 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-07-12 22:15
I had a discussion recently with an excellent oboe player, she also plays clarinet. Her very erudite comment was that, compared to the oboe or flute, the clarinet's system of fingering is just plain cumbersome, especially around the break. One does, afterall, have to make up the extra 5 notes required because of the clarinet's weird overblowing structure. She's stuck with the clarinet for a while now and has become accustomed to it's strange mannerisms, she now quite likes to play it.
I'm afraid that I couldn't argue for it (the clarinet) on this topic because it is just plain silly having to produce 4 semitones (G-sharp to B-flat) with only two fingers and, worse, on the side of one of them. She then said, "but that's OK, because some clarinet builder decided to add on a whole cluster of keys to help this problem, also all played on the side of the finger. I also couldn't argue comparatively because I neither play the oboe (shudder) nor the flute ...
The poor clarinet ... such an ugly duckling (technically), it's amazing anyone can navagate the break seemlessly (and many do).
I'd be interseted to hear what you clarinetists who ALSO play oboe and/or flute think. Thanks.
my two cents worth
diz | sydney
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-07-12 23:18
Diz - I'll bet there are a lot of us WW-experimenters struggling with just what to say. I "fought" the "ill wind that nobody blows good" for some 10 years, it won , mainly because of reeds and that d--- embouchure/diaphram torture. The Eng Horn was a bit of relief! The fingering peculiarities didnt stress me too much, the similarities to Alberts and saxes [the octave "jumps"] require attention, some oboe fingerings seemed "better" than corresponding ones on cl, the "break" of course !! I've seen very few cl'ists who had much "good" use of the trill keys, which is their real reason for presence, I guess. {Thots ?] Prob. the relative ease of playing, tonal-compatibility and other pleasures? [perhaps NOT having to "lead" the WW's in orchs full time] constitute my preferences for clarinet, I now prefer bass and alto !!. A tough ? for discussion, Diz ! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Dee
Date: 2004-07-12 23:31
The "weird" characteristics of the clarinet also have the result that it can play a far lower note for it's length than an oboe or flute. If you lay an oboe, flute, and clarinet side by side, their lengths are almost identical. However the clarinet can go quite a bit lower than either one. It can go higher than the oboe and part way up to the flute heights though I don't think it sounds good up that high.
Now let's compare the clarinet to the alto sax. If I remember correctly, the alto sax plays down to a written B just below the staff, which is a concert D below that. The Bb clarinet plays down to a written E below the staff, which is a concert D below that. Therefore the Bb clarinet plays as low as an alto sax yet is far smaller. Again this is due to it's "weird" acoustical characteristics.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-07-13 01:04
Well said, Dee, yes alto sax and Bb cl go equally low [with similar fingerings!!], as does tenor sax and "bass" cl [it really should be named tenor cl] , BUT both cls go at least an octave higher because of the acoustic harmonic [1,3,5,7] "peculiarity" which is put to V G use. Lots to be said! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2004-07-13 02:00
Quite frankly, Diz, I find the "breaks" on the flute to be more frustrating than those on the clarinet. Two fingers, then all but one of those to go from C to D??? IMHO, that's worse than A to B on the clarinet because you can leave your RH down for the A. In fact that frequently improves the sound of the A...
Katrina
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-07-13 04:48
Katrina - I agree, though my experience on the flute is quite limited.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
Post Edited (2004-07-13 06:39)
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Author: William
Date: 2004-07-13 15:07
Dee--point of order!! The saxophone family plays down to a written Bb 3, except the ones that have an extra extended range to low A--some rare altos and most modern baritone saxes.
This makes that alto sax's lowest sounding note a Db below the written Bb.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2004-07-13 15:19
One does not need to defend the apparent cumbersomeness of any given instrument because the perceived clumsiness is merely an artifact of the instrument. If you are going to create a clarinet, a cylindrical tube with a single reed, it is going to overblow a twelfth no matter how you configure the keys. One might be able to design an easier fingering system, but it will always have lots of extra keys to handle those extra notes. (If you think a soprano clarinet has lots of keys, you should see an extended range bass clarinet with an alternate A-flat/E-flat key.)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-07-13 16:48
If you have ever "fooled around" with trying to construct a "flute" or recorder ...or whatever....you should reach a point where you marvel at the evolution of the current clarinet design. We do a lot of complaining about the instrument and the state of current quality control....but let's face it, it's a marvel of ingenuity.
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