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Long Eb/Bb

Author: Klarnt
Date: 2021-04-04 01:57

Okay so I was thinking... Why is there no Long Eb/Bb on most Bb Soprano Clarinets?

Most Alto/Tenor, Bass, & the Contras have low Eb, so why doesn't the Soprano? I know that Bass Clarinets have them because transposition with A or Wagner or whatever, but why wouldn't a common feature in the Clarinet family be on the most common member of the Clarinet family?

I guess some would ask, Why would you want a Low Eb on the regular (not-full Boehm) Bb Clarinet? What use would it have, all it does is add weight & would rarely be used.

Well, it adds range. Now we could play as low as an Alto Saxophone! I'm not sure how useful that'd be, but it'd be cool. Also, it gives us another way to play Bb!

Or would it? Maybe I'm a bad player, but the last I checked on my Bass Clarinet when I finger the Clarion equivalent to Low Eb instead of getting a Bb I get a really flat B natural. Hm.... that's odd. By the way, I mention what happens on the Bass Clarinet because I don't have a Clarinet that plays to low Eb therefore I cannot test if it can play a Long Bb in the Clarion register.

Here's the thing: I don't understand the physics behind intonation of the Clarinet. All I know is that temperature, length, size of holes, & volume (loud/quiet) affects the pitch. I don't know the why behind these things, but I'll try to explain my thought process.

Let's assume the physics between the Bass Clarinet & Soprano Clarinets are similar enough. So say that Low Eb is added to the Bb Soprano and it plays in tune with the instrument. And then I press the register key and... Oh no, Long Bb is extremely sharp! Alright fine, let's then extend the instrument (which shouldn't be too hard because the Clarinet is 'cylindrical'*). Great, long Bb is in tune, but... Oh no, Low Eb is extremely flat! But... what if we add a hole that only opens when the register key is NOT pressed? That way Long Bb will play in tune (with the hole closed), and Long Eb will play in tune (with the hole open).

Anyways, why would I want to do all of that for obtaining two notes? I hate throat Bb so much. The dang note appears so often in my music. It's not that I struggle with the bridge or anything, it's more like my long C is explosively loud & fat compared to throat Bb's quiet & thin sound. Yeah I'm aware of holding down the right hand & the alternative fingering on the side, but Bb still sucks. With the right hand I still have a weak note. With the side key, while Bb is much stronger, it's very awkward to move from the Chalumeau to Clarion (& vise-versa but worse) like that. I will admit that the side key is my preferred method and I will use the alternative fingering as often as I can; even if it might be frowned upon.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a Long Bb? If we had one it would keep a similar timbre to the lower half of the Clarion register. If you don't have short pinkies, you could easily trill or play phrases without sacrificing C,B, or Bb. No more airy/weak trills is a plus! Right? You could play music that demand alot of C to Bb action & not get two very different sounds! In my opinion, the current throat Bb is a outdated compromise that had more than enough time to be fixed. But who knows, if it ain't broke why fix it?

All I'm saying is that it'd be nice to have a long Bb/Eb. What do you think?

Post Edited (2021-04-04 01:59)

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