Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a type of clarinet, and is a woodwind single-reed instrument. The earliest record of the bass clarinet is called a 'bass tube' invented in Paris in 1772 by G. Lott. It usually has a B-flat pitch. It plays one octave lower in pitch than the normal clarinet. This means that when a bass clarinet makes a note, the note that actually sounds is an octave and a whole tone lower.[1] There are some bass clarinets that have an A or C pitch as well as E flat, but these are not common.
 2 historical short bass clarinets, right instrument made 1848 by Adolphe Sax from boxwood | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 422.211.2 (Single clarinets with cylindrical bore, with fingerholes) |
|---|---|
| Playing range | |
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Bass Clarinet Media
Image by en:User:Special-T detailing the written range of a en:bass clarinet.*Made using Finale 2000 and Adobe Photoshop 4.0 LE.*I'm uploading this in his name with a most liberal license I can as requested.
Image by en:User:Special-T detailing the sounding range of a en:bass clarinet.*Made using Finale 2000 and Adobe Photoshop 4.0 LE.*I'm uploading this in his name with a most liberal license I can as requested.
A short sample of the sound of the bass clarinet
Four modern short bass clarinets, from left to right Leblanc L400, Signet Selmer 1430P, E. M. Winston, Leblanc 330S
Tara Bouman playing bass clarinet
Glicibarifono by Catterini, 1838
The serpentine bass clarinet by Papalini, 1820
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References
- ↑ "Clarinet", The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments 3 volumes, ed. Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 1984.
Other websites
Media related to Bass clarinets at Wikimedia Commons
