Clarinet
The clarinet is a woodwind instrument characterized by its single reed mouthpiece, which contributes to its distinctive sound. Clarinets can be crafted from various materials, including wood, plastic, and composites, with professional models often made from African hardwood. This instrument plays a crucial role in numerous musical ensembles, such as orchestras, marching bands, jazz bands, and concert bands, making it a popular choice for beginners due to its size and the transferable skills it offers to other woodwind instruments.
The history of the clarinet dates back to the late 17th century, evolving from earlier reed instruments like the chalumeau. The clarinet's design has undergone significant changes, with various key systems developed over time to enhance its range and playability. Today, there are over two dozen styles of clarinets, with the B flat soprano clarinet being the most common.
Its versatility allows the clarinet to feature prominently in solo performances and various genres, from classical to contemporary, including indie and folk music. As technology advances, clarinets have also adapted, incorporating innovations like 3D printing and sustainable materials, ensuring their relevance in modern music.
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Clarinet
A clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. Clarinets can be made of wood, plastic, or a composite material. One key characteristic of a clarinet is its single reed, or a small thin section of wood-like material, in the mouthpiece. This reed is important to making the clarinet's unique sound. Clarinets are an important part of orchestras, marching bands, military bands, concert bands, jazz bands, and many other musical ensembles. The clarinet is often the first woodwind instrument that a beginner learns because of its size; the skills learned on a clarinet can be transferred to other woodwind instruments.
Background
The word clarinet was originally clarinette in French. Clarinette is a modification of the word clarine, which referred to a type of bell and was related to the word clarion, also used for a type of trumpet. The word clarinet is also said to derive from the Italian word clarino, which also refers to a type of trumpet. It is believed that these names were used as the inspiration for the name of the clarinet because the earliest clarinets sounded more like trumpets.
The clarinet is a relatively modern instrument that developed from some of the oldest types of instruments known. For centuries, people have fashioned instruments from hollow grasses and branches, including willow and bamboo. More than 3,000 years ago, people discovered that they could split a reeda type of plant that grows in wet, marshy areasand blow over it to create a different sound than was produced by just blowing into the hollow tube. Pipes made with reeds were the precursor to the clarinet, although the early instruments did not look anything like the modern clarinet. The Egyptians played a reed instrument called the memet in the third century Before the Common Era.
The earliest form of a clarinet also derived from the instrument known as a chalumeau or chalumeaux. The word chalumeau is attributed to more than one source. Some sources say it was of French origin, while others note it was from the Latin word kalamus, which means "small reed," and the Greek word calamos, which was used for different types of pipe instruments. The chalumeau was used during the Baroque Period (c. 1590–1725) and resembled a modern recorder.
German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner invented the first true clarinet around 1690. He noticed that the chalumeau could not reach the same range of notes as the flutes, oboes, and bassoons he made. After some study and experimentation, Denner determined that adding a hole near the mouthpiece could make the instrument sound more notes. He also added two spring-loaded keys, making it easier for the musician to cover the holes. This further extended the range of notes that could be played.
Later, Denner's son, Jacob Denner, added an additional key near the bottom of the instrument that allowed it to play a low F note. This three-keyed clarinet was popular throughout the first decades of the 1700s. During the mid-eighteenth century, German keyboard maker Fritz Barthold added two additional keys to the clarinet. This five-key instrument was the standard until the early nineteenth century, when clarinetist Ivan Muller redesigned the instrument to include thirteen keys. He also improved the structure of the keys themselves to make them more airtight and efficient, thus improving the quality of the instrument's sound. Some additional refinements were made throughout the twentieth century, including several by Boston Symphony clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo.
Overview
More than two dozen styles of clarinets exist. They range in size and can play a variety of different pitches. The most common clarinet is the B flat soprano clarinet. Clarinets are made out of dark wood, but some, such as beginner instruments, can be made from plastic, composite materials, or metal. Professional clarinets typically are made of African hardwood. The mouthpiece is either made of ebony, a black hardwood, or plastic. It holds a reed usually made of a grass called arundo donax, although manufactured reeds of synthetic materials are also used. The reed is positioned on the front of the mouthpiece and secured in place by a device called a ligature.
When air is blown across the reed, it vibrates and produces the clarinet's characteristic sound. Because the reed is crucial to the sound of the clarinet, many clarinetists (clarinet players) choose their reeds carefully. Reeds come in a variety of materials and strengths, from soft to hard. A musician will choose a reed based on the desired sound it will give, or they will pick one that best suits the style of play.
The body of the clarinet is a long hollow tube that is divided into the barrel joint, upper joint, lower joint, and bell. Along the length of the instrument's body are seven tone holes and a series of keys pressed to change notes. Unlike brass instruments, such as the trumpet and cornet, the bell of a clarinet is not used for amplifying the sound. The sound comes from the clarinet's tone holes. Some sound, however, does come from the bell, but this is the sound generated by the lowest notes in the register.
Clarinets are frequently part of all types of musical ensembles. They can easily carry the melody of musical pieces and often are used as solo instruments. Clarinets are especially popular in jazz bands. In some areas, all-clarinet groups known as clarinet choirs or clarinet quartets have grown in popularity in the twenty-first century. Occasionally, the clarinet appears in contemporary music, such as indie and folk, as well as in some background tracks on pop music. The clarinet has also found new applications in electronic and experimental music. The instrument remains a mainstay of school bands and orchestras. The clarinet has benefited from technological innovations, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing, and embraced environmental practices using eco-friendly materials.
Bibliography
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