Klarinet Archive - Posting 000186.txt from 2010/11

From: Martin Baxter <martinbaxter1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Identify the instrument
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:33:36 -0500


On 14 Nov 2010, at 00:55, Kathy Williams-DeVries wrote:

Hello

Would the learned members of the list please enlighten me? A Hungarian
friend recently sent me youtube videos of a tarogato, saying that it was a
kind of shawm. Given that the shawm is a double reed instrument, I was
somewhat mystified to find to find that, though the sound was definitely
oboe-like, perhaps more of a cor anglais sound, the videos showed the
instrument to be played with a single reed mouthpiece. Has the tarogato
evolved from a double reed to single reed instrument, or has it always been
a single reed instrument played on what looks to be a clarinet mouthpiece?
The keywork looks to be German system.
Kathy
The original taragato Was a shawm and had a double reed. Sometime in the nineteenth century it was remodelled (by Schunda of Budapest I think) with a single reed and actually gave birth to a family of different sizes, rather like a set of wooden saxophones. The usual on (which I occasionally play - very badly - is similar to a soprano saxophone, and is not uncommon; you will see odd examples on e-bay.
Surprisingly enough, replacing a double reed with a single reed mouthpiece does not make a huge difference to either tuning or tone. Ted Planas used to use one on oboe when working on the instrument, claiming that he could judge the effect of his modifications better thus than with an oboe reed. I have played a single reed bassoon mouthpiece. I played behind a screen and very few people could hear any tonal difference from when I played on a (LUDWIG) bassoon reed. I hate to think what this says about my bassoon tone.
Martin

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