Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. more...

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The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed. (See Characteristics of the instrument.)

Clarinets actually comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. It is the largest such instrument family, with more than two dozen types. Of these many are rare or obsolete, and music written for them is usually played on one of the more common size instruments. The unmodified word clarinet usually refers to the B♭ soprano, by far the most common clarinet. (See Extended family of clarinets).

A person who plays the clarinet is called a clarinetist, sometimes spelled "clarinettist".

Characteristics of the instrument

Tone

The clarinet has a distinctive timbre, resulting from the shape of the cylindrical bore, whose characteristics vary between its three main registers: the chalumeau (low), clarion or clarino (middle), and altissimo (high). It has a very wide compass, which is showcased in chamber, orchestral, and wind band writing. The tone quality varies greatly with the musician, the music, the style of clarinet, the reed, and humidity. The German (Oehler) clarinet generally has a darker tone quality than the French (Boehm) system. In contrast, the French clarinet typically has a lighter, brighter tone quality. The differences in instruments and geographical isolation of players in different nations led to the development, from the last part of the 18th century on, of several different schools of clarinet playing. The most prominent of these schools were the German/Viennese traditions and the French school, centred around the clarinettists of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Increasingly, through the proliferation of recording technology and the internet, examples of many different styles of clarinet playing are available to developing clarinettists today. This has led to decreased homogeneity of styles of clarinet playing. The modern clarinetist has an eclectic palette of "acceptable" tone qualities to choose from, especially when working with an open-minded teacher.

The A clarinet sound is a little darker, richer, and less brilliant than that of the more common B♭ clarinet, though the difference is relatively small. The tone of the E♭ clarinet is quite a bit brighter than any other member of the widely-used clarinet family and is known for its distinctive ability to cut through even loud orchestral textures; this effect was utilized by such 20th century composers as Mahler, Copland, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky.

The bass clarinet has a characteristically deep, mellow sound.

Range

The bottom of the clarinet’s written range is defined by the keywork on each particular instrument; there are standard keywork schemes with some variability. The actual lowest concert pitch depends on the transposition of the instrument in question; in the case of the B♭, the concert pitch is a whole tone lower than the written pitch. Nearly all soprano and piccolo clarinets have keywork enabling them to play the E below middle C as their lowest written note. Alto and bass clarinets have an extra key to allow a low Eb. Modern professional-quality bass clarinets generally have additional keywork to low C. Among the less commonly encountered members of the clarinet family, contra-alto and contrabass clarinets may have keywork to low Eb, D, or C; the basset clarinet and basset horn generally go to low C.

Read more at Wikipedia.org