Study of clarinet reeds using digital holography

A study of clarinet reeds demonstrates the capabilities of digital holography for identification and measurement of vibration modes, measurement of static displacement and creep, and measurement of shape profile. Three types of synthetic reeds were examined together with a number of cane reeds both wet and dry. It is shown that the synthetic reeds have fundamental vibration mode frequencies that are lower than those of natural cane reeds. The fundamental modes of cane reeds all lie above the range of notes played by the instrument whereas those of synthetic reeds do not. Examination of static displacements due to steady air flow showed creep effects due to inelasticity. Finally, projected fringes were used to measure the reed profile. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)