Welcome to the Woodwind Science blog.  This blog has been created to look at many different aspects of the woodwind instrument: playing, history, acoustics, practical questions, and more.  My name is Donald Casadonte.  I am a chemistry professor at Columbus State Community College, but I also have a DMA in clarinet performance from The Ohio State University, studying under James Pyne, where I did the first comprehensive study of the chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering properties of clarinet reeds, specifically, and all musical reeds, in general.  I have an MA in musicology from Cleveland State University, where I worked on the 3-dimensional modeling of musical sounds, and finished the course work towards the Ph.d in music history at OSU (although I wound up finishing in the performance area).  My dissertation on reed science may be downloaded, here.

     There are many aspects of the science of woodwinds that most musicians are not aware of that could, potentially be of benefit to them.  One purpose of this blog is to discuss topics that might be of interest to woodwind musicians beyond the etude book.  For instance, how does the oboe and bassoon reed mimic a beating human heart?  Are wooden instruments superior to plastic ones?  How have fingering systems evolved over time?  There is a wide-open world of woodwind topics to explore.  I hope, with this blog to make that world a little smaller and the facts a little closer.  Not all topics will appeal to all people, but, hopefully, there will be enough diversity of topics to satisfy everyone.  Readers are welcome to suggest topics, as well.  I will try to make the posts as rigorous as possible, but provide enough information of a non-technical nature to satisfy the casual reader.

     None of the posts or opinions stated by me on this blog represent those of my employer.  My opinions are, strictly, my own.