 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2003-04-02 14:35
WWBW sells clarinets in G, C, and I think some other keys. Do people actually use those? I've never seen or heard them used.
What is the point of getting one anyway? If you have an A and Bb, the most you'll have to worry about is three or four flats or sharps.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-02 15:17
Sure people use them. Mainly in orchestras where music could be written in any concievable key (I'm playing in an orchestra with one piece of music that's written in G and one that's in C). People would use these instead of having to transpose something. However I think the majority of people would use an A or Bb clarinet and transpose the piece.
There are also Clarinets in D, F, Eb, and I'm sure other keys that I forgot.
I find it acceptable enough to sight transpose a piece that's in C using my Bb clarinet. As for the G, the piece isn't too tough so I'm also sight-transposing that one with my Bb, however if it was tougher, I would have been inclined to re-write so I could read it normally.
Alexi
Retired, playing more sax than clarinet, but still playing clarinet and still loving it!
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2003-04-02 15:27
They’re used for their tone color as much as for their pitch. The C clarinet, especially, has a very bright tone that’s hard to get from a Bb. A guy I play with in my wind symphony also played this past weekend with our local symphony on Mahler’s Titan, w hich calls for just about every clarinet ever made. He said that while they transposed the C parts on the Bb, they also had to use very thin reeds to approximate the color of a C clarinet.
In fact, from what I’ve read here, the main reason the Bb clarin et is in existence is because the C clarinet’s color was deemed too bright and piercing, so it was lengthened to drop the pitch a whole step and to darken its tone..
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
Post Edited (2003-04-02 16:30)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-04-02 15:32
If there has been a desire by a clar-knowledgable composer for a certain horn's tonal character, not just transposing assistance, then , to me, its a conductors decision to be a "purist" if possible. I have suggested several times playing Mozart's Basset Horn music on alto cls, but havent done so and have been "frowned On". They are different insts!! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2003-04-02 15:49
G Albert's are still made in Italy for the Turkish market. Stuart Mennon in Albuquerque (New Shtetl Band & other groups) has one that is just a couple of years old.
Don't forget the A-flat sopranino clarinet. Don't know if these are still available or where it would be used.
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-04-02 16:23
Ralph Katz wrote:
> Don't forget the A-flat sopranino clarinet. Don't know if
> these are still available or where it would be used.
Leblanc still makes the Ab Sopranino LL model I do believe. I have no idea where they would be used, but I have come across a few of them in collectors' collections ( I guess they are just nice to have).
Bradley
Practice makes nearly perfect!
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-04-02 16:55
Stew Mennen is an amazing player!!! I've met him through the annual Balkan music camps. I was able to play his Orsi G horn last summer, and WOW! that thing is sooooooo much better than my Turkish-made metal G horn!!!
It's sound was mellow and the horn felt smooth and even light!
My C horn (which I haven't had time to play in months) is an older Pepper "Albert" system. It's a lot of fun too, but the keywork is a little unstable and sticky at times...
Note: the Turkish G horns are in LOW G. There are Viennese HIGH G horns out there too.
Katrina
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2003-04-02 19:32
Stew sat in with us on a Klezmer dance gig about 6 years ago and it was a lot of fun. He had a home-made double case for his B-flat and G Albert clarinets.
We are both wrong - according to Google, the correct spelling of his name is "Stewart Mennin".
|-(8^)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-02 19:59
In response to DB's and Ralph G's comments on tonality. I didn't even think about this. Of course it's true. In my college chamber ensemble I performed Five Divertimenti by Mozart. We did Divertimento number two. A trio written for three basset horns. The recording that I listened to in order to better understand how to interpret it was actually three basset horns playing (I believe it was the netherlands wind symphony or some such - don't yell at me for not knowing exactly who performed it). And it did sound beautiful, yet definitely different than three clarinets.
Alexi
Retired, playing more sax than clarinet, but still playing clarinet and still loving it!
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-04-02 23:45
C clarinets are now very popular in opera orchestras - as a lot of Verdi, Rossini clarinet parts are written using them (as well as As and Bbs).
At least a couple of the big brand makers make clarinets pitched in C. If I had the money I'd buy one. Ralph G is spot on ... the tone of the C is quite bright but not as bright as it's higher E flat cousin
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-04-03 02:58
Yeah, will, Realfff...I no how to spill...
LOL!!!
Katreeeeeena
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2003-04-03 05:55
C Clarinets are often specified for Beethoven symphonies (tone colour) and of course are most useful for playing say violin, flute, oboe solos without having to transpose. I notice that Amati make 2 c clars - one plastic, one timber.
:)
Bob T
Hello !Smileys non-functional ???
BobT
Post Edited (2003-04-03 06:58)
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Author: happyamateur
Date: 2003-04-03 06:09
I've a late 19th century Thibouville lp C simple system and, much to my surprise, it has a terrific, resonant tone and excellent intonation, too. Don't overlook these old instruments if you're just looking to have one for your own pleasure.
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-04-04 00:41
happyamateur - wow, sounds like an antique - where did you pick it up? And do you know exactly when it was manufactured?
diz, sydney
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-04-04 00:45
If the instrument is actually marked "LP" or marked "Low Pitch," then it would have been manufactured sometime between the mid 1890s and mid 1930s.
Question for happyamateur: Are you sure it is actually a simple system rather than a Mueller or Albert? These are not the same and many times the terms are used interchangeably when that is actually incorrect.
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