Klarinet Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 1998/06

From: Grant Green <gdgreen@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Contrabass Price Question
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1998 18:10:25 -0400

At 03:46 PM 6/2/98 -0500, you wrote:
>OK, I'll admit my ignorance. I've heard of a heckelphone but I've never
heard
>of an ad anche before, let alone a contrabasse ad anche! What the
>heck(elphone) is it????
>
>Nancy Marzec

<GROUCHO>...And at those prices, you won't see many more,
either...</GROUCHO> ;-)

Heckelphone: essentially a bass oboe, but with a wider bore. The
heckelphone is pitched an octave below the oboe, and reaches the 1st space
A (bass clef). Made only by W.H. Heckel (the noted German bassoon makers).
Pictures and sound clips (and more history) at
http://www.contrabass.com/pages/heckel.html.

Contrabasse ad anche (aka reed contrabass): sort of a double reed tuba or
ophicleide. The reed contrabass has a very wide bore, and the tone holes
are so large that opening just one key is sufficient venting for that note.
Thus, the RC is made with all of the keys normally closed (except for the
lowest one), and to play a note, you simply press the single key that
corresponds to the note. So, instead of fingering B something like
***|*oo, on the RC you would finger it ooo|o*o. Unfortunately, its a
little tricky to learn, because the keys aren't arranged like a normal
woodwind: they go in strict chromatic order, so that ooo|oo* is a half step
from ooo|o*o, which is a half step from ooo|*oo, followed by *oo|ooo, and
o*o|ooo, etc. At one point, some were made with piano-style keyboards.
They're still used in Italian military bands. I actually have one of these
(a very old one, that didn't cost *nearly* that much), but haven't quite
gotten proficient at it yet. More info, pictures, etc. at
http://www.contrabass.com/pages/anche.html.

Enjoy!

Grant

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant D. Green gdgreen@-----.com
www.contrabass.com Just filling in on sarrusophone
Contrabass email list: list@-----.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

---------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional commands, e-mail: klarinet-help@-----.org
For other problems, e-mail: klarinet-owner@-----.org

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org