 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarineteer
Date: 2016-05-14 22:48
What is the purpose of a Full boehm key of A clarinet. I know that the Bb full boehm is so you can play key of A parts on a Bb. But I am not sure what the purpose of a full boehm key of A clarinet is.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-05-15 00:00
Yes, I own a Buffet full Boehm A and have never found a need for a low Eb. However, the former owner who played in the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, also had an earlier full Boehm Bb and may have simply wanted them to be alike.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-05-15 00:58
I think that the most significant purpose of that low Eb tonehole is to provide a proper tonehole for the emission of the low E and even more importantly the middle B.
On normal clarinets these 2 notes emit from the bell and there is a distinct difference between sound quality and response of the "bell" tones compared to the others.
And of course if you have this acoustic advantage on the Bb you would clearly want it on on the matching A clarinet.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-05-15 03:25
Attachment: selmerseries9clarinets 001.JPG (702k)
If you regularly use the low Eb as a middle A#/Bb, then you'd want that on all other soprano clarinets if that's what you're used to doing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: derf5585
Date: 2016-05-15 04:24
Does the extra Eb ket make for an acceptable Bb
fsbsde@yahoo.com
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-05-15 06:10
The regular Bbs on both these clarinets are certainly acceptable and I never found a need to play the long fingerings for Bb. The clarinets I have are said to be the "Italian model", perhaps from the reported custom in Italy to play everything on the full Boehm Bb clarinet. On some older Buffets, the low E and F could be a bit flat, but that was not a problem on these. On my new Prestige Bb, the low notes are quite good.
The late Glen Johnston tuned both of them, even shortening the length of the bell about the width of the bell ring which presumably raised the bottom notes a bit. I recall taking them to the cluttered shop of "Big Mac" who shortened the bells for Glen. Glen was also able to slightly ream the lower bore a bit to raise the entire clarinet pitch, but I don't think he did that on these two instruments.
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Author: Jeff Chan
Date: 2016-05-15 10:22
I can cite one instance of a low e-flats written for clarinet in A. That note occurs twice in 'The Soldier's Violin' (second) movement of the trio version of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du soldat. I can't say that's a ringing endorsement for everyone to rush out and buy full Boehm A clarinets, though.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-05-15 11:02
The Bb was made in 1912 and the A was made in 1921. A silly reason for changing to more modern instruments was that one gets weary of toting two one piece cases around, although the old instruments still play great. The former owner was named Tarrentola and I bought them from his widow after his passing. Later, but not now, I owned a Selmer Cigar Cutter alto saxophone with a case which had spaces for Bb and A one piece clarinets, a coincidence. Three instruments in one case is really too much!
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Author: gwie
Date: 2016-05-15 12:15
The low Eb (concert C) in the full boehm A is awesome because if you're okay with reading alto clef, you can play the exact range of the viola.
I used to have a Leblanc LL full boehm A, and wish I still had it sometimes to play transcriptions from the viola repertoire on clarinet.
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