Pitch adjustments in clarinet playing

A mathematical model of the clarinet presented by Wilson and Beavers [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 56, 653–658 (1974)] is used to examine the effects of reed damping, resonance frequency, and aperture on the playing frequency of the clarinet. It is found that an increase in damping or aperture alone has the effect of flattening the pitch. An increase in the reed frequency tends to sharpen the pitch, but the change is too small to be significant in pitch control. Both damping and reed aperture changes may be effective in pitch adjustments made while playing. This conclusion is in agreement with Backus [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 35, 305–313 (1963)]. It is suggested that the single effect that dominates pitch control in a given case depends on the shape of the mouthpiece lay. A lay that remains practically flat against the reed out to the lip position and then opens rapidly lends itself to damping control through variation of the position and firmness of the lip. A lay that leaves the reed early, so that there is already a significant gap at the lip position, lends itself to reed aperture control through variation of the lip pressure.