Índices de respostas de palhetas de clarineta soprano provenientes do mesmo tubo de arundo donax e testadas por diferentes clarinetistas

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the study of clarinet reeds, specifically, on the responses of reeds originating from the same tube of Arundo donax and evaluated by different clarinetists. It employed the definition of reed responses as the satisfaction and ease of use according to the musical performance expectations of the clarinetist. The guiding question of the study was: Does soprano clarinet reeds made from the same Arundo donax tube show any indication of homogeneity for different clarinetists? To address this question, five clarinetists, professionals and undergraduate students, evaluated handmade reeds from five Arundo donax tubes. From each tube, it was made five reeds, one from each tube for each clarinetist to evaluate. Three of them made the reeds manually using saw, knife, sandpaper, Reed Dual and Reed Machine by Robert DiLutis. Thus, each clarinetist evaluated five reeds, one from each tube. The assessment was conducted through a form containing five fields with the parameters of tone quality, dynamics, legato, articulated notes, and passages between registers, tested in different instrument registers and dynamics. The evaluation was both quantitative and qualitative. For the quantitative assessment, a grading scale with integer values from 1 to 5 was employed: 1 = Does not meet the parameter, 2 = Meets the parameter reasonably, 3 = Meets the parameter moderately, 4 = Meets the parameter well, and 5 = Fully meets the parameter. For each parameter, evaluators provided qualitative assessments. Additionally, evaluators provided an overall judgment on reed quality, both written and by a general value, following the aforementioned scale. The quantitative analysis revealed that the mean and median of homogeneity indexes across the five tubes were 74% and 75%, respectively. The qualitative analysis found that the comments from the evaluating clarinetists were reasonably consistent with the grades they assigned. Thus, the study concludes that reeds made from the same Arundo donax tube may yield similar results for different clarinetists with similar profiles. Given the small number of reeds, tubes, and evaluators in the study, it is not possible to generalize this finding. It is limited to reflecting solely the context and configuration in which the research was conducted. However, it is hoped that these findings will stimulate further study to expand upon them.