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Clarinet Tonalities

Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2016-10-05 02:12

Now this is most likely a silly question. I was looking at a photograph of the Clarinet family of instruments and noted how , as each Clarinet got larger , the tonality was different for each size. C Soprano is smaller than the Bb Soprano and the Bb Soprano is smaller than the A Soprano ect. Now it so happens that I have full Boehms of the Bb and A which have an extra semitone at the bottom of the compass (range). Now here is the potentual silly question. Because of this extra semitone , how come the Bb isn't now an A and the A not an Ab in pitch? Each of these full Boehms are longer than non Boehm Clarinets. Obviously , I'm missing some sort of obvious detail here.

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Re: Clarinet Tonalities

Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2016-10-05 02:28

Pitch is basically determined by the distance between the mouthpiece tip and the "significant" (say, C, as in [C5]

) tonehole. What comes "downstream" isn't relevant as the air column is interrupted at the first open hole. So you could build a Bb Soprano clarinet going another octave down by just adding stuff below the lower joint. (and grow some serious pinkies to operate that thing).

And, for a "reasonable" sound, bore diameter and air column length should be in a certain ratio to each other.

In layperson's terms. :-)

--
Ben

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Re: Clarinet Tonalities

Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2016-10-05 11:02

Thanks for that information Tictactux. Much appreciated.

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Re: Clarinet Tonalities

Author: Luuk ★2017
Date: 2016-10-05 16:21

To illustrate the correct reply of tictactux: look at the 'Mozart' version of the A- clarinet, the basset clarinet. It's pitched in A, but extended to add lower notes to the range of the 'normal' A clarinet. These extra notes are needed to play the Mozart concerto in the reconstructed version (reconstructed to the 'most likely' original, which is lost).

http://www.conn-selmer.com/en-us/our-instruments/band-instruments/clarinets/23/

Regards,

Luuk
Philips Symphonic Band
The Netherlands

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Re: Clarinet Tonalities

Author: Hurstfarm
Date: 2016-10-06 10:41

Your Bb clarinet with low Eb can play the same concert pitch notes as a standard A clarinet, but only with different fingerings - i.e. The player has to transpose. But clarinets are transposing instruments: finger a written C on a Bb instrument and it will sound a concert Bb. Do the same on an A clarinet and you're playing a concert A - the instrument is doing the transposition.

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Re: Clarinet Tonalities

Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2016-10-06 14:13

Thanks for the 'feed back' Luuk and Hurstfarm. The interesting thing about the extra semitone on the full Boehm Bb is it sounds the same note as the lowest note of the Eb Alto Saxophone.

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