 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-01-25 04:42
Has anyone played or know anything about these instruments? I know that it is similar to the alto clarinet only keyed in F and having an extended low range to C. How does it play? Is it difficult and sluggish like the bass or is it easy and responsive like the soprano? Is there a particular key set-up for the extended range that is considered the best as I've read that different manufacturers have different systems? A while back I searched the archives for information on this instrument and though there were many interesting comments and opinions on the basset horn I couldn't find answers to specific questions I had. I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has first-hand experience with this instrument.
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Author: Eoin McAuley
Date: 2001-01-25 07:17
I have not played a Basset Horn. What I have read suggests that it is similar to the soprano clarinet in the higher notes, since it has a narrow bore comparable to the soprano, but that it can be difficult to reach the lowest notes.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-01-25 18:23
Robert -
There are two types of modern basset horns: large bore and small bore.
The large bore BH (by far the most common) has the same body as an alto clarinet, with the holes placed closer together and an extra half step added at the bottom. Since the BH is pitched in F, and most alto clarinets have a low Eb, the same instrument length that gives the low Eb on an alto will give a Db on the BH, and the additional length gives a written low C. This makes it relatively economical for makers to create a BH, since they don't have to redesign their equipment to make the bore, the outside profile of the body, the mouthpiece, the neck and the bell.
A large bore BH uses a mouthpiece exactly or almost exactly the same as an alto clarinet and responds about the same way. Since the BH is a specialist instrument, and almost no band pieces call for it (and these have it doubled by alto clarinet), the BH is not made in student models, so any BH you find is likely to be a top of the line model, and play like one. I have played a number of them, and they all felt good and responded well. Being a step higher than the alto, their tone is usually less foggy. Most of the records of BH are made with the large bore instrument. The only recording I'm aware of that uses the small bore BH is a film of the Mozart Requiem with German forces, made about 25 years ago.
The small bore BH is a completely different animal. It is also pitched in F but has the same bore as a clarinet and uses a modified clarinet mouthpiece. I've never seen a Boehm system version, but the German ones in the film have a downward-pointing wood bell and a wood barrel with an angle in the middle. The instrument is problematic. The narrow bore makes the low notes quite soft, and the high notes also can be stuffy unless you have an excellent, specially designed mouthpiece. If you look in the archives here and on the Klarinet board, you will find some wonderful quotes from George Bernard Shaw (no relation), who wrote some of the best music criticism ever done under the pen name "corno di bassetto."
I believe that some makers (perhaps Steve Fox) are offering a small bore BH with Boehm keywork.
Mozart wrote extensively for the BH, which in his day had an even smaller bore than the modern small bore BH, had two sharp angles in the body and had the low C extension keys encased in a "basset box," which had the bore running up and down inside it to shorten the length of the instrument. Eric Hoeprich has a Mozart-era BH and has made several copies. It sounds very soft and totally unlike any modern BH. By the way, Mozart sketched part of the first movement of his Clarinet Concerto for BH in G (the "Winterthur Fragment," available on Sneezy). Eric Hoeprich has made a BH in G by scaling down his old one in F. Bill McColl played the Winterthur Fragment on it at the ClarientFest in Columbus a few years ago, and at least one recording has been made, perhaps on the same instrument.
The Mozart Concerto was eventually finished for clarinet in A with an extension to low C (called a basset clarinet) and later rearranged (by whom is unclear - almost certainly not Mozart) for the standard instrument. The Mozart Quintet was almost certainly written for the basset clarinet also.
The most common use for the BH today is in the Mozart Serenade in Bb for 13 instruments, which calls for 2 clarinets in Bb and 2 basset horns. If you play it with a modern instrument group, you will have to use a large bore BH to balance with the rest of the band.
For much more, go to the archives.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-01-25 20:49
Many thanks, Ken, for the fine "run-down" on the modern Bassets, I copied it for clar. friends and my archives. I had a brief acquaintance with a Selmer BH, using a sop. cl mp, it played softly and similarly to my Sel Alto cl . Some of my sop.-playing buddies did have more difficulty, and of course we all had to keep our wits about us when playing below E !! I need to relearn my Alto, but my groups keep me on bass, dern it!! Don
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-01-26 02:52
The period basset horns I've heard (reproductions played at ClarinetFest) do have a <b><i>unique</i></b> sound, much more nasal than the clarinet's sound. Pleasant, but not anything like a clarinet really ...
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-01-26 05:17
From reading through the archives I have concluded that a large bore basset is the way to go. I have no interest in a "period" sound. I want a powerful sound and an easy and free-blowing response. The Leblanc basset with an 18mm bore (same as their altos) would probably fill the bill in this regard but I don't know if it has the best key set-up for the extended range. The Leblanc catalogue gives no information as to the key arrangement or whether any options are available, such as a forked Bb/Eb and articulated G#/C#. It's hard to get info. on this instrument as it seems that almost no one plays one. I would like to have one but it has to have all of the necessary keywork. For example, a while back I was looking to get an alto clarinet but none of the current models is equipped with a left hand Eb/Ab key. Without this key there is no way to go from low Eb to low Ab. This is a major design flaw. I would hate to get a basset and find out later that certain sequences of notes are unplayable due to inadequate keywork, such as is the case with the alto.
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Author: graham
Date: 2001-01-26 12:44
Bore sizes seem to vary on the modern BHs. My Buffet is about 16 mm and plays with an alto mouthpiece, but as mentioned above the Leblanc is wider. The Selmer apparently always uses a soprano mouthpiece, and the bore is presumably quite narrow.
Period instrument performances of Mozart 13 wind are inteeresting. Yes the BH is quiet but not over balanced, even though period clarinets can play quite loud. In any case, a BH rarely sounds at its best being played loud. The key to good BH is taking advantage of its ability to play softly. Sound should always be coaxed from a BH. Pushing it does not tend to work.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-01-27 21:31
I have a basset horn on order. I'd be glad to share impressions when it arrives in a couple of months. I found a useful booklet called The Basset Horn and its Music by John P. Newhill, which you should be able to trace through an Internet search engine. Arnold the Basset-hornist on this bulletin board is a mine of information.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-01-27 21:34
I have a basset horn on order. I'd be glad to share impressions when it arrives in a couple of months. I found a useful booklet called The Basset Horn and its Music by John P. Newhill, which you should be able to trace through an Internet search engine. Arnold the Basset-hornist on this bulletin board is a mine of information.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-01-28 06:20
Yes, keep us posted on how it pans out.
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 2001-01-29 08:04
Hello,
most is allready said, so I add just a link to a previous post of mine (<a href=http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=3889&t=3861>there</a>, approx. at the middle) to give a little help, if your reed is too hard for the lowest tones and too soft for the top ones.
And <a href=http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=7857&t=7824>here</a> you can find the trial of the answer, what's the differece between a basset horn and an alto clarinet.
Arnold (the basset hornist)
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