 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-01-25 09:02
*After many attempts to clean up the bad tone, I've decided to redo any corrections and leave it be as to not take away from the full meaning of it. There is a summary at the very bottom.*
From what I've heard, support for the Eb and A (or any other key clarinet) comes from the special tone unique to those keys and ease in playing certain pieces.
I do not believe that those two reasons are valid reasons for buying an expensive new clarinet.
The Eb and A being there as shortcuts erode the precious solid ideal of practice. Instead of practicing the harder scales, one will look for an easier way out. Using this logic, the difficulty threshold is lowered and the standard of excellence is doomed.
A few years back, if anyone remembers, scientists and engineers designed a robot capable of playing basic clarinet. A few years from now, or a few decades from now, technology might allow them to make a robot more "skilled" at clarinet than the top clarinetist of that generation. This generation might contain clarinets of all the scales A to G# and might consider the key of D to be extremely difficult.
You want a shortcut? How about being able to produce a dark, focused tone without touching the clarinet at all? How about a robot that is capable of playing the clarinet in all of its glorious keys, even Cb and C#, flawlessly. How about a robot that can adjust its mechanical embrochure to fix any intonation problems on any clarinet within 1/100th-of-a-cent accuracy. How about a robot that can tongue 64th notes at 200 BPM and play all the rhythms of the musical world. What does it need to do this? Just two AA batteries from the local store worth less than a dollar.
The abrasives known as shortcuts are ruining the lacquered performances acquired only through hard work, determination, and talent.
The second reason that one might see the Eb and A as "worthless" is that the acclaimed "sweeter" tone produced by these two clarinets are actually not because of the fact that they are Bb and A clarinets.
Tone qualities are acquired from the design and flaws of the manufacturing of the clarinet. There is no reason that a concert D played on either an A, Bb, or Eb clarinet that is designed fundamental the same as the other clarinets should sound anything but identical.
The claims are a result of playing a clarinet with a different design. The radius of the hole might be increased in order to move the the hole downward to make the fingerings or visa versa to make the holes more accessible on the different sized clarinets. This will lead to a long chain of nuances resulting in the different tone that is produced out of each clarinet.
Each company has a different design. Playing a Yamaha clarinet that sounds sweeter than a Buffet does not conclude with sound logic that the whole line of Yamaha clarinets are sweeter than those of Buffet's. In other words, the reason that an Eb sounds different than a Bb clarinet is the same reason that a Leblanc sounds different than a Selmer; excessively exaggerated, it is also the reason a guitar sounds different than a violin.
Economy is also a subtle reason for the mismatch of designs between the Bb and the A and Eb. The Bb took off as the dominant clarinet. I am going to summarize this as simply as I can. As businesses saw more consumers (players) in the Bb field and thus more money, more businesses focused on the Bb. Companies, through competition, would improve the clarinet, making it the better over another company's clarinet. Over time the clarinet design was improved a numerous amount of times (look at the different Buffet R13 models, the introduction of Chocobolo wood, underut tone holes, ligatures, reeds, reed cases, everything). The relationship between the consumer population and development are proportional.
Now. Look at the Eb or even the A clarinet's consumer population. As a result, few businesses arise. The presence of few businesses leads to a decrease in competition; a decrease in competition leads to a decrease in development. The less popular something is the less developed it is, thus another factor in the different sound production of Eb/A/any other key vs Bb. (look at pitchiness of less popular instruments: soprano sax, pocket trumpet, and the less popular clarinets)
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To sum up, these said differences in tone are attributed to the different design of the clarinet due to the length of the clarinet and the economic history of each clarinet.
They also provide unnecessary shortcuts which tear at our sacred principles of practice and determination.
Yes the Eb and A clarinet tones are different but are they preferable to the more developed Bb clarinet? Nah
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Sources
Stanford's study on the relationship between competition and innovation
http://www.stanford.edu/~nbloom/PevertedU.pdf
Robot clarinet playing Flight of the Bumblebee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAIeTm4lO5Q
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-01-25 09:16
I would grant that there isn't much difference between an 'A' clarinet and a 'Bb' in sound but the 'Eb' has a VERY different sound character altogether. The Mahler First Symphony, Til Eulenspiegel or Symphonie Fantastique would sound DIFFERENT without it even if every clarinetist were perfectly facile in every key in the highest altissimo. That aside though, the 'A' clarinet is not going anywhere any time soon because one WANTS to have the added flexibility of that a less LOGY fingering. Oh, and lets put the shoe on the other foot. Ever try the Daphnes and Chloe all on 'Bb?' A Russian colleague suggested that they do this all the time........for ease.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-01-25 10:58
Good point.
Actually I have tried Daphnes and Chloe all on Bb. It was very easy playing through the song after I pushed the green button on my clarinet-playing robot. The robot is there ALSO for ease.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2012-01-25 11:10
Perhaps you might want to read up on the historical basis of why the clarinet comes in multiple keys.
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2012-01-25 11:42
Try playing the Mozart Concerto on the Bb Clarinet in Bmajor instead of C major on the A clarinet. The reasons for having clarinets in different keys should become obvious.
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2012-01-25 13:08
One of Mozart's phrases: “it should flow like oil”...this could be interpreted as having smoothness and a sense of ease.
However, if you want to (and have the ability) play it in B major and can make it sound as good as your C major version then well done!
As a teacher i find most people struggle to play C major perfectly. To play some of the runs in the Mozart Concerto 'perfectly' is a minor miracle. Why make life harder and play it in a more difficult key???
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Author: TJTG
Date: 2012-01-25 14:51
You should also take into account the imperfections of the clarinets acoustical design. The further you get away from C major on the clarinet the harder it is to tune it. Our instrument is of a bag of tricks considering the tuning of 12th's, 6ths, and 3rds the higher you go.
Also, consider that equal temperament is never ever ever used in performance. Please try to tune down your mid-cleff B please. Imagine you're the third of the chord and are playing sharp. All the practice in the world won't change that you're out of tune there. UH OH, now you're the 5th of the chord, but playing that same B. Please tune up a couple cents, you're playing flat now. Sometimes different instruments are used because a composer knew of the instruments affinity towards some keys.... and the clarinet lacked the chromaticism of today.
I'm sure John Yeh, Gregory Smith, Lawrie Bloom, or Stephen Wiliamson could play the orchestra repertoire on whatever instrument you give them. I don't think they'd appreciate you telling them they haven't practiced enough. I don't think anybody would.
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2012-01-25 15:58
I am not sure TJTG's argument holds water, at least from my personal experience. Perhaps an acoustical scientist will prove me wrong, but I do not see any more intonation difficulties playing in C# as opposed to C, for example. It is all in knowing your instrument.
On the other hand, one of the more challenging intonation times I have had was playing the Poulenc Sonata for two clarinets in which each part is played on a different instrument (Bb and A). Although it might have been easier to play the parts on the same instrument type, Poulenc was specific about what he wanted and I think that issue should be honored as performers.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-01-25 16:03
I think the whole idea of this posting is rediculious. There's a reason most orchestra players don't even use a C clarinet, we just transpose the parts even though it would be easier to play on a C clarinet. We use a Bb and and A clarinet because there's so much music written for those instruments and it usually sounds better on the instrument it was written for. Sure it's easier to play Daphnis and Chloe on the oringal A clarinet, why would anyone in their right mind do it the more difficult way if they don't have to? It doesn't make sense. I can play in 6 or 7 sharps and flats but why should I when the composer wrote it in an easier key so it's smoother and generally more musicial to play in the orginal key. As far as playing Eb parts on a Bb clarinet, rediculious. Composeers don't use the Eb, or D for that matter, for convience of the player, it's to get a different tone color all together. Most of the time the Eb parts are in a much more difficult key than the Bb part is. Some Eb players that own a D clarinet will transpose the Eb parts to D because of the key signiture in order to make the passage smoother. What a silly idea this is . ESP
eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2012-01-25 18:32
Quote:
From what I've heard, support for the Eb and A (or any other key clarinet) comes from the special tone unique to those keys and ease in playing certain pieces.
I do not believe that those two reasons are valid reasons for buying an expensive new clarinet.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion...but respectfully the whole analysis is based on that misconception that the other clarinets are available solely for the performer's ease. I agree with Ed above that it is not solely for the advantage of the performer that different clarinets are employed.
Quote:
The Eb and A being there as shortcuts erode the precious solid ideal of practice.
I disagree. And you concede that point later on.
And the whole robot thing -- unless we're talking about a robot that is going to interpret the music on its own, it has to be programmed by someone who actually has a valid opinion about what the music is before what the robot is playing could "become" music, even if that's possible.
Quote:
Tone qualities are acquired from the design and flaws of the manufacturing of the clarinet.
If that is solely where tone comes from than the best sound would come solely from the best clarinet. And if I were to have Robert Marcellus' Bb/A pair I, too, would sound like Marcellus.
Playing a Bundy or my Rossi, I'm going to sound like I sound (90-95%) -- the instrument provides everything that makes it a clarinet and not a sax or flute. I provide everything that would make one want to listen to it.
Quote:
In other words, the reason that an Eb sounds different than a Bb clarinet is the same reason that a Leblanc sounds different than a Selmer; excessively exaggerated, it is also the reason a guitar sounds different than a violin.
You disprove yourself here. You are correct that an Eb and a Bb clarinet are two DIFFERENT instruments. That is why a composer uses an Eb in one place and a Bb in another. This undercuts your argument that an Eb clarinet is used only to make a Bb clarinetist's life easier.
Quote:
The relationship between the consumer population and development are proportional.
In many cases you may be correct, but as concerns a development deficit for the A or the Eb -- prove it.
You find, in Buffet's pantheon alone, all the permutations of A and Eb that you do of Bb. It just sounds to me (and I may be wrong) that all the A's and Eb's you've played have been real dogs.
James
PS -- and having just reread your post I noticed that as you posit your ideas you said "I've heard that..."...so have you actually played an A or Eb in an ensemble?
Gnothi Seauton
Post Edited (2012-01-25 18:35)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2012-01-25 18:37
SteveG_CT wrote:
> Didn't we have this discussion already just a week ago?
Yes we did, and it seems the OP likes to set up straw men ... a little historical reading as to why the clarinets are in different keys, and then the effect of that decision you would think would be in order prior to posting surmises in lieu of hypotheses.
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Author: vin
Date: 2012-01-26 00:56
You're on the right track for a tenured economics position.
As far as music goes, this is hysterical.
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Author: Buster
Date: 2012-01-26 02:27
As Mark has suggested, twice, some cursory research into the history of differing pitched clarinets might greatly enlighten.
Thought provoking, yes; but not in the way intended me thinks.
...but let's just hope we don't have to play in a key with more than 2 sharps.
-Jason
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2012-01-26 03:08
If I'm reading the initial post correctly, the poster is saying that clarinets other than Bb are cop-outs when we should be beating ourselves silly transposing and showing our ultimate prowess by playing in the most challenging of key signatures (apparently proving that we're legit clarinetists)?
Why in the world would this even matter to listeners who don't care what key we're playing in or what clarinet we're blowing into?
What about the sheer joy one gets from performing? Mozart's concert, for example, is delightful to play as is. Why would one want to play those runs in a difficult key? It's so nice to be able to lose oneself in a piece and let the instrument sing rather than panic about getting through rough passages.
I hope that made sense.
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-01-26 03:46
I believe all passages are difficult no matter the tempo, key, rhythmical complexity, or melodic complexity.
Sure an Eb clarinet and A clarinet and any other type of clarinet have their own unique sound. If the composer wanted to use that sound of that particular type of clarinet or even a certain model of clarinet then so be it; however, if a player wishes to avoid learning the more difficult fingering by buying another clarinet that transposes the music, I disagree.
To respond to Claire, I'm just suggesting we use the most developed model of clarinet, the Bb when presented with Bb clarinet music.
"And if I were to have Robert Marcellus' Bb/A pair I, too, would sound like Marcellus."
To Tobin, yes you would sound similar to Marcellus. A virtuoso guitarist plucks his E string. A beginner picks up the virtuoso guitarist's guitar and also plucks the E string. The laws of physics do not change depending on the player of the guitar. The E string would still vibrate the same.
An inexperienced clarinet player playing Marcellus' clarinets can not possibly change the vibrational tendencies of the clarinet. The player might sound different because of a poorly developed embrochure and a different lip anatomy, but there is no reason for someone not to have the same tone as Marcellus.
If you meant "sound like Marcellus" as in Marcellus' skill in interpreting music and playing style then of course you wouldn't sound like Marcellus and your studies in clarinet are different.
Justin, yeah I know the roboclarinetist isn't pleasant to listen to, but neither was Marcellus' first seconds of playing clarinet... unless he is a clarinet god
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Author: clariniano
Date: 2012-01-26 03:52
Personally I don't know how I ever survived without having an A clarinet. The tone qualities ARE different, and I've tested this with non-clarinetists, my husband can, extremely reliably, tell whether I am playing the same concert pitch note on a B flat or an A clarinet, and I've done the test on some violin, trumpet, and flute friends, and they can generally tell which clarinet I'm playing.
Plus there's no way the Mozart concerto, or any other difficult piece written for the A clarinet can really be played on the B flat. Especially not the Nielsen Wind Quintet or Concerto.
Plus, sometimes I'll choose to do certain pieces on one clarinet over the other, like I'll often choose playing hymns on the B flat if the key on the A clarinet would result in B flat major (A major on the B flat), particularly if there would be several middle line B flat notes on the A clarinet. Conversely, if the written key for the B flat clarinet would be in F sharp minor, especially if most of it is the melodic form, I prefer to play it on the A, to avoid the nasty finger slides between clarion E sharp (F), F sharp, and back down to E which neither normal or alternate fingerings will fully work effectively, especially not faster than a moderate tempo. And sometimes the more somber tone quality of the A clarinet makes it a much better choice when I play an instrumental part that is part of a few of the choir's anthems, besides the key of the anthem and even an effective use of that extra semitone at the bottom.
Meri
Please check out my website at: http://donmillsmusicstudio.weebly.com and my blog at: http://clariniano.wordpress.com
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Author: Buster
Date: 2012-01-26 03:58
oca,
To get rid of all this nonsense, I have a question for you:
Why were clarinets of differing keys ever invented?
-Jason
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2012-01-26 04:00
I agree with those above that this is a little ridiculous... One thing about playing the Mozart on the Bb, placing it in B Major: Even if you can get over the difficulties of the technique, I really doubt it would ever sound as "in tune" as it would on an A clarinet. The reason I say this is that the B major scale just doesn't work as well as say, the F or C scale; the A# leading tone in the top register is just too low. Of course you could play the A# 1-1 or 1-2 but that just adds even more difficulty.
Also, the Brahms 3rd Symphony A clarinet solos in the 1st movement were originally written for the Bb until Brahms heard it on the A clarinet. Now we have the almost impossible switch just for those two solos.
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Author: clariniano
Date: 2012-01-26 06:00
Also, why would anybody in their right mind want to use more effort than is necessary to play a given passage, all those extra keys that you'd have to use playing an A clarinet piece on the B flat significantly slows you down, and you really wouldn't want to play in say, B major for more than 3 or 4 minutes at the most, and probably 1-2 for most players, the Mozart Concerto is about 30 min long BTW, so 30 minutes of playing mostly in B major on a B flat clarinet? No thank you.
Meri
Please check out my website at: http://donmillsmusicstudio.weebly.com and my blog at: http://clariniano.wordpress.com
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Author: Clarimeister
Date: 2012-01-26 06:16
Why was this thread posted? Seriously. Read up on history and get your facts straight. There's a reason why they were made in different keys.
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Author: brycon
Date: 2012-01-26 07:06
I quit practicing my scales years ago- went out and had a clarinet for each of the 12 keys specially made for me.
Sure 12 clarinets are expensive, but now it's me getting hired for all the gigs instead of the robot clarinet. So in the end, my investment payed for itself (plus I'm getting sweet doubles pay).
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Author: Joarkh
Date: 2012-01-26 09:10
This is not as much thought provoking as it is just provoking.
Oca is taking a reductionistic point of view, and does not seem to grasp that we have our instruments to make music. Music should be in the centre at a concert. No-one wants to go to a concert to see how many different scales a clarinettist can play on one instrument. Music is not about finger movements. Technique is a means, not a goal. Music is human communication! Please end this robo-clarinet nonsense.
What is more, it is simply ignorant to claim that there are no difference in tonal color between the B flat and the A clarinet. There might be less of it than between B flat and E flat, but for anyone who regularly plays or listens to the two instruments, the difference is obvious.
Oca: Your statement here has nothing to do with music.
Joar
Clarinet and saxophone teacher, clarinet freelancer
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-01-26 09:17
>> if a player wishes to avoid learning the more difficult fingering by buying another clarinet that transposes the music, I disagree. <<
Maybe you can just post the total price a person is allowed to spend on clarinets and then each person can decide how to devide that by themselves? Or is it only allowed to spend that total on a Bb clarinet and if there's extra, it's not allowed to spend that on other clarinets? Please clarify the rules...
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Author: CocoboloKid
Date: 2012-01-26 09:59
"To respond to Claire, I'm just suggesting we use the most developed model of clarinet, the Bb when presented with Bb clarinet music."
Please enlighten us all as to how the Bb is the "most developed" model of clarinet...I'm looking at my Bb, A, Eb, and C clarinets, and they all have the exact same keywork and I can play them all with equal flexibility, so what special magic does the Bb possess that the others do not that renders it so highly developed?
Goodness, you're silly.
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2012-01-26 16:11
I have a passage in a (yet to be performed) orchestral composition of mine in which I assigned a clarinet solo passage to the Eb soprano, because it lies in the lower chalumeau register on that instrument and so would sound very rich and full. The same passage on the Bb would enter the throat range and sound comparatively bland.
As a composer, I have to say that the tessitura of any instrument is properly taken into account in one's orchestration, and it will ultimately determine the choice of instrument.
When the first Bb chromatic clarinet was introduced in the early 19th century, it was suggested that it could replace clarinets at other pitches because of its full chromatic capability. It wasn't clarinetists, but _composers_ who objected to the idea, saying that they scored for each type of clarinet according to the tone quality they desired.
An obvious case of this is the "Marche au Supplice" in Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique. Being in G minor (with portions in Bb major), it's surprising to see that Berlioz chose to use C clarinets instead of Bb. But the brief clarinet solo on the penultimate page (quoting the "idée fixe") shows why: on the C clarinet, it goes only to high C, whereas on the Bb that'd be a high D. Clearly, Berlioz wanted to avoid having any shrill tones in that passage, as that would contradict the expressive intent of the solo (a fleeting, tender recollection of the subject's lover, marked "dolce assai e appassionato").
Stepping out of the clarinet world for a moment, consider the surpsing low-register piccolo solo beginning the second section of Varèse's Octandre. Obviously, this would be more comfortable to play on the standard size flute (which the flutist does in fact also play in this work). But Varèse wanted that special tone quality, because it suits the expressive nature of the passage (marked "très vif et nerveux," i.e. very lively and excitable).
All this is to say that there are real musical and expressive reasons that composers need and choose among the existing variety of wind instruments.
Klarnetisto
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Author: Buster
Date: 2012-01-26 18:33
oca,
To remove the controversy: From a historical basis, why were clarinets in differing keys made?
-Jason
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-01-27 09:32
Before the clarinet and metal key work was the chalumeau.
Before the chromatic it was limited to seven notes per octave.
People used to make the chalumeau in different keys because they MUST do so to play certain notes as they could not fit as many keys on the instrument as the clarinet.
The clarinet with the new key-work has allowed people to play the entirety of the clarinet range.
They transpose the key to key fingerings consistent within the instrument family. Thus you don't have to learn a whole different instrument if you were to play an A clarinet.
That may not be all the reasons; did I get most of it Buster? If not please enlighten me.
Clarribass- "Maybe you can just post the total price a person is allowed to spend on clarinets and then each person can decide how to devide that by themselves? Or is it only allowed to spend that total on a Bb clarinet and if there's extra, it's not allowed to spend that on other clarinets? Please clarify the rules..."
What does me telling you that you are able to buy a gold clarinet have to do with the idea I presented?
CocoboloKid, the summary was a summary. I believe the body paragraphs would have helped you find the answer. If you happened to skip over the body paragraphs maybe the cited Stanford study in the cited sources can help.
If you skipped over both the body paragraph and the study then it's no wonder you did not get it.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2012-01-27 11:01
OCA,
Your history of the clarinet is sketchy to say the least. I'll try and enlighten you later. For now I'd like to point out that the Chalumeau, after the clarinet was invented, was played right up to the 1780s/90s
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2012-01-27 13:10
Quote:
"And if I were to have Robert Marcellus' Bb/A pair I, too, would sound like Marcellus."
To Tobin, yes you would sound similar to Marcellus. A virtuoso guitarist plucks his E string. A beginner picks up the virtuoso guitarist's guitar and also plucks the E string. The laws of physics do not change depending on the player of the guitar. The E string would still vibrate the same.
You are giving the instrument too great a share of the responsibility. It so happens that I belong to the same school of sound that Marcellus did, but just having Marcellus' horns aren't going to allow me to sound like Marcellus. I sound like me. Marcellus' horns may be great -- but they don't possess what you think.
And it's odd that you think the horns deserve that much responsibility, and then ignore that fact and assert the A and Eb are simply crutches.
I think that you should follow reexamine some of the non sequitur that I and others have pointed out and give them consideration.
Quote:
...however, if a player wishes to avoid learning the more difficult fingering by buying another clarinet that transposes the music, I disagree.
Please find us someone who bought an A or Eb for this reason?
And I don't believe you answered my question as to whether you've performed on A and/or Eb?
If you're going to continue to argue your line of reasoning -- I would invite you to provide some proof that the A and Eb are not as well developed as the Bb.
James
Gnothi Seauton
Post Edited (2012-01-27 18:56)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2012-01-27 15:32
To me, a B Scale on a Bb Clarinet in quarter notes, sounds differently than a C scale on an A Clarinet - same sounding pitches, no difference technique wise (afterall, it's only quarter notes..), but the sound - timbre of each note is different.
Many players hear that I'd figure.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2012-01-30 16:43
The practice of building clarinets in several tonalities came about because, while the early flute and oboe provided reasonably good chromatic pitches via cross-fingering, the early clarinet somehow did not.
As I stated above, when a fully chromatic clarinet was developed in the early 19th century, composers resisted the idea of giving up the family of clarinets in the various tonalities, because they valued the characteristic tone colors of each instrument.
Over the years, a sort of compromise has developed: the B natural clarinet (yes, I actually saw such described in a late 18th-century French treatise!) has disappeared, and the C and D clarinets are rarely used in orchestral music (though they are sought for certain folk musics); only a few makers still produce these at all. The A, Bb and Eb remain. C clarinet parts are almost always played on the Bb now, and D parts on the Eb. I understand, though, that in certain Latin countries (e.g. Italy), many professional clarinetists prefer to use only the Bb clarinet and transpose not just C but A clarinet parts onto it. They then prefer the full-Boehm clarinet with the low Eb so as to accommodate the low E of the A clarinet.
Clarinet Journal recently had a lengthy article about the A bass clarinet and its repertoire. My understanding is that some companies will make these on special order, but none are in regular production anymore. This is why a low Eb is standard on the Bb bass: to accommodate the low E of the A bass.
I understand that Schoenberg wrote a piece with a part for A contrabass clarinet, and Lou Harrison one for C bass, but as far as anyone knows, these instruments have never existed!
Klarnetisto
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2012-01-30 17:27
Klarnetisto wrote:
> C clarinet
> parts are almost always played on the Bb now, and D parts on
> the Eb.
Except, at least, in Opera repertoire (not quite the same as your stated orchestral, but nonetheless) ... Forest Aten, bass (and utility) clarinetist of the Dallas Opera and I'm sure others in similar positions have these clarinets at hand for the required rep.
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Author: JamesOrlandoGarcia
Date: 2012-01-30 17:34
You didn't just compare people striking the string of the guitar to two clarinetists playing a clarinet did you?
Do you realize how different oral cavities affect sound production? People have different sized lips, variation in evenness of teeth and overal shape of the cavity varies from person to person.
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2012-01-30 20:27
"I understand that Schoenberg wrote a piece with a part for A contrabass clarinet, and Lou Harrison one for C bass"
Lou Harrison intended that bass part to be in Bb. He expected the publisher to transpose it but the publisher did not. Publishers have made mistakes by not transposing the part as it appears in the score. And very often they do the opposite; they transpose the clarinet part from the instrument for which it was originally written (usually from C clarinet to Bb clarinet, but also from B natural clarinet to A clarinet). This can muddy the waters when it comes to the issue of playing the part on the "right" clarinet.
Dan Leeson recounts his discussion with Lou Harrison:
"The San Jose Symphony was to do a work of his and I was given the bass
clarinet part. It was written for a bass clarinet in C in the bass
clef, a transposition effectively equivalent to playing a bassoon part
on a bass clarinet. Yet I was puzzled why he would have written the
part in that fashion, thinking, perhaps, that he wanted the instrument
itself to be in C, something I did not have and was not going to buy for
that single occasion. Twice maybe, once no.
When Harrison showed up for the performance, I managed to catch him
privately and inquired about the peculiar notation of the part I had to
play. His response was very revealing:
"What?," he said. "You mean to say that the publisher did not transpose
it for you?"
Here was a case of a clear misunderstanding between composer and
publisher. Harrison had written the part in C, probably because he found
it easier to compose without the bother of transposing parts while
writing them in his score. He expected the publisher to realize that
this was a requirement and then do it."
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-01-30 20:31
David, that might be true in some orchestras, especially many opera orchestras because of some very long and demanding C parts. No one in the Baltimore Symphony has ever owned or played a C clarinet. We all transpose all the parts. I've known many orchesrta players that done't own a C clarinet. As a matter of fact, I don't actually know of any orchesrta player that owns one, probably Ricardo, he owns everything, though I'm sure there are more now then in the past. Though it's true that the C clarinet sounds a little different I doubt anyone in the audience can notice the difference. Unless you heard the same player play them side by side it would be very difficult for most people to tell coming out of an orchestra. ESP
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The Clarinet Pages
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