Abstract
THE major difficulty in adopting Prof. Osborne's idea1 of adjustable resonators in orchestral instruments is that it is not easy to make a change of pitch in an instrument without a change of quality. The same is true, to a less extent, of the voice. The wood-wind have resonators the length of which is adjusted to vary the pitch, but there is a consequent difference in timbre between the upper and lower notes of their registers, notably in the clarinet. To preserve the same quality while the pitch varies would involve a complicated system of levers to alter the bore of the—presumably flexible—tube, which would render the execution of rapid passages impossible. On keyboard instruments, with one or more vibrators to each note, another difficulty would arise. Adjustments of the resonator would react on the vibrator, whether string, reed or edge tone, to such an extent as to cause considerable changes of the intensity, or even complete stoppage of the sound.
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References
NATURE, 138, 1059 (1936).
Z. Phys, 1, 271 and 416 (1920).
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RICHARDSON, E. Adjustable Resonators and Orchestration. Nature 139, 157 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139157a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139157a0
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