ME45: Musical Instrument Design and Manufacturing: Chalumeau

Highlights

5 prototypes were developed across 2 months to determine target lengths, hole placements, and bore size.
Each iteration tackled a different problem the prior prototype faced.
The final prototype was capable of playing a one active C-major scale.

Overview

For my musical instrument, I chose to build a Chalumeau, a single-reed instrument serving as the direct predecessor of the clarinet. The main body was built using Walnut, with holes cut at various lengths and sizes to achieve specific notes. A mouthpiece, reed, and ligature were purchased and attached to the main body.

Build Process

CAD Model

3D modeling determined the length and hole size

Hollow Cylinder

Dowels were cut in half, and the inside was chiseled out to 1/2 inch inner diameter

Sanding

100-Grit sandpaper smoothed the inside after cutting

Prototyping Journey

Prototype 1: Goal of making a sound

Prototype 2: Goal of Building with Wood

Prototype 3: Goal of Playing Easily

Prototype 4: Goal of Having Good Sound Quality

Final Design

Prototype 5 was the culmination of each prototype. It was easy to play, similar to Prototype 3, while retaining the sound quality of Prototype 4. Prototype 5 also used no 3D printed parts, and looked similar to Chalumeaux found online. To accomplish this, the barrel and bell of the instrument were directly carved into the wood.

Underside of Prototype 5

Barrel Carved into Wood

Sound

prototype5.wav

C-Major Scale

SimpleGifts.wav

Simple Gifts - Joseph Brackett

Next Steps

Although I am happy with the results of Prototype 5, I plan on building at least 2 more prototypes. Prototype 5 was designed for the C major scale, but was cut slightly too short. I want to rebuild another, slightly larger instrument to change the tuning. Outside of building a more in-tune instrument, I want to build a tenor chalumeau based on clarinet tone holes. With this prototype, I would cut the dowel to the length of the clarinet before using the same manufacturing techniques. Finally, I plan on cutting the holes to similar positions for the clarinet to see if I can replicate a clarinet sound.

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