Klarinet Archive - Posting 000832.txt from 1996/04

From: Dave Yee <DQY@-----.COM>
Subj: Clarinets and Chalumeaux
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 13:50:24 -0400

I thank Jacqueline Eastwood and David Ross for responding to my question
about the difference between a clarinet and a chalumeau.

My original question was prompted by seeing pictures of two-keyed chalumeaux
and two-keyed clarinets and not being able to tell the difference. Your
responses, along with a consultation of Brymer's book, lead me to formulate
the following hypothesis:

The two keys of the chalumeau were designed to extend the range of to a' and
bb'; i.e., the two keys were an A-key and a Bb-key. The clarinet was
invented by Denner when he made the chalumeau's Bb-key into a speaker key
that could overblow the twelfth.

Can anyone tell me whether my hypothesis is right, plausible, implausible, or
wrong?

Dave Yee