The Clarinet BBoard

Length of Buffet 1180/Low C Bass

Author: CuriousClarinet  Date:   2011-10-26 23:07 Uh... so if you've read any of my other posts you probably realize they're obnoxiously long and take forever to get to the point, so if you don't care about all the background information, just skip to the last paragraph. And thanks for taking the time to read even that... I'll try harder to be brief next time... ;p Awhile ago I played a Buffet 1180 bass clarinet. I still own it, -never know when you might need an extra bass, right? ;p- and recently took it to a music store to get it adjusted. The store was selling a bass clarinet with an extended range to low C and to entertain myself I played it. (It's the same low C bass I talked about in a different topic I posted recently.) Anyways, back to the point, I noticed the low C bass clarinet and my 1180 are exactly the same length. (I'm talking about the measurement of the body of the instrument, not the neck/bell/mouthpiece, by the way.) I've always known the 1180, which plays to low Eb, is slightly longer then other low Eb bass clarinets; but have always assumed it is just because the Eb key is on the body of the bass clarinet and not the bell. I didn't realize it's the same length as the extended range basses... In fact, I've always been under the impression that -since I am fairly short- I wouldn't be tall enough to play a low C bass clarinet sitting down. I now realize how ridiculous of a thought that was... I'm curious, as always, to know why the Buffet 1180 was built so long. What would be the acoustical advantages of that, if any? Why doesn't the Eb key on an 1180 sound like a low C or C#, since it appears to be in the same place as the low C note on the other bass clarinet? While I'm on the subject of the 1180, it'd be interesting to know what other people's opinions of the instrument are. I was really happy with it when I used it -although I do realize it has some flaws now that I'm use to an 1183- and still think it's a decent bass, just wondering what everyone else thinks.

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