The ClarinetThe clarinet is a single reed instrument with a cylindrical bore. It is part of the woodwind family and enjoys a comfortable prescence in diverse musical settings ranging from jazz and rock to classical ensembles. It's range is larger than most woodwinds, spanning almost four octaves. The clarinet's timbre is often described as round, mellow, and warm in its lower range and as cheerful and playful in its upper ranges. Although the clarinet family includes about a dozen members the term typically refers to the commonly used B flat or A clarinet, both of which play in the soprano range. Clarinet DesignClarinets are made from many materials and there is much debate concerning which are best. For most, the ideal and traditional material is African blackwood, though the use of other hardwoods is often acceptable. Beginner clarinets are often made out of plastic materials, which are cheaper and less susceptible to weathering. There have been a host of other materials and composites that have been used as well. However, blackwood will most likely remain the material of choice for most professionals and enthusiasts. Mouthpieces are typically made of hard rubber while the metal parts are usually nickel or silver plated. The clarinet is divided into 5 parts: the mouthpiece, the barrel, an upper joint, a lower joint, and the bell. The reed, attached by a metal ligature to the underside of the mouthpiece, goes against the player's bottom lip and produces the vibrations that excite the air column. As the clarinet is sensitive to temperature changes, which will affect it's pitch, the barrel can be used to make adjustments to the instrument's overall length. The upper and lower joints contain all of the keywork and finger holes, the location of which will depend upon design system the clarinet follows. Most follow the Boehm System, while others in Europe adhere to the Ohler or Albert Systems. Finally the flared bell completes the clarinet and provides uniformity of tone for notes in the instrument's lowest registers. Clarinet HistoryThe clarinet owes it's design and development to the baroque chalumeau, which was similar in appearance to the recorder, but had a single reed and a cylindrical bore. The chalumeau had eight finger holes and a few keys for extra notes in the scale. The reed, however, was played against the player's upper lip. The first step towards the modern clarinet came when Johann Denner added a register key to the chalumeau, which allowed notes in the upper registers to be played. Thus was born the "clarinet", so called because the tone of these higher notes resembled that of a contemporary trumpet named the clarino. The et suffix was added to signify "little". These early clarinets didn't have the tone quality of the chalumeau in the lower registers, so the chalumeau stuck around for a time. Eventually, improvements in the clarinet's tone quality throughout all registers rendered the chalumeau obselete. However, the lowest register of a clarinet's range are still referred to as the "chalumeau" register. Throughout the classical period more keys were added to the clarinet and it's tone grew more mellow and dark. With the introduction of airtight pads by Iwan Mueller in the 19th century, which were made from leather or fish bladders, a full scale key system was able to be developed for the clarinet. Mueller's design consisted of 13 keys and seven finger holes, allowing the instrument to be played easily in all keys. The Mueller system, along with it's directly descended Albert and Oehler systems, is still in use today, but their sphere is centered around Germany and Austria. The most prominent system in use today is the Boehm system that was developed by Hyacinthe Klose in 1839. The mechanics aren't identical to the Boehm system used on flutes, but Klose was so impressed by the concept that he named his design in honor of Theobald Boehm. Clarinet AcousticsThe key systems on clarinets are more intricate and complex than those of other woodwinds. This stems from the fact that the clarinet functions as a closed cylindrical instrument. The clarinet will play a twelfth (an octave plus a fifth, which is 19 notes) before it "overblows" to the next register while other woodwinds overblow after an octave (13 notes). Since there are only ten fingers available to play all of these 19 notes a more complex mechanical system needed to be developed. This larger range of notes is also the reason that clarinets in numerous keys were developed early on. Before the use of airtight pads instruments were limited in the number of keys that could be used reliably. Therefore the priority was on making the 8 notes in a diatonic scale available for use. Making all 13 notes in a chromatic scale available was not feasible until reliable pads were invented. Yet, playing freely between any key signature required the complet chromatic scale. The solution was to create separately pitched clarinets for various key signatures. The most common of which were the A, B flat, and C clarinets. Each of these had a slightly different tone color and could play within it's fundamental key signature as well as a few others that were closely related to it. But, modern clarinets can be played in all keys with proper intonation, yet the others remain, especailly the A clarinet. This is due in part to the fact that so much music was written for these originally separate instruments and their distinctive tones are still necessary for performing these pieces. However, even without their connection to older music, many choose to play them because they value the unique tone of these individually keyed clarinets. Types of ClarinetsApart from the common A and B flat soprano types there are numerous other keyed clarinets that play in different ranges.
|