Clarinet even harmonics are attenuated, not absent, from the spectrum.

Evidence

Sundberg (1989) summarizes this effect for the clarinet as follows: … This means that the even-numbered modes are not welcome in the resonator… . A common misunderstanding is that these partials are all but missing in the spectrum. The truth is that the second partial may be about 40 dB below the fundamental, so it hardly contributes to the timbre. Higher up in the spectrum the differences between oddand even-numbered neighbors are smaller. Further … the differences can be found only for the instruments’ lower tones. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1231

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the woodwind stopped-pipe resonator mechanics discussed throughout Chapter 4; also relevant to understanding timbre perception in psychoacoustics. — connects to: The clarinet lacks even harmonics at low tones but approaches odd-even parity higher up — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1259