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Contrabass clarinet
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==History== ===Contrabass=== The earliest known contrabass clarinet was the ''contre-basse guerrière'' invented in 1808 by a goldsmith named Dumas of Sommières; little else is known of this instrument. The ''batyphone'' (also spelled ''bathyphone'', Ger. and Fr. ''batyphon'') was a contrabass clarinet which was the outcome of [[W. F. Wieprecht]]'s endeavor to obtain a [[contrabass]] for the [[reed instrument]]s. The batyphone was made to a scale twice the size of the [[clarinet]] in C, the divisions of the [[chromatic scale]] being arranged according to acoustic principles. For convenience in stopping holes too far apart to be covered by the fingers, crank or swivel keys were used. The instrument was constructed of [[maple]]-wood, had a clarinet mouthpiece of suitable size connected by means of a cylindrical brass crook with the upper part of the tube and a brass bell. The pitch was two [[octave]]s below the clarinet in C, the compass being the same, and thus corresponding to the modern [[bass tuba]]. The tone was pleasant and full, but not powerful enough for the contrabass register in a military band. The batyphone had besides one serious disadvantage: it could be played with facility only in its nearly related keys, G and F major. The batyphone was invented and patented in 1839 by F.W. Wieprecht, director general of all the [[Prussia]]n [[military band]]s, and E. Skorra, the court instrument manufacturer of [[Berlin]]. In practice the instrument was found to be of little use, and was superseded by the bass tuba. A batyphone bearing the name of its inventors formed part of the Snoeck collection which was acquired for Berlin's collection of ancient musical instruments at the [[Universität der Künste Berlin|Hochschule für Musik]].<ref>This description of the batyphone is quoted, with minor revisions, from {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Batyphone|first=Kathleen|last=Schlesinger|author-link=Kathleen Schlesinger|volume=3|page=535}} This in turn derived its description mainly from a manuscript treatise on instrumentation by Wieprecht, in 1909 in the possession of Herr [[Otto Lessmann]] (Berlin), and reproduced by Capt. [[C.R. Day]], in ''Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments of the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890'' (London, 1891), p. 124.</ref> Soon after Wieprecht's invention, [[Adolphe Sax]] created his ''clarinette-bourdon'' in B{{ music|flat}}. In 1889, [[Fontaine-Besson]] began producing a new ''pedal clarinet'' (see photograph). This instrument consists of a tube {{convert|10|ft|m}} long, in which cylindrical and conical bores are combined. The tube is doubled up twice upon itself. There are 13 keys and 2 rings on the tube, and the fingering is the same as for the B{{ music|flat}} clarinet except for the eight highest semitones. The tone is rich and full except for the lowest notes, which are unavoidably a little rough in quality, but much more sonorous than the corresponding notes on the [[contrabassoon]]. This is an octave lower than a bass clarinet and two octaves lower than a B♭ clarinet. The upper register resembles the chalumeau register of the B{{ music|flat}} clarinet, being reedy and sweet.<ref>This description of the Besson pedal clarinet is condensed from Schlesinger (1911) ''Pedal Clarinet''. The date of 1889 is from Rendall.</ref> Besson exhibited a new pedal clarinet in London in 1892.<ref>"American Musical Interests in London." Music Trade Review 16:7 (24 September 1892), 154.</ref> None of these instruments saw widespread use, but they provided a basis for contrabass clarinets made beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by several manufacturers, notably those designed by {{ill|Charles Houvenaghel|fr}} for [[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|Leblanc]], which were more successful. ===Contra-alto=== {{main|Contra-alto clarinet}} The contra-alto clarinet is higher-pitched than the contrabass and is pitched in the key of E{{music|flat}} rather than B{{music|flat}}. The unhyphenated form "contra alto clarinet" is also sometimes used, as is "contralto clarinet", but the latter is confusing since the instrument's range is much lower than the [[contralto]] vocal range; the more correct term "contra-alto" is meant to convey, by analogy with "contrabass", that the instrument plays an octave lower than the [[alto clarinet]]. It is also referred to as the E{{music|flat}} contrabass clarinet. It is the second-largest member of the clarinet family in regular use, larger than the more common [[bass clarinet]] but not as large as the B{{music|flat}} contrabass clarinet. Like other clarinets, the contra-alto clarinet is a [[wind instrument]] that uses a [[reed (instrument)|reed]] to produce sound. The keys of the contra-alto are similar to the keys on smaller clarinets, and are played in the same way. Some contra-alto clarinet models have a range extending down to low (written) E{{music|flat}}, sounding as the lowest G{{music|flat}} on the piano (aka G{{music|flat}}<sub>1</sub>), while others can play down to low (written) C, sounding E{{music|flat}}<sub>1</sub>. The earliest contra-alto clarinets were developed in the first half of the nineteenth century; these were usually pitched in F and were called ''contrabasset horns,'' being an octave lower than the [[basset horn]]. Albert (probably E. J. Albert, son of [[Eugène Albert]]) built an instrument in F around 1890.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Pedal Clarinet|first=Kathleen|last=Schlesinger|author-link=Kathleen Schlesinger|volume=21|page=36}}</ref> In the late 19th and early 20th century contra-alto clarinets in E{{music|flat}} finally attained some degree of popularity. The contra-alto clarinet is used mostly in [[concert band]]s and [[clarinet choir]]s, where it usually, though not always, plays the [[bass line]] of a piece of music. While there are few parts written specifically for it, the contra-alto can play the [[baritone saxophone]] part and sounds the same pitch; it is also possible to read parts written in the bass clef for instruments pitched in C (such as [[bassoon]] or [[tuba]]) as if the part were in the [[treble clef]], while adjusting the [[key signature]] and any [[accidental (music)|accidentals]] as necessary by adding three [[sharp (music)|sharps]] to the [[music]].<ref>{{cite web|last=McGann|first=John|title=Deep Secrets of Clef Reading and Transposition|url=http://www.johnmcgann.com/clefs.html|publisher=John McGann|access-date=15 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107124829/http://www.johnmcgann.com/clefs.html|archive-date=7 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is occasionally used in jazz, and a few solo pieces have been written for it. The contra-alto clarinet is also used in a few Broadway pit orchestras, with its parts being written in reed books as a doubled instrument (e.g. with soprano clarinet and bass clarinet).
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