Editing Contrabass clarinet (section)

==Subcontrabass (octocontra-alto, octocontrabass)<span class="anchor" id="Subcontrabass"></span><span class="anchor" id="Subcontrabass clarinet"></span>==
[[File:Subkontrabassklarinetten Leblanc (1939) und Foag (2025).jpg|thumb|350px|Subcontrabass clarinets by Leblanc 1939 and Foag 2025]]

In 1935, Belgian instrument maker {{ill|Charles Houvenaghel|fr}} at [[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|Leblanc]] built a single prototype {{vanchor|Octocontrabass|Octocontrabass clarinet|text='''octocontrabass clarinet'''}} in B♭ a full octave below the contrabass and standing {{convert|8|foot|2|in}} high. It was exhibited at the [[Brussels International Exposition (1935)|World's Fair]] that year.<ref name="Newton-Octo"/> Its lowest note, C{{sub|0}} (written D{{sub|3}}), is the lowest note on a [[Eight-foot pitch|32′]] pedal [[organ stop]]. This instrument survives in non-playable condition in the Leblanc collection of the ''{{Ill|Musée des Instruments à vent|fr}}'' in [[La Couture-Boussey]], France.<ref name="GAC-octocontrabass">{{Cite web |title=Octocontrabass clarinet in Bb – Leblanc |publisher={{Ill|Musée des Instruments à vent|fr}} |publication-place=[[La Couture-Boussey]] |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/view-4/BQHDjnfe4oqMbw |access-date=12 October 2022 |via=[[Google Arts & Culture]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Leblanc (advertisement) |journal=Music Educators Journal |volume=46 |issue=6 |date=June–July 1960 |page=40-41 |url= https://archive.org/details/sim_music-educators-journal_june-july-1960_46_6/page/40/mode/2up |access-date=7 April 2025 |quote=Leblanc...renowned leader in clarinet inventions and improvements: Through continuous research and development, Leblanc has made the Complete Clarinet Choir a reality. From their famed technical laboratories have come the B♭ Contrabass Clarinet, the B♭ Octo-Contrabass...}}</ref>
Houvenaghel also built two slightly smaller prototype {{vanchor|Octocontra-alto|Octocontra-alto clarinet|text='''octocontra-alto clarinets'''}} in E♭ for Leblanc in the 1930s, pitched a fifth below the B♭ contrabass and one octave below the E♭ [[contra-alto clarinet]].<ref name="GAC-octocontralto">{{Cite web |title=Clarinets comparison |publisher={{Ill|Musée des instruments à vent|fr}} |publication-place=[[La Couture-Boussey]] |url= https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/clarinets-comparison-leblanc/FwHou3xKsBU_XA |access-date=11 October 2022 |via=[[Google Arts & Culture]] }}</ref> Only one was ever finished with key work, in 1971 to low C (sounding E♭{{sub|0}}).<ref name="Newton-Octo"/> That year, Leblanc announced its "retail price" as $3700 USD ({{inflation|index=US |value=3700 |start_year=1971 |fmt=eq |r=-3 |cursign=$ }}),{{Inflation/fn|US}} though none were apparently sold.<ref>"Lelanc here to introduce a new clarinet." Kenosha News, 9 August 1971, 22.</ref> This instrument is also on permanent exhibit at the museum, donated in 2011 by Leblanc president Leon Pascucci and restored to playable condition by French clarinettist and technician Cyrille Mercadier.<ref name="NAMM-Pascucci">{{Cite interview |title=Oral History Interview: Leon Pascucci |interviewer-last=Del Fiorentino |interviewer-first=Dan |last=Pascucci |first=Leon |work=NAMM |date=8 March 2011 |access-date=28 April 2025 |url= https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/leon-pascucci |publication-place=Carlsbad |publisher=[[National Association of Music Merchants]] }}</ref><ref name="YT-octocontralto-duet">{{Cite AV media |title=Octocontralto & Contrabass Clarinet Duet: Humorous scherzo, Sergei Profofiev |last=Mercadier |first=Cyrille |others=Faure, Olivier (octocontra-alto clarinet); Mercadier, Cyrille (contrabass clarinet) |medium=video |date=27 September 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcXGn1KJN_0 |access-date=11 October 2022 |via=YouTube }}</ref>

Although these enormous ''"octo"'' clarinets are mentioned in some texts (e.g. Baines, 1991) neither were manufactured by Leblanc beyond the prototype stage.{{sfn|Baines|1991|p=125}}{{sfn|Ellsworth|2015|p=105|loc="octacontra-alto clarinet"}} There are some contemporary efforts to recreate them using modern materials and [[3D printing]] technology.
In late 2018, American instrument maker and woodwind technician Jared De Leon began work on prototypes for B♭ octocontrabass and E♭ octocontra-alto clarinets, and in January 2025 demonstrated a working E♭ octocontra-alto clarinet based on a 3D printed design.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=I'm building an Octocontrabass clarinet, here's how I'll do it... |date=11 November 2018 |first=Jared |last=De Leon |medium=video |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs2bgp5B4R0 |access-date=19 December 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |title=I made an Eb octocontra-alto clarinet! |date=24 January 2025 |first=Jared |last=De Leon |medium=video |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU2bmfkOHBk |access-date=24 January 2025 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
In April 2025 at the Akustika Nürnberg trade show, German instrument maker Foag Klarinetten presented their first production all-metal B♭ octocontrabass clarinet, with keys to low C (sounding B♭{{sub|-1}}).<ref name="foag-prototype-video">{{cite web |author=Foag Klarinetten |title=Endlich Geschafft!!!| language=de |trans-title=Finally done!!! |date=31 March 2025 |url=https://www.facebook.com/Foag.Klarinetten/posts/pfbid0xs38VJVK4BpEJLKCcWyJ8BEpoBFCCrrZcF8d2BFfcKoRPiyUXZUtfgdGdEAoyjLzl |access-date=7 April 2025 |via=Facebook}}</ref>

At least three pieces of music have been written specifically for octocontrabass by [[Norway|Norwegian]] composer [[Terje Bjørn Lerstad|Terje Lerstad]] (''Trisonata'', Op. 28; ''De Profundis'', Op. 139; and ''Mirrors in Ebony'' for clarinet choir, Op. 144). There are no known recordings of these pieces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Octocontrabass & Octocontralto Clarinets |url=http://www.contrabass.com/pages/octobass.html |publisher=Contrabass Compendium |access-date=15 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912221713/http://www.contrabass.com/pages/octobass.html |archive-date=12 September 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2025, after five years of development, Foag Klarinettenbau presented a new octocontrabass clarinet, like the Leblanc in the Boehn system, but going two semitones lower than the Leblanc (writen to low C instead of D).