Why does a saxophone sound different from a clarinet

This is an interesting comparison and has implications for hearing, speech acoustics and, oh yes, musical instruments. It is also one of the most misunderstood comparisons in acoustics. So, both should be viewed as quarter wavelength resonators that generate resonances according to the formula we all learned in high school:. This gives odd numbered multiples of 1, 3, 5, and so on. And the resonances of a clarinet are also at odd numbered multiples of the first mode where the length L depends on the fingering.

For adult-sized hard of hearing people, we know to expect a primary resonance at Hz, with subsequent ones at Hz and Hz and Hz. The intermediary resonances are receiver related and depend on the mechanical characteristics of the hearing aid receivers themselves.

Every audiologist has learned about this in their speech sciences training and in their very first hearing aid course. And every linguistic student assuming that they have taken my course on acoustic phonetics knows this as well. So, when teaching beginners, make sure that they have equipment that allows them to be able to produce a sound that they are able to control.

Lastly, there are some similarities between the clarinet and saxophone. The clarinet and saxophone family is comprised instruments that are pitched in Bb and Eb. The only exception is the A clarinet that is commonly used in orchestra repertoire. Members of the clarinet family are commonly used in the orchestra, wind bands, and in other genres like chamber music, solo repertoire, and popular music.

The saxophone is rarely used in the orchestra but similar to the clarinet, is commonly used in wind bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, and popular music.

To sum everything up, we can safely say that the clarinet and saxophone are two instruments that share more similarities than differences, and they have become equally accepted in modern day musical society. Because of these similarities, there are a lot of players that are equally skillful in both instruments and very often perform concerts with both of them.

Both instruments are used in classical, jazz, folk and pop music and they provide a sound color variation to the performer according to the genre that he or she will be performing. You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in Remember me. They are both aerophones or wind instruments because they use air to create their sound. Digger down more specifically, they are in the same smaller family of woodwind instruments. For this reason, they even have a similar lip shape when playing.

The sax player and clarinet player both use their lips tightly wrapped around the end of the mouthpiece and reed. The saxophone embouchure is usually a little higher because of the angle the mouthpiece comes in at. Since the other points more downward, the clarinet embouchure is close to the chin and a tighter embouchure. Both of these musical instruments are covered in explicitly designed and measure tone holes. There are more holes than fingers, so they both use keys which, when pressed, cover specific holes.

As the holes are covered, the length of the sound waves grows due to the longer or more air space in the instrument. This lowers and changed the pitch. The care of these instruments is essentially the same. Check out our guide on how to clean a saxophone. The saxophone has easier fingerings to remember and makes a sound a little easier. Much sax sheet music is also more modern, often calling on advanced techniques when you reach higher levels of play.

The clarinet is easier to handle, requires less air, and has more traditional techniques though they often get to a point where they play blindingly fast! If you already have access to one of these instruments, you may want to consider saving money and just using the one your cousin, family member, or friend has. Is saxophone easier than clarinet? What is the main difference between saxophone and clarinet? Is clarinet quieter than saxophone? I've worked with many teacher interns over the years, and they often ask great questions you wouldn't usually think about.