 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarispark
Date: 2006-03-06 16:23
Hi everyone,
My boyfriend's stepmother recently gave him an old clarinet which belonged to either her grandfather or great-grandfather. He and I are quite interested in finding out if anyone has anything similar lying around, and if so, how old anyone else's clarinet is. It's on some simple system with an interesting octave key setup. We found pictures of a similar, but far-better preserved, clarinet which was said to have been made in the 1890s. Nobody in his family is sure of when the instrument was purchased, or on which side of the Atlantic; it is known that the clarinet's original owner was born in England and came to New York somewhere around 1900.
We can't figure out a maker or a serial number, and the only distinguishing mark on the entire instrument is a letter "B" imprinted where one would commonly find the maker's logo on both the upper and lower sections. The pictures aren't too clear but if anyone could point us in the right direction of a possible manufacture date or even the maker, we'd appreciate it!
"I look at my clarinet sometimes and I think, I wonder what's going to come out of there tonight? You never know." --Acker Bilk
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-03-06 16:30
From the single marking present, it appears that you have a Bb clarinet of German manufacture.
A photograph would help a lot here, of course.
Is the "interesting octave key setup" a key that snakes around the horn and has the tone hole on the top of the upper joint in front? This was fairly typical of many clarinets built during that period, including Boehm, "Albert" and German style clarinets.
Other hints that might help are:
Which fingers are provided with rings?
What are the keys for the little fingers on each hand (arrangement and what tone holes does each of them open)?
How many keys are in the "trill key" cluster, operated by the side of the first finger right hand?
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: clarispark
Date: 2006-03-06 16:36
I tried uploading pictures, but we've got slow dial-up here. This is why it seems to be posted twice. I'll try to edit this with some pictures tonight; maybe less people will be using the server out here then.
"I look at my clarinet sometimes and I think, I wonder what's going to come out of there tonight? You never know." --Acker Bilk
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