300 7 S eati ng A rrangement i n the C oncert H al l

440 Hz = A4 = G5
= B5

= B6

= F#7 = D#8

Fig. 7.20 Principal radiation directions (0. . . 3 dB) for clarinets

reflecting floor, the lower one with reflecting floor. Ignoring the fact that, because of
the relationship of the microphone distance to the wavelength of the note played,
the third partial is weakened by the out of phase reflected wave, one can see a
significant intensity increase of the components above approximately 1,500 Hz.
The level of the attack noise (in the region of 2,000 Hz) has also increased.
Therefore, the tone of the clarinet has increased in brilliance as well as precision;
thus, the timbre has become crisper without raising the overall loudness significantly.
The absorption of high frequencies in the hall does not permit this effect to
become equivalent for all listeners, however, for microphone recordings of oboes
and clarinets, one needs to be aware that even relatively small position changes lead
to noticeable changes in the tonal picture because of the variations in radiation
angle for the different regions at higher frequencies. In this context, reference again
needs to be made to the fact that in the axial direction as well as the direction