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Contrabass clarinet
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===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 In practice the instrument was found to be of little use, and was superseded by the bass tuba.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.
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