cylindrical part of the bore of the clarinet, so this calculation will be
approximate. Looking at the maxima of the spectrum, we expect that it will play at
frequencies of about 130 Hz, 390 Hz, 650 Hz. So this hypothetical (cylindrical) clarinet
with all its holes closed plays a series of notes C3, G4, E5 and some squeaks above that.
In other words the series 1F, 3F, 5F etc where F is the fundamental frequency, which is
about 130 Hz for the hypothetical clarinet with all holes closed. (In practice, the A
clarinet plays a series starting on C#3 and the Bb clarinet D3 and higher notes, because
their cylindrical sections are shorter than the flute. This issue is further complicated
because A and Bb clarinets are transposing instruments, and so clarinettists give these
notes names a minor third or a major second higher, respectively. There are
complications due to end corrections, and also to the fact that the clarinet is rather less
cylindrical than a flute: it has a flare and a bell at one end, and a strong taper in the
mouthpiece at the other. (For a discussion of these differences, see the scientific paper.)
The overtone series on the flute and clarinet
Overblo
wing the lowest note on a flute.
For the flute, the notes played by overblowing fall close to the harmonics of
the lowest note. This is not the case for the clarinet.
Overblowing
the lowest note on a clarinet.
The notes in the diagram are the harmonics. The notes in the sound file are the
notes played by overblowing, without using register keys. With the exception
of 3f
0
, the played notes are considerably flatter than the harmonic frequencies.
This effect is due to the fact that the instrument is not a simple cylinder. This
is discussed in Introduction to clarinet acoustics and in the paper whence these
figures come.
The harmonic series of notes is explained in terms of the standing waves of
the instrument on the page Pipes and harmonics. This page also explains why
sound spectra of notes in the low range of the clarinet have only weak even
harmonics in their sound spectra. Further it explains the case of the conical
instruments (oboe, bassoon, saxophone): an oboe is roughly as long as a flute
and a clarinet, and it is closed like the clarinet, but it plays roughly the same
range as the flute and has all harmonics present.

End effects and end corrections
First, look closely at the animation in the section above about reflections at an
open end of a pipe. The reflection is caused when a pulse of high pressure air
gets to the end of the pipe and it spreads out. But what happens exactly at the
end? Inside the tube there is a plane wave, and when the wave is radiating
externally it is a spherical wave, but between the two there is some
complicated geometry. In this phase, the pulse of air is neither in the free,
unimpeded air away from the pipe, nor in the tightly constrained environment
of the pipe. It is somewhere between the two: unconstrained on one side, but
constrained by the pipe on the other.
As we explain above, the reflection is caused by suction that results when the
momentum of the pulse of air takes it away from the pipe. This suction doesn't
appear immediately when the pulse reaches the end of the pipe, but a little
later, as it starts to spread out.
So the reflection appears to occur slightly beyond the open end of the pipe. To
a rather good approximation, this effect can be calculated by assuming that the
effective length of the pipe is a little longer than its geometrical length. The
difference is called the end correction. It makes the pipe resonance occur at a
slightly lower frequency than a naive model, with no end effect. Here's
another way to think of this: the wave in the pipe must accelerate a small
volume of mass just outside the end of the pipe. This air has mass, and adding
that extra mass lowers the resonant frequency of vibration.
For a simple cylindrical pipe as shown above, experiments and calculations
show that the end effect (or end correction) at the open end is equivalent to
increasing the pipe by a length of about 0.6 times the radius. Note the
consequence of this: all else equal, a large diameter pipe is a little flatter than
a thin one. For a closed end, there is no such end correction.
If you look closely at the animations above, you'll see that we have included
end effects. Although the geometrical lengths of the two pipes are equal, the
open-open pipe has two end corrections and so its effective length is slightly
greater than that of the open-closed pipe. Hence the travelling pulses get
successively further out of step with round-trip through the pipes.

Real instruments: further complications!
Real flutes and clarinets are of course more complicated than simple cylinders.
For the purposes of this discussion, the greatest complication is caused by the
presence of tone holes and keys. To a crude approximation, opening all or most of
the holes below a certain point on the instrument shortens the pipe available for
standing waves. At low frequencies, the instrument behaves somewhat like a cylindrical
pipe with an 'effective length' determined by the position of the first open key.
That real life is more complicated is demonstrated by the two sound spectra at right.
One is a flute playing the note D5, the other is a clarinet playing the note D5 (called E5
on a Bb clarinet). In each case, the microphone was at 3 cm from the first open tone
hole. Can you tell which is which? This figure is taken from a scientific paper, which
deals with some of these complications, and explains some of the differences and
similarities between flutes and clarinets, and compares them in detail with simple pipes.
Higher resonances in the time domain
Taking the (corrected) pipe length as L and the speed of sound as c, the open-
open pipe has its first resonance at c/2L and its second resonance at c/L. The
closed-open pipe has its first two resonances at c/4L and 3c/4L. So it's nice to
see animations of these in the time domain, to compare with those above. Here
they are for the second resonances of open and closed pipes.

What is acoustic impedance and why is it
important?
Acoustic impedance, which has the symbol Z, is the ratio of acoustic pressure
p to acoustic volume flow U. So we define Z = p/U. Z usually varies
strongly when you change the frequency. The acoustic impedance at a
particular frequency indicates how much sound pressure is generated by a
given air vibration at that frequency.
This introduction explains its use in understanding the operation of musical
instruments. A more general introduction, in physical terms, is given
in Sound: impedance, power and intensity. For a review of techniques for
measuring acoustic impedance, see Dickens et al (2007). For the techniques
developed in our lab, see Acoustic impedance measurements.
The specific acoustic impedance z is a ratio of acoustic pressure to specific
flow, which is the same as flow per unit area, or flow velocity. In all cases,
'acoustic' refers to the oscillating component. With this proviso, we can say
that acoustic impedance Z = pressure/flow and specific acoustic impedance z
= pressure/velocity.
We discuss acoustic impedance on this music acoustics site because, for
musical wind instruments, acoustic impedance has the advantage of being a
physical property of the instrument alone it can be measured (or calculated)
for the instrument without a player. It is a spectrum, because it has different
values for different frequencies one can think of it as the acoustic response
of the instrument for all possible frequencies. For instance, we measure it at
the embouchure of an instrument because it tells us a lot about the way the
player's lips, reed or the air jet from the mouth will interact with the
instrument itself. So it tells us about the acoustic performance of the
instrument, in an objective way that is independent of who might play it, and
it allows us to compare subtle differences between instruments. So what is it?
An analogy. Many people find helpful the analogy with electrical impedance. Spatial variations in
electrical potential (differences in voltage V) give rise to moving charge (electrical current i) and the
electrical impedance z = V/i. Here, spatial variations in acoustic pressure (p) give rise to air flow (U) and
z = p/U. Here is an introduction to electrical impedance. Resistance is a particular (and rather boring)
example of impedance, which is the general term for a ratio of voltage to current. DC (direct current)
means constant or slowly varying current. AC (alternating current) means any current in which the
movement is alternately backwards and forwards (oscillating) with no overall motion. AC is more
interesting because the impedance can vary with the frequency of oscillation of the current. (These
analogies are limited: air is compressible so the flow does not obey Kirchoff's law about conservation of
current.)
Consider the opening to a duct. The acoustic impedance Z at that opening is the
ratio of the acoustic (or AC) pressure p at the entry to the duct to the volume flow
of fluid U into it. Like electrical impedance, acoustic impedance may be a strong
function of frequency. The graph shows the measured input impedance of a simple
cylindrical pipe (325 mm long, 15 mm in diameter) in Pa.s/m
3
, as a function of
frequency. The magnitude of Z varies by more than a factor of a thousand over this
range of frequency. More about this below.
The acoustic impedance is complicated by the fact that the current and pressure are not
necessarily in phase the maximum pressure may be ahead of the maximum flow,
or vice versa. As in electricity, we use complex numbers to handle this, where the real
part represents the in-phase component and the imaginary part the out-of-phase
component.
Units. The unit of pressure is the pascal one newton per square metre. A pascal is a
big unit for sound: an oscillation of one Pa is usually a very loud sound indeed. (In DC
the Pa seems a small unit: atmospheric pressure is 100,000 Pa or 100 kPa.) Flow is
measured in cubic metres per second. (A very gentle breeze coming in your window
could be 1 m
3
/s. But for 1 m
3
/s to flow down a pipe, either the pipe must be big think
ventilation ducts or the speed must be high.) The units for impedance are therefore
Pa.s/m
3
, which we call the acoustic ohm . For musical instruments, it is a rather small
unit, so we use megohms: MPa.s/m
3
. Finally, sound pressures have a large range. For
this and other, psychophysical reasons we use logarithmic scales for sound level and
impedance. (For a linear quantity like sound pressure or impedance, you can convert to
dB by taking the log of any ratio, then multiplying by 20.)
For an infinitely long pipe, with cross sectional area S and filled with a
medium of density and speed of sound c, the acoustic impedance is c/S.
(See Sound: impedance, power and intensity) So, for an infinitely long pipe
with diameter 10 mm filled with air, the acoustic impedance is 5 M. In our
lab, we routinely use pipes whose effective length is infinite as references, as
well as other calibration. This allows us to make measurements of impedance
spectra over 9 octaves (10 to 4000 Hz) using a single impedance head.
See Dickens et al (2007) .
Specific acoustic impedance*. In contrast to Z, the quantity z = c doesn't
depend on the size of the pipe: it is a property of the medium alone, called the
specific acoustic impedance, and its units are Pa.s/m. The specific acoustic
impedance is the ratio of p to the flow per unit area U/A. U/A equals the
acoustic velocity: the velocity of particles in the medium due to their motion
in the sound wave. It is worth warning that, in some fields such as ultrasound
imaging, practitioners sometimes informally say 'acoustic impedance' when
they mean specific acoustic impedance. The specific acoustic impedance for
air is about 420 Pa.s/m (the exact value depends on temperature and pressure)
and about 1.5 MPa.s/m in water, i.e. about 3600 times higher for water.
Virtually all condensed phases have high values of z, which accounts for the
very high reflection coefficients at gas-condensed phase or condensed phase-
gas interfaces.
* Specific acoustic impedance is sometimes also called the 'characteristic acoustic impedance of a
medium'. Be careful, because 'characteristic acoustic impedance' has another meaning: for a pipe of cross
section S and undetermined length, the characteristic acoustic impedance of the pipe is Z
0
= c/S.
Sometimes, in informal use, specific acoustic impedance is even called the acoustic impedance of a
medium. This last use is potentially very confusing!
Note that we have referred to an infinite pipe in the example above. In such a pipe,
a varying pressure causes a wave which is a varying flow of air, and which never
comes back.
In a finite pipe, however, the wave reflects at the far end (whether it be closed or open)
and comes back, reflects again, and gives rise to standing waves or resonances
(see pipes and harmonics). This causes the impedance to be much higher or lower than
the value calculated above, depending on whether the pressure of the returning wave is
in phase or out of phase with the driving pressure.
The figure at right (from a paper by Chen et al, 2009) shows the measured impedance
spectra for a cylinder (bottom), a flute, a clarinet, a soprano saxophone and a cone
(whose apex is replaced by a cylindridal section of the same volume, so as to allow a
measurement). In all cases, the impedance becomes small at very low frequency: little
pressure difference is required to pump air through a short pipe at low frequency. The
first peak corresponds to the frequency of the animation shown on the web page about
cylindrical pipes.
The acoustic impedance of musical wind instruments varies spectacularly with
frequency because these instruments are designed to produce one or several frequencies
only in a particular configuration. For example, the flute is played with the embouchure
hole (at least partly) open to the atmosphere, so the pressure at the embouchure hole is
very near to atmospheric pressure. Thus the acoustic pressure (the varying part) is
nearly zero. The flow is provided by a jet of air from between the player's lips.
Oscillations of air flow in the flute can cause this jet to deflect upwards (outside the
flute) or downwards (inside) so that the acoustic flow (the AC component) can be large.
Thus the flute operates at minima of Z: a small pressure and a large flow. Most other
wind instruments have a reed which is sealed by the player's mouth and they operate
at maxima of Z: the varying part of the pressure is large, but the oscillating part of the
air flow is small at the reed. See Flutes vs Clarinets and Pipes and resonances for more
details to examine simple cases. Many examples of impedance spectra are given on our
sites for the flute, the clarinet, thesaxophone and brass instruments.
In each of the impedance curves for the flute, there are at least a few rather deep, sharp
minima, and the flute will usually play a note with a frequency near each of those deep
minima. The ease of playing and the stability of the note depend on the depth and
narrowness of the minima.
Conversely, in each of the impedance curves for the clarinet, saxophone and brass
instruments, there are at least a few rather high, sharp maxima, and those instruments
will often play a note with a frequency near each of those high maxima. The ease of
playing and the stability of the note depend on the height and narrowness of the
maxima. For instance the very highest notes are hard to play, and you can see on the
spectra that at high frequency the maxima and minima are weakerthey "help the
player less". There is more to it than this, however. For the instrument to play properly a
note with frequency f, it sometimes needs an extremum at f, and also extrema at 2f, 3f,
4f etc. The reason for this is that the vibration of the air jet or reed and the sound made
by the flute are not simple sine waves. Their waves are periodic waves (that is they
repeat in time) and they contain a fundamental and a harmonic series. It is important to
the performance of wind instruments that the various minima that help produce a
particular note are in the harmonic series. See "How harmonic are
harmonics?" and "How do woodwind instruments work?"
On our sites for the flute, clarinet and saxophone, it is helpful to look at the Z curve for
the lowest note for an explanation of some of the general features of that instrument's
impedance spectrum.
Why is Acoustic Impedance Important?
The acoustic impedance of an instrument for any particular fingering is one of
the major factors which determines the acoustic response of the instrument in
that fingering. It determines which notes can be played with that fingering,
how stable they are and it also helps determine whether they are in tune.
The acoustic impedance also has a large influence on the sound produced. To
see some examples of this, have a look at the two different fingerings for the
same note. On the flute, one could look at A#4 (the "long" fingering using the
RH index finger, and the "short" fingering using only the LH thumb). Look in
particular at the relative depths of the 3rd and 5th minima in the impedance
spectrum, and at the strengths of the 3rd and 5th harmonics of the sound
produced. Look also at the two different fingerings given for A4, the relative
depths of the harmonic minima, and the effect that they have on the timbre
produced. Another difference that is worth looking at is the difference made
by a "split E" mechanism. Look at the different Z spectra for E6 with and
without the mechanism, and compare them with that for the noteA5. Then try
the experiment of slurring between A5 and E6 on flutes with and without the
mechanism. Our databases for clarinet and saxophone also provide many
examples.
Another thing which has a big influence on the sound is the player, but that
is another story and it is rather more complicated. Indeed a big advantage in
measuring Z is that it gives us an objective measurement of the instrument
alone. In that way it is in some ways more useful to scientists and to makers
than the sound of the instrument. If you get a poor sound from an instrument,
it might be because the player is poor, or it might be because the instrument is
poor. With our industrial collaborators, Terry McGee and The Woodwind
Group, we are working to obtain objective comparisons of different
instruments, to analyse the differences in their acoustic properties and to
explain their different musical performance.
Pipes and Harmonics
Why do closed conical bores have the same set of resonances as open cylindrical
bores of the same length, whereas closed cylindrical bores of the same length
have only odd harmonics starting one octave lower?
The bores of three woodwind instruments are sketched below. The diameters are
exaggerated. The flute (top) and clarinet (middle) are nearly cylinders. The oboe
(right) is nearly conical (as are thesaxophone and bassoon). The clarinet is about the
same length as the flute, but plays nearly an octave lower. The oboe is closed like the
clarinet, but its range is close to that of the flute.


For a background to this discussion, it is worth looking at the difference between
closed and open pipes, which is explained in Open vs closed pipes (Flutes vs
clarinets), which compares them using wave diagrams, air motion animations and
frequency analysis.
To compare cylindrical, conical, closed and open pipes, let's look first at diagrams of
the standing waves in the tube.



Three simple but idealised air columns: open cylinder, closed cylinder and cone. The red line represents sound pressure and the blue line represents the amplitude of the motion of
the air. The pressure has a node at an open end, and an antinode at a closed end. The amplitude has a node at a closed end and an antinode at an open end. These three pipes all
play the same lowest note: the longest wavelength is twice the length of the open cyclinder (eg flute), twice the length of the cone (eg oboe), but four times the open length of the
closed cylinder (eg clarinet). Thus a flutist (diagram at left) or oboist (diagram at right) plays C4 using (almost) the whole length of the instrument, whereas a clarinetist (middle)
can play approximately C4 (written D4) using only half the instrument. If you have a flute or oboe and a clarinet, this experiment is easy to do. Play the lowest note on the flute or
oboe, and then compare this with the lowest note on half a clarinet (ie removing the lower joint and bell). Important: in all three diagrams, the frequency and wavelength are the
same for the figures in each row. When you look at the diagrams for the cone, this may seem surprising, because the shapes look rather different. This distortion of the simple
sinusoidal shape is due to the 1/r term, which is discussed below.

An import proviso: no instrument is a complete cone. If a conical bore came to a point, there would be no cross-section through which air could enter
the instrument. So oboes, bassoons and saxophones are approximately truncated cones, with a volume in the reed or mouthpiece approximately equal
to that of the truncation of the cone.
For musicians who are not mathematicians, the following simplified argument is probably helpful. However, be warned that you will have to
concentrate. Einstein is credited with the quote "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler". I think that I have made this
argument as simple as possible. But not simpler. (Mathematicians, physicists, engineers etc, may omit the following and go here.)
When a sound wave travels down the bore of an oboe or saxophone, the wavefront is spread out over an area (the bore cross-section) that
increases with distance along the bore. (See Travelling waves and radiation if you have trouble with this paragraph.) The same happens when
sound radiates in the open air in spherical symmetry. We can picture the cone as a section of a sphere so, in both cases, the intensity (which is
power dived by area) goes as 1/r
2
, where r is the distance from the apex of the cone or the centre of the sphere. That's why sounds get less loud as you
get further away. Double the distance away, the sound power is spread over four times as much area, so the power coming into your ear is four times
less. Now the intensity of a sound wave is proportional to the square of the amplitude (pressure or velocity) and so the pressure and velocity are
proportional to 1/r in the case we've just discussed. On the other hand, a wave which travels down a cylinder (constant cross- section) is a plane
wave. If we neglect the small losses of energy, its amplitude is constant all the way along the cylinder.
So the sound wave in a flute or a clarinet must be made up of sin or cos terms (which don't change in amplitude as you move along), but for
saxophones, oboes and bassoons, there must be a 1/r factor to account for the cross sectional area which goes as the square of the distance from the
reed. (Think of how loud the sound is at the bell, then imagine going up the bore and concentrating that sound over successively smaller areas: the
sound gets louder and louder as you approach the reed.)
Now we add what mathematicians call the boundary conditions (i.e. the physical constraints at the ends.) For the flute, we open the tube to the
atmosphere at both ends so the pressure here is atmospheric, and the sound pressure (difference from atmospheric) is close to zero. So for the flute
we want a zero in pressure at both ends, and that is met by sine waves with wavelength 2L/n where L is the length of the instrument and n is an
integer (see the diagram above for the open cylinder, where this condition is met). (In practice, the end of the instrument is not quite a node, and so
the effective length is longer than L by a small amount, usually about 0.6 times the radius.)
For the clarinet, we want a zero at the open (bell) end, and a maximum at the reed. This is met by cosine waves with wavelength 4L/m where L is the
length of the instrument and m is an ODD integer. (see the diagram above for the closed cylinder)
For the conical tubes (oboe et al) we also want a zero at the bell and a maximum at the reed, but we have to fit spherical waves, which have terms
involving (1/r) and (1/r
2
) times the sine and cos functions. For example, the standing wave in pressure has an envelope which is (1/r) times a sine
wave with a wavelength which is 2L/n, where L is the length of the instrument and n is an integer. The sine goes to zero at r = L, and(1/r) sin r has a
maximum at the reed, as required. Note that it has the same harmonics and the same bottom note as an open cylinder of the same length. (Some
serious simplification has been made here: the oboe is only approximately a cone and the cross sectional area does not fall to zero in the reed.)
Thus the flute and the oboe (approximately the same length) have similar bottom notes (actually one or one half tones apart) while the clarinet
(also approximately the same length) plays nearly one octave lower (it is less than an octave because of the non-cylindrical bell. If you replace
the bell with a roll of paper to make it a cylinder, the agreement is quite good). It should be mentioned that there are also complications due
to end corrections.
The behaviour can be quantified, both theoretically and experimentally, using the acoustic impedance spectrum, defined as the ratio of the acoustic
(varying) pressure required at the input to the acoustic flow it produces. The figure at right (from a paper byChen, Smith and Wolfe, 2009) shows the
measured impedance spectra for a cylinder (bottom), a flute, a clarinet, a soprano saxophone and a cone (whose apex is replaced by a cylindridal
section of the same volume, so as to allow a measurement). In all cases, the impedance becomes small at very low frequency: little pressure
difference is required to pump air through a short pipe at low frequency. The first peak corresponds to the frequency of the animation shown on
the web page about cylindrical pipes. In each case, we have chosen the pipes to have the same effective length, which is very roughly the distance
from the input to the first open tone hole (for the instruments) or to the other end of the pipe (for the simple geometries).
These curves show that, for typical notes, the flute and clarinet only resemble a cylinder at low frequencies, and the saxophone only resembles a cone
at low frequencies. To look at the impedance curves for any note on these instruments, see our sites for theflute, the clarinet and the saxophone.
For a detailed discussion of the acoustics of open cylindrical, closed cylindrical and closed conical instruments, see:
o Introduction to flute acoustics,
o Introduction to clarinet acoustics, and
o Introduction to saxophone acoustics.
See also How harmonic are harmonics? and Flutes vs clarinets. And, on our FAQ page, see questions about the transition fromtruncated cone to
cylinder and varying the cone angle.

Explanation for those with a mathematical background. The cylinder has a plane wave solution to the wave equation and is written in terms of cos and sin terms. (This is an
oversimplification: they have other Bessel functions too, and these are important musically, but not in the first order explanation). For the standing waves in a conical pipe, we
need only consider axial motion and variation in pressure. So we may consider the cone as a section of a sphere. So for the conical bore, solutions to the wave equation are
expressed in terms of spherical harmonics. Note however the proviso above about truncation of the cone. At low frequencies, the volume in the reed or mouthpiece may be
considered as a compliance: the pressure in that region is approximately uniform. This compliance thus contributes part of the boundary condition on the truncatioin.
clarinet
fingering
legend


When two or three fingerings appear on the same impedance graph or the
same spectrum, it means that these fingerings are acoustically identical.
Different levers may be used to close or open the same hole or holes. This
applies especially to the levers operated by the little fingers of both hands.
More usually, however, different fingerings for the same note are acoustically
different and so have different impedance spectra and sound spectra.
On this site, all pitches are written pitches. For a Bb clarinet, the sounding
pitch is one tone lower (written C sounds as Bb), for an A clarinet a minor
third lower (written C sounds A, whence the name). In the international pitch
naming convention, middle C is C4. See also notes and frequencies.
Symbols
a half-sharp
# a sharp
one and a half-sharps
a half-flat

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