PhosphorusDecree wrote:
Meistersinger wrote:
PhosphorusDecree wrote:
I've also heard the E flat clarinet used as a comedy instrument- it's higher in pitch than normal clarinets, with a slightly different tone.
It’s also a pain in the a$$ to play in tune,
ESPECIALLY in the higher registers
Maybe that's why they do it? I can picture Richard Strauss writing "Til Eulengspiegel," going "How on earth can I persuade a professional clarinettist to play all his solos in this piece out of tune?!"
E-flat soprano clarinet plays in the upper part of the harmonic series. Gerneral rule of thumb, the higher you get in the harmonic series, the more difficult the intonation problem.
Since the clarinet’s air column is cylindrical, rather than conical, the whole harmonic series is different. You drpress the register key on a clarinet, the notE you finger sounds a 12th higher. For example, middle c, when you pen the register key, comes out as a g above the staff.
Again, the higher you play in the harmonic (overtone) series, the harder it is to play in tune.
(Before my dad died in 1986 and having carpal tunnel surgery in 2012 on my right wrist, I played clarinet. I’m no Benny Goodman or Hal Linden or Stanley Drucker or Ignatius Gennusa, but I managed somehow. The worst score I ever played was Bernstein’s West Side Story for the McHenry County, IL Youth Theater, shortly before Dad passed away. The E-Flat soprano part in America was a Biotch! I had to take it down an octave in order to stay in tune with the rest of the orchestra.
16 Sep 2020, 5:45 pm
