Ebony Vs Blackwood

liestman · Post by **liestman** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:28 pm

Well, that is why I divided my post into the "fact" part and the "what I think" part. The "fact" part is true, the "think" part is debateable of course.

Maybe a chanter made out of WD40 - that would be really smooth!

billh · Post by **billh** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:33 pm

Joseph E. Smith wrote:Bill, where do you stand on the tone issue?

Whilst different chanters obviouslyhave different tonal qualities, I think we have entered the domain of Belief Systems when we try to explain why. Sorry, I forgot my self earlier and almost forgot my pledge not to enter into religious arguments

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:43 pm

Isn't it also possible for a glass flute to have a bore that is not smooth? A surface such as achieved by grinding (think of your vingegar cruet) would probably not be as smooth as one might like to see on the inside of a blackwood flute.

(Actually, I'm only posting to take advantage of the fact that Bill H and I have exactly the same total number of posts at the moment, not because I have anything constructive to add to the discussion. That's as good a reason as some I've seen.)

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:45 pm

Well, I thought we did.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 8:47 pm

billh:"I think we have entered the domain of Belief Systems when we try to explain why. Sorry, I forgot my self earlier and almost forgot my pledge not to enter into religious arguments".
===============================================

...quite right, I got a little carried away (but I keep escaping). Someday, when a new world dawns, when man and universe are at peace with themselves and each other, we may have a difinitive answer. Until then, I'll be happy to wallow and pontificate blissfully in my ignorance.

David, how long have you been at 82 posts?

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:43 pm

DMQuinn wrote:Isn't it also possible for a glass flute to have a bore that is not smooth? A surface such as achieved by grinding (think of your vingegar cruet) would probably not be as smooth as one might like to see on the inside of a blackwood flute.

You may be right. But surley Claude Laurent, who made these glass flutes
in the mid 1800's, could figure out a way to polish them. Seems that would
be the easy step.

billh · Post by **billh** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 3:23 am

Lorenzo wrote:
DMQuinn wrote:Isn't it also possible for a glass flute to have a bore that is not smooth? A surface such as achieved by grinding (think of your vingegar cruet) would probably not be as smooth as one might like to see on the inside of a blackwood flute.
You may be right. But surley Claude Laurent, who made these glass flutes
in the mid 1800's, could figure out a way to polish them. Seems that would
be the easy step.

I think David's point might have been (forgive me David for butting in here;-)) that a perfectly smooth bore need not be the goal. i.e. "glass == smooth" isn't necessarily true.

*IF* we accept the premise (just for argument) that a significant part of tonal differences in chanters is due to wall smoothness, that doesn't mean that every listener will prefer the smoothest possible wall.