Klarinet Archive - Posting 000281.txt from 2010/10

From: "Heinemann, Stephen" <sjh@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Klarinet Digest, Vol 8, Issue 41
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:30:56 -0400


On 10/27/10 4:57 PM, Wayne Thompson wrote:

> Steve Heineman, your math about the frequencies looks ok to me..=A0=A0
> You wrote, "According to the (probably incorrect, with apologies to all)
> octave designations I gave in my original post, what I played was a
> contrabass (with a
> low note of D1).=A0 However, I distinctly remember it being called an
> "octocontrabass," and that it was handed to me with great care and concer=
n and
> the warning that it was a very rare instrument -- possibly unique, althou=
gh
> that seems unlikely since it had a manufacturer's brand on it (LeBlanc, i=
f I
> recall correctly, which is evidently quite questionable)."
> =A0
> So you played one of the Leblanc contrabasses.=A0 If it was a low C paper=
clip,
> it =

> was a monster indeed and the low note was Bb0.=A0 These are very satisfyi=
ng and
> fun instruments, but not really too rare.=A0 You can find a few on ebay u=
sually
> for $3000 or so.=A0
[snip]
> Perhaps the person that showed you this thing didn't know as much as you =
gave
> him credit for.=A0 As you know now from the discussion, the leblanc is sa=
id to
> have made only one prototype of the Octocontrabass, which is why I said it
> would be big deal if one was found laying around!!!

Yes, you're likely correct about all this. As I said, it's been thirty
years since this took place. The non-hazy memories I'm left with are being
told it was an octocontrabass -- a word I had never heard before that, and
probably not since then until the current discussion, and one perhaps
unlikely to be tossed about by an unknowledgeable person; that it felt lower
than a contrabass (a "standard" model of which I had played once); and that
the lowest note was an E, not a C. What's hazier is my LeBlanc memory. In
any case, it might be worth a phone call to SFSU to find out if it (whatever
it is) is still there.

Steve Heinemann
Bradley University

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