The Clarinet

The clarinet's predecessor was the chalumeau-the first true single reed instrument. It appeared in the late 1600's and wasn't very flexible and had a range of about 1.5 octaves.

Johann Christoph Denner (Nuremburg) and his son, Jacob are attributed to innovating the speaker key which gave the clarinet a larger register. The clarinet overblows at the 12th, the other woodwind instruments overblow at the octave. So, when you play with the thumb and first three fingers of the left hand without the speaker key, you sound the note C. When you add the speaker key, you do not get a C an octave higher, you sound a G, which is the interval of a twelfth. Because of his improvements of the chalumeau J C Denner is said to be the inventor of the clarinet.

The clarinet is individual in the shape of its bore, as well. While every other woodwind instrument has a conical bore (yes, even the flute!) the clarinet has a cylindrical bore--it doesn't flare, even though the bell of the clarinet gives that impression. This is why the clarinet overblows at the twelfth and is so laden with overtones, which contributes to its unique sound.

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