Klarinet Archive - Posting 000115.txt from 1998/06

From: Grant Green <gdgreen@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Contrabass Price Question
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 13:58:20 -0400

At 09:04 AM 6/3/98 +0100, you wrote:
>There was a similar German instrument called a "Contrabassophon", invented
>by one Haseneier. I don't know which hit the scene first, or whether one
>was copied by the other - it seems not unlikely.
>I think the problem was that contrabassoons were unreliable and contrabass
>sarrusophones weren't loud enough.
>Roger Shilcock

Roger, lack of volume is *not* a problem for the contrabass sarrusophone!
I've played the Eb contra with a jazz ensemble, and with a classical wind
ensemble. In the jazz ensemble, only the tenor sax player sitting right
next to me had trouble hearing me: people on the other side of the band
heard me loud and clear. Probably because the bell was pointing over her
head... In the wind ensemble, I once sat in with the tuba section,
sight-transposing their part (this was before we located the contrabass
clarinet part to a particular piece). The four tuba players remarked
afterward how amazed they were that the sarrusophone carried over all four
of them.

Certainly, the contrabassoon was considered unsatisfactory in the 1800's:
the sarrusophone in EEb or CC was generally preferred for orchestral music.
Frankly, I don't have a reason for the reed contrabass's existence, unless
they wanted *still more* bass.

Grant

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