--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Garry Hodgson <garry@xxxx>
wrote:
"Phillip L. Miller" <pemiller86@xxxx> wrote:
Response to the Comments Made About My Article On
How We Can Save the Chromatic Harmonica from Extinction
...
Nevertheless, to quote Blackie Schackner, the two instruments are
not the same, just as the flute is different from the clarinet, or
saxophone.
the flute is entirely different from the other two, with a completely
different mechanism for producing the sound. clarinet and sax are
far more similar. does the clarinet differ from whichever kind of sax
it's closest to (alto?) only in the body material? or is there
something
more fundamental?
===============Winslow replies:
Yes. One important difference is that the clarinet has a cylindrical
bore (i.e. its internal shape is cylindrical) while the saxophone has
a conical bore.
And what difference does that make?
Saxophones overblow at the octave - bear down and the note jumps up
an octave, while clarinets overblow at the twelfth - bear down and
the note jumps and octave and a fifth.
This difference makes a big difference in how you play in the upper
register. IT would be like playing an A harp but when you go up
beyond hole 6 suddenly it's a high E harp.
Also, saxophones are set up to finger down to Bb below the "C" note
(which may actually be Bb for a Bb sax or Eb for an Eb sax) while
clarinets go all the way down to E (which on a Bb clarinet will be D).
Harmonica content - it isn't just harmonicas that come in different
keys. Saxophones now come in Bb (tenor, soprano) and Eb (alto,
baritone) but once also came in C and F, while clarinets come in Bb,
Eb, and A.
And I might add, ALL the harmonicas are much more similar to each
other than clarinet, sax, flute, etc. All share the same tone
generators, which are activated the same way by the player. The
ranges and note arrangements vary (along with physical size and some
mechanisms like slides and valves), but that's about all.
Winslow
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