Klarinet Archive - Posting 000525.txt from 1998/02

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: The Primitive Early Clarinet
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 15:34:02 -0500

On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> Is there an oboe in D or a bassoon in B-flat?

There is an oboe in A (the oboe d'amore) and one in F (the English horn),
and there are bassoons (actually tenoroons) in F and G.

> the addition of touchpieces to instruments that overblow an octave, such
> as the oboe, flute, and bassoon, is a different and more easily-solved
> technical problem then the addition of touchpieces to an instrument
> which overblows a twelfth, such as the clarinet. Specifically, it is
> more difficult to modify a clarinet and still retain satisfactory
> intonation and sound character at intervals of a twelfth.

Assuming that the term "touchpiece" refers to a register key, you and I
have discussed on previous occasions. Perhaps you're right, but I'm
inclined to doubt it. Still, I'm willing to be convinced if anyone who
has dealt with this problem in the course of making clarinets will say
that it is more difficult on the clarinet and tell why that is the case.
Since the saxophone has two register vents and the oboe has three or four
(both being octave-overblowing instruments), and since both of these
instruments are far from acoustically perfect, then I can't see how the
assertion can be supported that the octave overblown instruments have an
inherent advantage with regard to a superior register mechanism.

> Ask any serious clarinet player "Why do multiply-pitched clarinets
> exist?" and the answer will almost certainly be "Because the early
> clarinet was primitive."

I guess I don't qualify as a "serious clarinet player," because that's not
my answer to the question. Mine is, "because that's the way it has always
been done, and musicians are extremely tradition-bound." Do we have to
have more of a reason than that?

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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