Klarinet Archive - Posting 000573.txt from 1998/04

From: "Jason Hsien" <jasonavhs@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Tuning?
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 05:01:45 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.net>

|It never occurred to me to do this before: that is, check the tuning on the
|clarinet.
|
|I have one of those Seiko quartz metronomes with a tuning A pitched at 440.
| When I tested the clarinet's A against the metronome's, I was a full tone
|flat. Playing a B gave me a perfectly matched note.
|
|So...ignorance is not bliss...is this in fact a B-flat clarinet or am I
|dealing with something else? Remember, I inherited this thing, and when I
|got it in 1991, all I knew was that there were B-flat, E-flat, and bass
|clarinets. I didn't know about basset horns, altos, or A clarinets.
|
|Is something possibly wrong with the horn or is this not what I thought?

Hmm... well, I'll buy this "not-up-to-par" clarinet from you then!

<j/k!> I agree with Roger that you may have a C clarinet, not a Bb, and
since your clarinet history is a bit vague, I'll try to see if I can list
most of the more common clarinets currently available:

Ab Sopranino, Eb Soprano, Bb Soprano, D Soprano, C Soprano, D Bassett
Clarinet, F Basset Horn, Eb Alto Clarinet, Bb Bass Clarinet, EEb Contraalto,
BBb Contrabass, EEEb Octocontraalto, BBBb Octocontrabass (Okay okay, so the
octocontras aren't common at all, and less than a dozen were made in all,
but isn't it fun to say it? Octocontra... Octocontra...)

There is a good web site on the net that lists every member of the clarinet
family. I've lost the address, but go to dogpile.com and fetch for: clarinet
family

Good luck!