Klarinet Archive - Posting 000535.txt from 2002/12

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinet Question
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 13:22:06 -0500

In a message dated 12/21/2002 12:28:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, bhausmann1@-----.net writes:

> this point. Low Pitch
> instruments are built to the A=440 Hz standard. High Pitch instruments are
> built to the earlier standard of about A=452. Few remain, as they are now
> obsolete and practically worthless, although they turn up on eBay
> occasionally. If the original poster's instrument is very sharp, it COULD
> be High-Pitch horn, but if it is visually different from a standard
> clarinet, it is more likely a C clarinet. (A Low Pitch clarinet, of
> course, would be slightly LONGER than a High Pitch one, for
> obvious reasons of physics.)>>

Bill is correct on this point. High pitch clarinets still turn up from time to time. Collectors somtimes like to add them to their collections. I restored a couple of lovely HP clarinets earlier this year. One of them was a very nice Albert system. The problem is, you can't play them anywhere!

Visually, you can't tell if a clarinet is high pitch, unless you see HP engraved somewhere on the body. High pitch clarinets are the same lenght, usually the difference in pitch is a matter of bore size, not length of instrument.

A "C" clarinet is a good inch to inch and a 1/2 shorter than a Bb.

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetXpress.com

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