 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: basclrnt
Date: 2023-08-27 03:00
What’s the highest note y’all ever hit or heard someone hit on bass clarinet?
Post Edited (2023-08-27 03:00)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-08-27 09:32
The highest note I've played and heard others play wasn't really a specific pitch and was meant to be a sort of very high whisper or scream (depending on the situation), so I'm not sure what it is.
The highest note I remember with a specific pitch was F#, one octave above altissimo F# i.e. it was meant to be that note and not just the highest note possible.
Post Edited (2023-08-27 18:11)
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2023-08-27 16:17
I can hit a good C7 warming up and sometimes a few bad sounding notes higher.
Some bass clarinet choir videos have a real high 1st BC part. I don’t know what notes they were hitting but they sounded great!
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2023-08-27 18:42
ZX (Zed double sharp)
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2023-08-27 18:56
Check out Goliov’s The Prayers of Issac the Blind if you want a ridiculously high bass clarinet notes.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: donald
Date: 2023-08-28 06:32
In contemporary pieces we play in Auckland Chamber orchestra I've had to go up to super altissimo C on Bass, but my colleague Andrew Uren has often played pieces going higher than that.
In the non classical realm, here is a track from the album "Prosperous and Qualified" by Universial Congress Of.
The bass clarinet solo is extraordinary, I LOVE the end....
< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gorndmwtggo >
Bass clarinet solo starts at about 1.18.... listen for the note around 2min
An old favourite of mine from the early 1990s
dn
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2023-08-29 03:19
The highest note I've reached so far the highest note on the bass clarinet is Ultra C# 5 octaves above the lowest C. However, it is in my opinion not a practical note to play on in most settings, nor am I always able to hit it, let alone producing a full sound. So my highest practical note is slightly lower at Super A(or as I dub it 'Easy A'), exactly 4 3/4 octaves above Low C, and till this day it remains the highest note I've ever played at a live gig!
Josh
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2023-09-04 00:21
I don't know wht the actual note is in Goliov, but David Bruce's Gumboots has an F# an octave above what we usually call altissimo F#. It's not really that hard to get to. There's a fingering chart, I think connected with woodwind.org somewhere, with all the notes in that piece, and some higher ones. I pretty much have to write the fingerings in the part because unless you play them all the time, they're hard to remember.
Bill B.
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2023-09-04 20:03
dorjepismo wrote:
> I don't know wht the actual note is in Goliov, but David
> Bruce's Gumboots has an F# an octave above what we usually call
> altissimo F#. It's not really that hard to get to. There's a
> fingering chart, I think connected with woodwind.org somewhere,
> with all the notes in that piece, and some higher ones. I
> pretty much have to write the fingerings in the part because
> unless you play them all the time, they're hard to remember.
>
> Bill B.
Jon Russell's Bass Clarinet Concerto calls for a Super Ab aka the one an octave above altissimo Ab, the highest note I am aware of any composition I've come across.
Josh
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Author: 245264ycl
Date: 2023-09-06 17:19
Are listeners meant to be impressed or entertained by the score ?
Why not let the sound be produced by instruments whose range be enough to satisfy us?
What’s the point anyway?
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2023-09-06 18:44
Hi 245264ycl. Range is used for expressive purposes. The wider range, the wider the possibilities. It's about contrasts and differences at the command of one person and one instrument. An extreme high note on the same instrument can convey a sense of extremity, or transcendence, or hilarity, or weakness or strength. The different tonal qualities of extreme altissimo register can depict different emotions and content from the writing in other registers.
To me, clarinet high altissimo is underused.
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Author: 245264ycl
Date: 2023-09-06 20:04
Thank you
Altissimo is an emotional experience, an attempt to elicit one or display thereof, then.
To me or for my benefit, it occurs or in solo music (of my choice, almost exclusively).
I’m grateful for the time that you’ve taken to respond.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-09-08 10:42
It's a bit like a friend of a partner.
You might go on a bike ride with one friend who especially likes to ride bikes, but sit in a cafe with a different friend who is more into sitting and talking... usually... because it's their character and your friendship. Same as you might choose to use (e.g.) a flute for one part and a tuba for another.
You might want to go with a friend or partner to a film, travel to far away mountains or just sit together at home. In a vacuum they might not be the best at traveling and get tired faster than someone else, or they are not as passionate about the specific film you go to, but you want to experience these and many other things specifically with them. Same as using (e.g.) bass clarinet for anything from the lowest and deepest whispers to the highest possible cries, or anything else possible.
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-09-11 00:30
I believe that the old Spitfire fighter planes had an extra throttle capability that the pilots where told they could open for no more than twelve seconds. I see altissimo on clarinets as being a bit like that. The instrument is at its limit sonically and that works ok very briefly. Probably better not to subject any listener to twelve seconds however. ( If you do ...better on the bass which you can then use to beat off your attacker.)
I think that altissimo can offer a very effective contrast to the lower tonal ranges and general sound character of the bass clarinet.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: jasonalder
Date: 2023-10-07 20:49
My bass clarinet fingering chart goes to written Db8 (9 ledger lines up). That's pretty extreme. But any professional bass clarinetist should be able to get up to at least C7 easily.
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Author: Reese Oller
Date: 2023-10-10 22:03
I can consistently get up to a D above soprano clarinet thumb C. Depending on the day, the reed, and how much I want to murder people's ears, I can get up to clarinet altissimo G, using the same fingering for my altissimo G. I've never gotten higher than that, despite trying......
Update: I just tried, and my new record is soprano Clarinets' Bb (one whole step below Grand C). I'm gonna try to get higher tonight.
Reese Oller
Clarinet student (soon to be a performance major in college)
I can play bass clarinet, Eb clarinet, BBb contra, alto saxophone, bassoon at a decent level, and flute in a pinch.
Post Edited (2023-10-12 23:07)
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