Klarinet Archive - Posting 000175.txt from 1994/07

From: "Roger J. Shilcock" <mlfl@-----.UK>
Subj: As & B flats (re Jeff Bowles et al.)
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 05:26:29 -0400

Middle C (written) on the A is definitely a different sound from the
corresponding C flat on the B flat. I transposed A parts for a long time, and
found that when playing 2nd clarinet the throat b flats resulting from
transposition often blended better than the B might have. On the standard
instrument the B (and the E a twelfth below) is the bell note, after all. Apart
from the difference in tone quality from the notes above and below,
the pitches of these notes are the most difficult to adjust with the lip. So -
using the"wrong" instrument can have its good points.
Incidentally, surely the simplest way to tell whether a player is doing this is
to sit close enough to watch his/her fingers ....
Roger Shilcock