Saturation mechanism in clarinet-like instruments, the effect of the localised non-linear losses

The question of what limits the amplitude of the oscillations of clarinet-like instruments is investigated. The study is based on numerical simulations in which two kind of losses are taken into account: linear losses and non-linear losses localised at the open end of the tube. The influence of the amount of losses on the saturation process and on the playing range of clarinet-like instruments is shown. Results are confirmed by experiments using an artificial mouth in which the non-linear losses are varied using several terminations with different geometries.