Clarinet

General info:

The clarinet is a single-reed woodwind instrument. A person who plays any type of clarinet is called a clarinetist. There are many types of clarinets of differing sizes and pitches, comprising a large family of instruments, ranging from the (extremely rare) BBB♭ octo-contrabass to the A♭ piccolo clarinet. The unmodified word clarinet usually refers to the B♭ soprano clarinet, by far the most common type, which has a large range of nearly four octaves. Today, the clarinet is used in jazz and classical ensembles, in chamber groups, and as a solo instrument.

History:

Baroque and Classical clarinets

The roots of the modern Clarinet can be traced back to the Chalumeau, a late Baroque period woodwind instrument. It has a cylindrical bore with eight tone holes and a broad mouthpiece with a reed made of cane. However, it lacked a register key, thus it could only reach a limited range of about one and a half octaves. The use of the chalumeau originated in France and later spread to Germany by the late seventeenth century.

Around the 1700s, well-known Nuremberg instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner made improvements to the instrument, developing it into the Baroque clarinet by converting one of its keys into a register key. He also reduced the size of the hole and inserted a small tube to facilitate overblowing, greatly increasing the range of the instrument to nearly three octaves. Early clarinets did not play well in the lower register and could not tune across the range, so the chalumeau was still used for low notes. Original Denner clarinets had two keys, and could play a chromatic scale, but various makers have since lengthened the instrument to increase accuracy of tuning, replaced the recorder like foot joint of the chalumeau with a bell similar to the oboe, and added a key on the lower joint to sound a B. As clarinets improved in terms of intonation, the chalumeau was no longer in use. By 1800, chalumeaus were no longer used in the reportoires.

Romantic clarinets

The next major historic milestone in the development of the clarinet was the invention of the modern pad. The felt pads which early clarinets used to cover the tone holes were not really effective, as they constantly leaked air. This would require pad-covered holes to be kept to a minimum, restricting the number of notes the clarinet could play with good tone, thus making it a burden. In 1812, Iwan Müller, a Russian-born clarinetist and inventor, developed a new type of pad that was covered in leather or fish bladder. This airtight pad allowed makers to increase the number of pad-covered holes. Müller also designed a new type of clarinet with seven finger holes and thirteen keys. This allowed the instrument to play in any key with near-equal ease. Over the course of the 19th-century makers made many enhancements to Mueller's clarinet, but the same basic design was generally retained. Modern instruments may also have cork or synthetic pads.

The final development in the modern design of the clarinet used was introduced by Hyacinthe Klosé in 1839. He devised a different arrangement of keys and finger holes, which allow simpler fingering. The inspiration for this came from the Boehm System developed for flutes - Klosé was so impressed by Boehm's invention that he named his own system for clarinets the Boehm system, although it is different from the one used on flutes. This new system was slow to gain popularity because it meant the player had to relearn how to play the instrument. Klosé wrote a series of finger exercises for the clarinet in order to ease the transition. It was slowly being recognised, and today the Boehm system is used everywhere in the world except Germany and Austria.

Range:

Clarinets have the largest pitch range of common woodwinds. On the commonly-used B♭ soprano clarinet, the concert pitch of the lowest note is D3. Most alto and bass clarinets are ableto reach (written) E♭3 due to an extra key. Basset clarinets are able to reach C3. Most clarinetists are able to reach C7.

Role:

Today, the clarinet is used in jazz and classical ensembles, in chamber groups, and as a solo instrument.

Foreign names:

Klarinette ---- German

Clarinette ---- French

Clarinetto ---- Italian

Famous pieces: