 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: missclarinetist
Date: 2005-08-03 11:38
Hey guys, just curious .. if the Germans and Austrians have their own clarinet systems, what about the frenchs? Do they use what we use? I know this is a stupid question to ask but just out of curiousity what equipments EU uses other than the world.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2005-08-03 11:47
The frenchies use Boehm. The EU hasn't yet agreed.
Bob Draznik
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Author: missclarinetist
Date: 2005-08-03 12:22
Is the Boehm system a whole new system and that I have to re learn everything if I wanted to play in their orchestras? Just wondering!
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Author: archer1960
Date: 2005-08-03 12:30
Boehm is the standard one on US clarinets. "Full Boehm" adds a few more keys to handle some additonal fingering options.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-08-03 13:15
If your clarinet is made by Buffet, Leblanc or Selmer, it is Boehm. (Unless it is decades old, when it might possibly be something else).
With the occasional exception:
The German system (Oehler or similar) is used in Germany, Austria, and maybe a few other places in central and eastern Europe.
The Reform Boehm system (Boehm keywork, German bore) is used in the Netherlands.
The Boehm system is used everywhere else: England, France, Australia, the USA. Malaysia too, I assume.
I'm talking about orchestral playing here. Jazz and "ethnic" musicians may follow their own trends.
You may hear people mention the Klose-Buffet system. This is another name for the Boehm.
...
These differences between countries are not unique to the clarinet. Fifty or a hundred years ago, most wind instruments existed in different "flavours" in France and in Germany, with other countries following one model or the other. Now the whole world has standardised, more or less, on one design or another. In particular, the French bassoon and horn have been consigned to history. (The instrument you may have been taught to call the "French horn" is not French at all. It is German. The true French horn has three piston valves, no thumb value, and a narrower bore.) The only instruments that have maintained national differences are the clarinet and the trumpet. In the case of trumpets, of course, the fingerings are exactly the same, but the response of the instrument is quite a lot different.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-08-03 13:43
Ms Cl - Good answers/advice above. Its an ever-broadening subject. A couple of good books on the variety of insts and their use in various countries which are generally available in libraries and for sale are , Baines, "Woodwind Insts and Their History" and [more broadly] Sachs "History of Musical Insts", which deals also with the many musical cultures. Happy reading, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2005-08-03 17:37
And, what's been left out is that the "English" horn is not really English, but rather named after a corruption of "angled" horn (as it used to be made with a bend in the middle rather than a crook at the top). Just had to add that for completeness.
The "Boehm" moniker got attached to the current "common" clarinet system when many others (principally Hyathcinth Klose, but he had collaborators as well) adopted the "spectacle" ring system of the Boehm flute to the traditional six, ten or twelve key design of the clarinet. The final form of the "Boehm" clarinet (which ol' Theobald had absolutely nothing to do with, he being too busy designing the "crutch" for his system of flutes, a vital improvement that no one bothered to add) was worked out by Klose working alongside of the French manufacturers.
German "system" clarinets are "closer" to the original instruments in their basic form, with far more "cross fingerings" used in place of the purer arrangements available through the Klose-Boehm. So are so-called "Albert" system horns, which are really "original" clarinets with a few bells and whistles, to which the name of one of whose manufacturers (Albert) has been stuck.
(There are also a whole slew of bore differences, but they can vary widely on all three types of horns, so they are more of a wash. Blowing wise, a French style horn will take a softer and wider reed than a German style one in most cases. Naturlich, there are exceptions to this very broad rule of thumb.)
(And, speaking of thumbs, both the Albert and the Oehler style horns do not always have a thumb ring. That was the biggest part of the shock that I experienced between the two systems. You get used to that big, broad thumb ring on a Boehm, then find yourself "balancing" the horn to get the tiny little thumb hole tube on an Oehler just so.)
I've often heard it expressed (and I agree with the opinion) that the French style of horn is easier to play in flat keys, while the "simple" (non-Boehm styles) clarinets are easier to play in sharp keys. I agree with it to a certain extent, and the differing function of the first fingers on both hands can be a bit much for some to deal with. Nonetheless, the fact that I've managed to master all three in a more or less adequate fashion should give hope to others out there who want to try them and see.
If you want to "feel" the difference, there's no way other than to try one of the other horns. German "Oehler system" horns are hard to come by outside of Deutchland, but Amati makes one that's affordable ($900 street price). "Albert" horns are a dime a dozen (well, you get the general idea) on eBay, but you have to be careful that you don't get one that's either already cracked or cracked and poorly repaired. In either case, the "feel" and "response" will differ from the French style "Boehm" horn on which you have learned to play.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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