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Re: basset clarinet questions

Author: Klose ★2017
Date: 2018-04-28 20:22

As a basset clarinet owner, I guess I can answer your questions. Yes, both Oehler and Boehm systems have basset clarinets. This is obvious as you can easily find players like Sabine Meyer and Martin Fröst using them on Youtube. For french system, only Buffet makes a basset model which is commercially available but backun and Yamaha also custom made basset clarinets for their artists. Of course, the buffet model's bore is different from some other top models for standard clarinet like Tosca and Divine. But in terms of the material and quality, it is top-notch. So the soloist must spend time to get familiar with it. Oehler basset clarinet requires no extra pinky technique as all "basset notes" are played by right hand thumb. Of course, it is harder and foreign to all players, and you must spend some time to practice. On my basset, register plus basset fingering produce very poor sound thus they cannot be considered as alternatives. You can use it for some normal A clarinet orchestral piece but I never do because it is just too heavy and I don't have a case to have both my B-flat and basset A.