Acoustical problem in the bassoon

The bassoon is an orchestral instrument of considerable antiquity, which has evolved into its present form through centuries of tinkering. Unfortunately, it still has a number of deficiencies. Some notes are considerably out of tune. The played scale is not uniform; certain notes have a different quality from their neighbors. As an amateur bassoonist for some years, the author is well acquainted with these deficiencies, and hopes to correct them, using the acoustical knowledge and apparatus now available. To that end equipment has been set up to measure the resonance frequencies of the instrument, compare them with the playing frequencies, and ultimately to see what alterations in tone‐hole size and location might bring about better intonation. The first measurements, on two instruments, show that the resonance frequencies are about 1/4 semitone below the playing frequencies for about the first octave, after which the resonance frequencies rather suddenly rise so as to be as much as a semitone above the playing frequencies. The reason for this behavior needs to be determined. The bassoon reed is a very important part of the instrument, and is the subject of much folklore. Some preliminary measurements on reeds indicate that much of this folklore may have no basis in fact.