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Blade Pitch |
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Hozuki
Super Member Joined: 01/22/2017 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 477 |
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Posted: 05/13/2017 at 3:15pm |
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Ok this might seem like an odd topic, but I'm sure it would help to understand what the pitch that a blade has actually means in terms of playing characteristics.
So what actually affects that pitch? I'm sure the main factors should be hardness and flexibility. Maybe somehow speed as well. Although speed is probably more a result of those factors. I did some testing with seven different blades I have here, and sorting them by pitch, from lowest to highest, I got an instrument with a scale of H, C#(2x), D#, F, F#. The test was performed with rubbers on. Note that this does not affect the relative pitches of the blades to each other, as long as all have rubbers on. Having different rubbers on each side of one blade did not change the pitch. Now this is a very small sample, but my findings are that slow flexy blades have much lower sound than stiff fast and hard blades. My guess is that pitch increases with increasing hardness and stiffness. (and speed) Okay, now fine and dandy, but what is the benefit of gaining knowledge about this? Well, the idea is to try and find blades with a pitch that one likes, thus making it easier to later switch blades, by only switching to those that are around the same pitch, or slightly higher for more speed. While probably some will be interested in this, I am aware that it will probably be difficult for non-musicians to figure out the relative pitches to the different blades, let alone the exact pitch. But a simple sample of the bounce with rubber recorded with a phone mic should do the trick. It would really be cool if you shared your thoughts or your blade pitches so that I can make a statistical analysis. |
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arg0
Platinum Member Joined: 07/22/2009 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 2023 |
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My suggestion is to have a look here for a mechanical analysis of blade vibration modes, which directly determine pitch:
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26762 There are also scientific papers on the subject, linking perceived sound to positive playing impressions. I can provide links upon interest. Edit: clarification Edited by arg0 - 05/13/2017 at 3:33pm |
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Re1Mu2R3
Super Member Joined: 10/23/2009 Location: Chyna Status: Offline Points: 415 |
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Well I think larger blade volume (either larger head size or thicker) will produce a lower sound as a general rule that's why Joo Se Hyuks and Defplays have low pitch despite being slow. But 1-ply hinokis also sound low despite being rockets.
To be honest I don't think it'll help you much in choosing blades unless you're comparing blades of the same type (5,7-ply wood, 5+2 or 3+2 of the same type of carbon.. ) or better yet, EXACT SAME composition, head size, brand and handle type (I'd choose a lower pitched Clipper Cpen instead of a higher pitched one.). The lower pitched one should be denser than the higher. |
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arg0
Platinum Member Joined: 07/22/2009 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 2023 |
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In essence, the higher the "pitch", the higher the mechanical stiffness of the blade.
I underlined mechanical, because perceived stiffness may vary, as it is a subjective parameter. I put "pitch" in quotes because the sound is not a single frequency sound (note), but a whole spectrum of vibration frequencies. Different players will have different preferred "pitches", because they prefer different stiffnesses of the blades. |
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Hozuki
Super Member Joined: 01/22/2017 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 477 |
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thanks arg0, that's much more quality information than I had hoped for!
Well, all the complicated schmock aside, it seems there really is a correlation between speed, stiffness and frequency. That is also my experience so far, and this makes it valuable for comparison of prefered blades by speed/stiffness/pitch. And the excel sheet is quite a neat tool for that. Obviously, it is a simplistic concept and has its limitations, but so does every single factor. The biggest confusion, however, arises from the many vibrating frequencies. But there is actually never a single frequency you can get with any sound source, not even with an oscillator. The extra frequencies are just not as pronounced as for blade pitch. The percieved pitch is still valuable, as long as the comparisons between the blades are drawn by the same person. |
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Kolev
Gold Member Joined: 10/04/2004 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 1529 |
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I know for sure that the pitch matters only when we compare two blades from the same model. As already mentioned, Hinoki 1 ply has rather low pitch, but it is as stiff as rock.The thick balsa blades have the lowest pitch and no flex at all. My ZLC sounds higher, but it's way more flexible than mine Senkoh and Carbon Balsa.........
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Hallmark Carbon Extreme (x3)
FH: D05/G1/RX BH: Z2/D64/Ω7Pro |
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Re1Mu2R3
Super Member Joined: 10/23/2009 Location: Chyna Status: Offline Points: 415 |
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Does carbon affect pitch because the Yinhe T-11 was the highest pitched blade I've ever played with. But yeah the lowest pitched blade I currently own is a really thin (5mmish) antique premade 3 ply that came with hardbat pimples that I found at a thrift store. This thing is thin but UBERSIZE; the entire uncut sheet of a DHS rubber couldn't fit. We had to adjust it so there's about 0.6cm of space from the handle. |
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Kolev
Gold Member Joined: 10/04/2004 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 1529 |
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Sure carbon affects the sound making it thinner, thus "higher". Typical examples are the Rutis Power and T-1(I have them both) BTW, my T-11 had very loud "thock" kind of sound, which I consider low.
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Hallmark Carbon Extreme (x3)
FH: D05/G1/RX BH: Z2/D64/Ω7Pro |
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Hozuki
Super Member Joined: 01/22/2017 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 477 |
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hinoki and balsa are very soft woods, so I assume the softer the wood, the lower the pitch. My thick balsa glassfiber blade has the highest pitch of all my blades though, and I would also consider it the fastest. But since any arificial fibers are probably always harder than wood, it still fits the theory.
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Kolev
Gold Member Joined: 10/04/2004 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 1529 |
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I guess there are lots of factors affecting the pitch of a blade. I remember the comparison between Balsa X5 and mine Carbon Extreme and T-11. There seemed to share similar construction and material,but they sounded so differently. The weight was very different too
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Hallmark Carbon Extreme (x3)
FH: D05/G1/RX BH: Z2/D64/Ω7Pro |
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Imago
Premier Member Joined: 07/19/2009 Location: Sofia Status: Offline Points: 5897 |
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It's not only the pitch, it's the combination of pitch and lasting reverberation that give me the information I am looking for. Usually, pitch is indicating the style of the blade. Or the tension in kg - if we speak strung tennis racket. I like to play rackets strung in C or D-dur, depending on the material of the strings. There is an app RacketTune |
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Hozuki
Super Member Joined: 01/22/2017 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 477 |
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hm, maybe it makes sense to measure the scale a blade has instead of a single pitch. For example, Stiga OC has a scale of F#-Dur and the first pronounced note is A#. If you only measure a single frequency, then you get either A#, C#, or F#. Percieved pitch will also be one of those, depending on the person.
RacketTune sounds interesting, it could provide some useful information. |
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JacekGM
Platinum Member Joined: 02/17/2013 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 2356 |
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Let us hope that perpetual interest eventually will generate progress in understanding.
Edited by JacekGM - 05/14/2017 at 9:32am |
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(1) Juic SBA (Fl, 85 g) with Bluefire JP3 (red max) on FH and 0.6 mm DR N Desperado on BH; (2) Yinhe T7 (Fl, 87 g) with Bluefire M3 (red 2.0) on FH and 0.6 mm 755 on BH.
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Kolev
Gold Member Joined: 10/04/2004 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 1529 |
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weird, but the OC I measured today sounded in Gb-Dur. Probably a fake one |
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Hallmark Carbon Extreme (x3)
FH: D05/G1/RX BH: Z2/D64/Ω7Pro |
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cole_ely
Premier Member Joined: 03/16/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 6895 |
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Generally I tell people pitch is negatively correlated to dwell. Low pitch = high dwell favors chopping. High pitch more for hitting
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Wavestone St with Illumina 1.9r, defender1.7b
Please let me know if I can be of assistance. |
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Hozuki
Super Member Joined: 01/22/2017 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 477 |
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What? Are you unaware that Gb-Dur equals F#-Dur (at least on the piano) or are you that nitpicky? Your observation is the same as mine. No fakes involved. |
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Crowsfeather
Super Member Joined: 08/03/2013 Location: Thailand Status: Offline Points: 448 |
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I test 5 blade all together, and it's Bm7b5.
just kidding. I believe it MAY effect playing characteristic, but have to be sub-group ---- carbon vs non carbon. and also innerfiber-also effect the pitch. |
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I'm no longer an EJ and I'm proud .
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