 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moeboy
Date: 2006-11-06 01:28
I have a question that has been bothering me for some time and i cannot find any sort of answer to it on google, or anywhere else, so i will ask everyone here. Seems to be a good time too, with the contra clarinet conversations going on. When you have a contra bass clarinet, is that technically exactly in length, bore diameter, length between tone holes, etc as the normal bass clarinet ( that goes down to C )? Same with the contra alto, when you have the contra of a clarinet, do you have the exact double as the normal clarinet? It may seem a little odd to ask but i am working on a project and it would really help if someone would have an idea about this. I thought that this would be the logical way, that the contra is twice it's original counterpart an octave above. So if anyone would have any information, something they have relized from repairing contras, something they have heard, it would be much appreciated. Thank you
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Author: diz
Date: 2006-11-06 03:28
Wow - good question: but twice the length and octave are possibly problematic for clarinets (not sure) as they don't overblow the octave, where's an expert when you need one??
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-11-06 13:28
A contrabass in Bb is twice the length of a bass in Bb, which is twice the length of a soprano.
A contra-alto in Eb is twice the length of an alto in Eb, which is twice the length of an eefer.
Not "exactly" twice. Not every Bb clarinet is exactly the same length.
Overblowing the twelfth rather than the octave is irrelevant.
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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: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-11-06 15:31
At least in non-solo music, contrabass clarinets are played mainly in the low register. I played nothing but Eb and BBb contra in the West Point Band for more than a year, where I never saw anything higher than clarion G and rarely went out of the chalumeau. The only exception was the Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, where one of the band's arrangers gave me the contrabassoon cadenza, which went up to, I think, clarion high B. I've never seen an altissimo register note called for, though Terje Lerstad uses them. If a band piece needs higher notes, they go to the bass clarinet.
Thus contrabass clarinets (and most bass clarinets, too) are optimized for the low register -- i.e., with larger bores, and with a different baffle design for the mouthpiece.
The optimal bore size requires a larger mouthpiece. The original Leblanc BBb instruments came with a very large and wide mouthpiece -- about as wide as the human mouth can handle. Around 1970, they changed to a narrower design. A Leblanc representative told me that even though the narrow one didn't play as well, they changed because they got many complaints, particularly from women, that the wide design was too big to play.
On the other hand, the optimal increase in bore size is not proportional to the increase in length. I don't think a BBb contra bore is double the diameter of a bass bore, which is not double that of a soprano clarinet. To play well in the clarion and altissimo, a bass clarinet needs a bore considerably less than double the soprano diameter. See, for example, Steve Fox's design at http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/Bass_Clar.html
Ken Shaw
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Author: BelgianClarinet
Date: 2006-11-06 15:47
when considering the 'bore' don't forget that the 'total opening' has a "squared' relation to the radius. Doubling the bore diameter would increase the total opening by 4 not by 2 !!
I don't know if that explains something, but it might :-)
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-11-06 19:19
I recall the "wide" contra mouthpiece from my spells with a Leblanc paperclip. Not a pleasant experience, and I could see where it would be a stretch for many to handle it.
However, the contra-bass solution (the string one) is that people with small hands don't try to play contra-bass. Similarly, folks with large hands (like me) should avoid the Eb soprano clarinet and piccolo (which pretty well disappears in my paws when I pick it up).
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: moeboy
Date: 2006-11-07 02:28
Thank you for all your responses so quickly, it was something that has been bothering me for a little bit. This gives me a good idea for the project i am thinking about. Thanks again!!
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