Only if you write it! In your spare time. . . bwaa haaa haaa!
An article from the African Blackwood Conservation Project writes:
If you have ever heard the mellow tones of a jazz or classical clarinet solo, you have been listening to the natural sound of an instrument made of mpingo. In the last century, cocuswood from the Caribbean region was the wood of choice for woodwinds, but the species was driven into economic extinction by that demand. African blackwood is now the wood used exclusively for fine quality woodwind instruments. Their manufacture demands a perfect piece of wood free of all defects to allow the intricate machining necessary to create such a complex instrument. To quote flutemaker Casey Burns, “African blackwood, which makes an excellent flute, is now the standard by which all other flute tonewoods are judged.”
Blackwood clarinets are known for their warm and beguiling musical tone. Most professional musicians feel there is no substitute for an instrument made of blackwood. Acker Bilk, well-known clarinetist for such pieces as “Stranger on the Shore”, had this to say about mpingo clarinets in the PBS video, “The Tree of Music”: “It’s got that warmth about it, that live sort of feel about it–wood–you can’t beat it!”
Garvie Bagpipes of Edinburgh writes:
Mopane, like blackwood, is a dense African hardwood. It has an attractive honey-like colour and a well marked darker brown grain. It has excellent tone qualities, and takes a fine finish - in my experience I have found no better tone wood for Border pipes. It’s a touch softer than blackwood (although the reed is also a factor here) but still gives a vibrant tone with the potential for crisp grace notes.
So if “Woods that, due to their grain and other factors, yield a very smooth bore produce a brighter tone than woods that yield a grainy bore” as liestman says, perhaps that’s why some woods produce a better tone? A delrin chanter, made to the same dimensions as an ebony, would have the same tone?
Lorenzo - Delrin vs ebony - No, they would sound different. Drill a fine hole in a piece of each, split the piece in two and look at the drilled surface with at least a 10 power magnification, preferably more. The two do not machine at all alike.
Liestman, I understand what you’re saying about the Delrin, how it would achieve closest to the perfectly smooth bore, and wouldn’t likely shrink or warp with time. It would be bound to sound brighter with the greater reflectivity of the surface, but wouldn’t it also have different resonance than a dense wood like ebony? I would think you’d have to make a Delrin chanter pretty thick to come close to the solidity of an ebony chanter.
djm
My question about delrin was a little rhetorical. Anyone who plays both, or listens to both knows the difference. My comment about glass had to do with it’s smoothest properties (I assume glass is smoother than metal). As smooth as glass is…the glass flute I played was far from bright, compared to wood. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the glass flute was the darkest, softest, mellowest sounding flute I’ve heard. I could only assume this was due to the material…it’s density, or something, etc (I’m no scientist)…I know not the answer except to doubt that smooth mean bright.
Well, that is why I divided my post into the “fact” part and the “what I think” part. The “fact” part is true, the “think” part is debateable of course.
Maybe a chanter made out of WD40 - that would be really smooth! 
Whilst different chanters obviouslyhave different tonal qualities, I think we have entered the domain of Belief Systems when we try to explain why. Sorry, I forgot my self earlier and almost forgot my pledge not to enter into religious arguments
Isn’t it also possible for a glass flute to have a bore that is not smooth? A surface such as achieved by grinding (think of your vingegar cruet) would probably not be as smooth as one might like to see on the inside of a blackwood flute.
(Actually, I’m only posting to take advantage of the fact that Bill H and I have exactly the same total number of posts at the moment, not because I have anything constructive to add to the discussion. That’s as good a reason as some I’ve seen.)
Well, I thought we did.
billh:“I think we have entered the domain of Belief Systems when we try to explain why. Sorry, I forgot my self earlier and almost forgot my pledge not to enter into religious arguments”.
…quite right, I got a little carried away (but I keep escaping). Someday, when a new world dawns, when man and universe are at peace with themselves and each other, we may have a difinitive answer. Until then, I’ll be happy to wallow and pontificate blissfully in my ignorance.
David, how long have you been at 82 posts?
You may be right. But surley Claude Laurent, who made these glass flutes
in the mid 1800’s, could figure out a way to polish them. Seems that would
be the easy step.
I think David’s point might have been (forgive me David for butting in here;-)) that a perfectly smooth bore need not be the goal. i.e. “glass == smooth” isn’t necessarily true.
IF we accept the premise (just for argument) that a significant part of tonal differences in chanters is due to wall smoothness, that doesn’t mean that every listener will prefer the smoothest possible wall.