 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-03-23 03:38
I'm about to embark on an adventure of charting a swath of the contrabass clarinet microtonal vocabulary (on a LeBlanc low C paperclip), especially in the upper upper altissimo. I have a few regular fingering charts for the beast, and some microtonal reference for bass clarinet to use as a starting point. To avoid reinventing the wheel, does anyone know of any research, charts, or other forays into this arena?
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-03-23 13:38
You might start with http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/clarinet/cl_alt_4.html.
The problem with Leblanc contras is that they don't have the small vent hole under the left index finger, which makes the altissimo problematic. Terje Lerstad used to have bass and contra altissimo fingerings on his website, but they seem to be unretrievable.
The bass clarinetist Henri Bok specializes in contemporary music. His book will probably be helpful. http://www.henribok.com/book.htm
It might be useful to add a vent, operated like a saxophone left palm key. I explored this possibility with Steve Fox for my Selmer rosewood Eb contra, but he was reluctant to try, since he doesn't like to work in metal. He says it would take a lot of experimentation in positioning and vent size, but it should at lest be possible to approximate the bass clarinet design by putting the new vent in the bass clarinet spot.
Ken Shaw
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Author: DNBoone
Date: 2011-03-23 15:00
The Terje Lerstad fingering charts are still up, but main parts of the site are down.
http://home.gethome.no/terje_bjorn.lerstad/altissimo.html
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-03-23 16:25
Was also able to get the Lerstad chart off archive.org. It's a good starting point, though there are a LOT more fingerings up there.
I have access to the Bok, as well as the Richards and Volta. Great references, looking to see if there's anything more contra-specific in that realm, given the extremely rich harmonic vocabulary and... special... intonation issues.
The lack of the first finger vent is indeed a pain, though I'm learning to work around it. Takes some very delicate voicing and embouchre placement. Might see if my tech can rig up some sort of custom equivalent mechanism as you suggest. In any case, that's really only a problem for the 5th partials (3rd register) and maybe a bit of the 7th. 9th and above (written A6 or so) are cake until somewhere in the 20s where biting becomes more necessary.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-03-23 18:15
I am curious: why would one want to play in the altissimo register on a contrabass instrument? Does the repertoire for the instrument require it? Does the additional skill developed in being able to play in the altissimo register enhance one's playing in the lower registers? Or is it a matter of "because one can"?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-03-23 22:37
davyd -
It's less "because one can" and more "because composers write contra music that way."
Also, the extreme altissimo and microtones require lots of practice in voicing and control. That certainly carries over to the lower registers.
A very fine player who plays contemporary music with lots of multiphonics told me that practicing them significantly improved her tone and control.
Ken Shaw
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-03-23 23:57
I find the extreme altissimo on contrabass to be incredibly rich in various aspects. In addition to the "sounds awesome and is incredibly fun to play" angle, it also offers a wealth of possibilities for writing music in just intonation and other non-equal temperaments, given how easy it is to jump between high partials. Playing a 9/11 or 11/13 interval, melodically, is simple on contra up in that range, just by voicing a different partial.
I've been obsessing over harmonics lately, and love being able to play an instrument where I can bust out all the odd partials up to the high 20s or low 30s, rather than maybe 11 on soprano. Also, in the upper range of the instrument, the voicing is crazy-easy, to the point that I can shape my mouth as if to sing the note I want, and whatever note I play is the partial of the fingered fundamental that's closest to it. Effectively, I can play microtonal karaoke with hardly any effort.
Plus, having a wind instrument where I can play upwards of 6 octaves is pretty darn cool in my book. My highest note on contra is only about a 5th below my highest note on Eb, in concert pitch.
For me, the contra is an enormous toy box, and I hope to try out as many of the toys as possible.
Also, as Ken describes, as an added bonus, it's great for control. Lately, on a good day, the register key is now optional for me on contrabass and even on bass, for part of the range.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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