The Bass Clarinet

1. The Back Story The Bass Clarinet

2. The Basics • Usually Pitched in Bb. (Transposing instrument) • C and A pitched basses also exist but are rare. • Plays an octave lower than the Bb Clarinet. • Regularly perform in orchestras, wind ensembles/concert bands, and occasionally in marching bands.

3. Who created the first bass clarinet? • It is actually unknown. • There are many theories as to what the first form of the bass clarinet could’ve been. • In Paris in 1772 Gilles Lot created a clarinet with several keys and a compass of more than three octaves, which he called a ”basse-tube”. • In the Dresden workshop of Heinrich Grenser in 1793 a bass clarinet (”Klarinettenbass”) was produced with nine keyin Paris • In 1807 Dumas made a bass clarinet that he called a ”basseguerrière”, which, to judge by the name, was intended for military bands.s and a range down to a written Bb3. • This instrument was later improved by Louis Auguste Buffet. • Then in 1812 came the so-called ”basse-orgue” made by François Sautermeister in Lyon; in 1828 it was followed by the bass clarinet of G. Streitwolf in Göttingen; and in 1838 C. Catterini in Padua and P. Maino in Milan came up with the ”glicibarifono”. • The man credited with pioneering the modern straight form of the bass clarinet is Adolphe Sax (1814–1894), who created a version with 22 keys and an entirely straight tube in the 1830s.

4. The Past Vintage Bass Clarinets: (a) by Heinrich Grenser, Dresden, 1793; (b) American, probably made in Hartford, Connecticut, circa 1815; (c) in B, by A. Nechwalsky, Vienna, mid-19th century; (d) in A, by Wilhelm Heckel, Biebrich, 20th century

5. The Present • “You saw this big, or better huge, instrument and expected to hear hard, rough tones; nevertheless it was a full, strong and soft sound. ... “- Francois J. Feti • The picture on the left is what bass clarinets look like nowadays. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSZtX3WHF_E • Link to a video on the basics of the bass clarinet.

6. Yes, it looks like a Saxophone • Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, developed a bass clarinet that was quite similar to today's model (which used the improved keys). • Sax's expertise in acoustics led him to include such features as an accurately-placed, large tone holes and a second register hole. • Because of its shape the bass clarinet is often confused with a saxophone - although it is acoustically rather a distant relative... nevertheless in the modern form it has got the same father with Adolphe Sax.

7. Range • The standard range for the bass clarinet is the low Eb below the staff to the C above the staff. Professional bass clarinets have extra keys making it possible for the player to play down to the C below the Eb shown. The bass can also play as high as a soprano Bb clarinet but it is extremely difficult.

8. Jazz! • Little do we know, the bass clarinet has been used in jazz! • While the bass clarinet was seldom heard in early jazz compositions, a bass clarinet solo by Wilbur Sweatman can be heard on his 1924 recording "Battleship Kate" and a bass clarinet solo by Omer Simeon can be heard in the 1926 recording "Someday Sweetheart" by Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers. • Benny Goodman recorded with the instrument a few times early in his career. • Harry Carney, Duke Ellington's baritone saxophonist for 47 years, played bass clarinet in some of Ellington's arrangements, first recording with it on "Saddest Tale" in 1934. He was featured soloist on many Ellington recordings, including 27 titles on bass clarinet.

9. Jazz! cont. • Eric Dolphy (1928–1964) was the first major jazz soloist on the instrument, and established much of the vocabulary and technique used by later performers. He used the entire range of the instrument in his solos. • While the bass clarinet has been used often since Dolphy, it is typically used by a saxophonist or clarinetist as a second or third instrument.