Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Ahead of Print
    • Past Issues
    • Supplements
    • Article Type
  • Specialty
    • Articles by Specialty
  • CME/MOC
    • Articles
    • Calendar
  • Info For
    • Manuscript Submission
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Subscriptions
    • About CCJM
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
  • Conversations with Leaders
  • Conference Coverage
    • Kidney Week 2024
    • CHEST 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • Kidney Week 2023
    • ObesityWeek 2023
    • IDWeek 2023
    • CHEST 2023
    • MDS 2023
    • IAS 2023
    • ACP 2023
    • AAN 2023
    • ACC / WCC 2023
    • AAAAI Meeting 2023
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • Kidney Week 2022
    • AIDS 2022
  • Other Publications
    • www.clevelandclinic.org

User menu

  • Register
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
  • Other Publications
    • www.clevelandclinic.org
  • Register
  • Log in
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Ahead of Print
    • Past Issues
    • Supplements
    • Article Type
  • Specialty
    • Articles by Specialty
  • CME/MOC
    • Articles
    • Calendar
  • Info For
    • Manuscript Submission
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Subscriptions
    • About CCJM
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
  • Conversations with Leaders
  • Conference Coverage
    • Kidney Week 2024
    • CHEST 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • Kidney Week 2023
    • ObesityWeek 2023
    • IDWeek 2023
    • CHEST 2023
    • MDS 2023
    • IAS 2023
    • ACP 2023
    • AAN 2023
    • ACC / WCC 2023
    • AAAAI Meeting 2023
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • Kidney Week 2022
    • AIDS 2022
I. Medical Problems of Musicians

Interactions between the player’s windway and the air column of a musical instrument

Arthur H. Benade, Ph.D.
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine March 1986, 53 (1) 27-32;
Arthur H. Benade
Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

The conversion of the energy of a wind-instrument player’s steadily flowing breath into oscillatory energy in musical wind instruments has been well understood for several years. It depends on the cooperative interaction of several resonances of the instrument’s air column with the flow-controlling reed. Recent work has demonstrated the importance of additional effects arising from the resonances of the player’s own windway. The player can learn to control these effects and normally uses them to stabilize and refîne the tone and correct the tuning. He or she may also use them to disrupt the normal processes, replacing them by oscillatory regimes made up of inharmonic partials; musicians call these sounds “multiphonics.” This report outlines the way in which the instrument’s air column and the player’s windway jointly interact with the reed to produce these effects and presents examples of the associated phenomena. Certain medical implications are also described, in particular, chronic problems occurring in clarinet players who, because they do not exploit the resource of windway adjustability, try to improve their tone by using excessively stiff reeds and high blowing pressures.

Index terms
  • Acoustics
  • Music
  • Received April 1985.
  • Accepted December 1985.
  • Copyright © 1986 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine: 53 (1)
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
Vol. 53, Issue 1
20 Mar 1986
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Interactions between the player’s windway and the air column of a musical instrument
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Interactions between the player’s windway and the air column of a musical instrument
Arthur H. Benade
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine Mar 1986, 53 (1) 27-32;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Interactions between the player’s windway and the air column of a musical instrument
Arthur H. Benade
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine Mar 1986, 53 (1) 27-32;
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Linkedin Share Button

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

I. Medical Problems of Musicians

  • Functional disorders of the upper airway associated with playing wind instruments
  • Neuromuscular and related aspects of musical performance
  • Medical Problems of Musicians: Introduction and Overview
Show more I. Medical Problems of Musicians

Contribution

  • Functional disorders of the upper airway associated with playing wind instruments
  • Neuromuscular and related aspects of musical performance
  • Medical Problems of Musicians: Introduction and Overview
Show more Contribution

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • Acoustics
  • Music

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Supplements
  • Article Type
  • Specialty
  • CME/MOC Articles
  • CME/MOC Calendar
  • Media Kit

Authors & Reviewers

  • Manuscript Submission
  • Authors & Reviewers
  • Subscriptions
  • About CCJM
  • Contact Us
  • Cleveland Clinic Center for Continuing Education
  • Consult QD

Share your suggestions!

Copyright © 2025 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All rights reserved. The information provided is for educational purposes only. Use of this website is subject to the website terms of use and privacy policy. 

Powered by HighWire