Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2009-09-16 05:22
I think Mr. Palanker understated the "problem" of the Eb clarinet being one of intonation, though everything he wrote is dead on.
Even professional-level clarinetists simply cannot pick up an Eb clarinet and use all the standard fingerings in the altissimo (and sometimes in the clarion on some poorer examples of the instrument) and expect to be in tune.
In fact, there aren't even a standard set of alternate fingerings and approaches to controlling pitch that work for all eefers. Every Eb clarinet has its own set of fingerings up there, so you're not going to find the "correct" fingerings in a standard fingering chart, were there such a thing.
No matter how adept one may be playing the soprano clarinets, the eefer is a different animal, and requires serious wood-shedding to get used to its characteristics and to determine the in-tune fingerings and embouchure adjustment for various situations.
That's why it's been said to be a demon; the E-flat clarinet will eat you alive if you approach it as just a miniature soprano clarinet.
B.
P.S. The biggest problem with the instrument (IMO), and why it has a reputation as sounding "piercing" and "harsh," is that most composers think that, because it's a "high" instrument, all it's good for is playing up in the stratosphere, out on its own, instead of being one part of the voice of the reed section.
No, the eefer isn't (or shouldn't be) "all about power and character." It's just been composed for mostly that way, confined to the upper 1/3 of its range, and its unique timbre mostly ignored.
Post Edited (2009-09-16 05:27)
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