Editing Contrabass clarinet (section)

{{Short description| Very low pitched instrument of the clarinet family}}
{{Infobox Instrument
| name           = Contrabass clarinet
| image          = Selmer double bass clarinet+BC contralto 1553.jpg
| image_capt     = Clarinets: contrabass in B♭ (''left''), contra-alto in E♭ (''right'')
| image_size     = 230px
| background     = woodwind
| classification = [[Single-reed instrument|Single-reed]]
| hornbostel_sachs = 
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = 
| inventors      = 
| developed      = 1808
|range= <div style="text-align: center; background-color: white;">
  <score lang="lilypond">
    {
      \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" }
      \clef treble \key c \major ^ \markup "written" \cadenzaOn
      \tweak font-size #-2 c1 \finger \markup \text "low C"
      \arpeggioBracket <e f'''>1 \arpeggio
      \once \hide r1
      \clef bass ^ \markup "sounds"
      \tweak font-size #-2 bes,,, \finger \markup \text "low C"
      \arpeggioBracket
      <d,, ees'>1\arpeggio
    }
  </score></div>The contrabass clarinet in B♭ sounds two octaves and a [[major second]] lower than written.
| related        = * [[Contra-alto clarinet]]
* [[Bass clarinet]]
| musicians      = * [[List of clarinetists]]
| articles       = 
}}

The '''contrabass clarinet''' (also '''pedal clarinet''', after the [[pedal keyboard|pedals]] of [[pipe organ]]s) and [[contra-alto clarinet]] are the two largest members of the [[clarinet family]] that are in common usage.<ref name="Grove-CbCl">{{Cite Grove |title=Contrabass clarinet |id=06357}}</ref><ref name="Grove-Pedal">{{Cite Grove |title=Pedal clarinet |id=21171}}</ref> Modern contrabass clarinets are [[transposing instrument]]s pitched in B♭, sounding two octaves lower than the common B♭ [[soprano clarinet]] and one octave below the [[bass clarinet]].<ref name="Grove-CbCl"/> Some contrabass clarinet models have extra keys to extend the range down to low written E♭{{sub|3}}, D{{sub|3}} or C{{sub|3}}. This gives a tessitura written range, notated in treble clef, of C{{sub|3}} – F{{sub|6}}, which sounds B♭{{sub|0}} – E♭{{sub|4}}.{{sfn|Adler|2016|p=230}} Some early instruments were pitched in C; [[Arnold Schoenberg]]'s ''[[Five Pieces for Orchestra|Fünf Orchesterstücke]]'' specifies a contrabass clarinet in A,<ref>Arnold Schoenberg, ''Five Orchestral Pieces'' (Courier Dover, 1999)</ref> but there is no evidence such an instrument has ever existed.{{sfn|Baines|1991|p=131}}

The smaller E♭ contra-alto clarinet is sometimes referred to as the "E♭ contrabass clarinet" and is pitched one octave lower than the E♭ alto clarinet.<ref name="Grove-CbCl"/>

Two models of '''subcontrabass clarinet''' (the '''octocontra-alto''' and '''octocontrabass''') were built as prototypes by [[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|Leblanc]] in the 1930s and survive in the Leblanc museum.<ref name="Newton-Octo">{{Cite AV media |title=The True History of the Octo-Contra Clarinets? |medium=video |last=Newton |first=Bret |date=6 November 2018 |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HfH0Mu8VkM |access-date=11 October 2022 |via=YouTube }}</ref>