Klarinet Archive - Posting 000834.txt from 1996/04

From: Jacqueline Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Clarinets and Chalumeaux
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 14:38:56 -0400

Hi Dave,

Unfortunately, not I, although it SOUNDS plausible (i.e., in "improving"
the chalumeau, Denner found that it would overblow). I think those two
keys actually produced a (top key), B-flat (bottom key) and b (both
together) -- not the way we do it today!

Is Dan Leeson out there -- we could use some definitive answers here!

Jacqueline Eastwood
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
eastwooj@-----.edu

On
Mon, 29 Apr 1996, Dave Yee wrote:

> 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
>