What is a clarinet

The clarinet is a woodwind instrument, usually made of African blackwood, made of wood, hard rubber or metal, with a beak-shaped mouthpiece and a rounded hollow, the body of the instrument is a detachable bell, and the tube is cylindrical with an open bell at the lower end. A reed is fixed at the mouthpiece, and when the player blows through the space between the reed and the mouthpiece, and with the appropriate pressure from the lower lip, the thin reed tip vibrates, causing the column of air inside the instrument's tube to begin to vibrate, thus emitting a soft tone. Its roots can be traced back to horns and bagpipes, and it is generally believed to have evolved from the reed flute, a single reed instrument similar to a harp. The modern clarinet was invented in 1690 by the German flute maker Johann Denner (1655-1707), and has since been improved upon repeatedly, finally being finalized by the German flutist Theobald Boehm. In addition to the B-flat key, the clarinet is commonly used as a small clarinet in E-flat and an alto clarinet with the range extended downward, a basset clarinet, a bass clarinet, and a lowest clarinet. Traditionally, clarinets were made of wood, and elaborate clarinets were once made of ivory, but today they are commonly made of plastic. The performance of the clarinet is very flexible, and can easily play long notes sweeping through multiple scales, and is known for its ability to play continuous arpeggios, which make it very expressive for solo performance. Mozart was the first composer to use the clarinet in his symphonies, finding it the closest instrument to the human voice.

The history of the clarinet is still shallow, in the Baroque era music is not yet this instrument, and Haydn's music to the clarinet, is in his sixties after the work, and Mozart's symphony works to the clarinet, only a few, but this instrument was introduced since the rapid popularization of the whole of Europe. The clarinet is a varied woodwind instrument with a wide range of tones, which can be heard in orchestras, marching bands, wind bands, and jazz ensembles with its clean and clear sound. Because of its versatility, it is able to perform all types of tunes. The following is a quote from an article dedicated to the clarinet:

If the flute is a gentle woman, then the harp is a bold big brother. The harp, also known as the clarinet and the black pipe, is a very special member of the woodwind family. In the orchestra, he is the most recent addition to the woodwind group, and the maturity of the instrument's technology is only in the nineteenth century. But his unique rich expressive power and a wide range of sound, making it one of the most important instruments in the orchestra, and the late emergence of the wind band, the clarinet is doubly courtesy, its status has been similar to the orchestra in the violin.

How is the clarinet different from other woodwind instruments? First of all, its basic structure and other woodwind instruments are not quite the same, the general woodwind instruments are taken conical body, only the clarinet using a cylindrical body, which makes its overtones column is very special. Secondly, the clarinet's sound comes from a single reed tied to the mouthpiece, which is where the name clarinet comes from. There are also saxophones, but the body of the saxophone is not the same as that of the clarinet, so the clarinet's special characteristics can be seen.

The clarinet appeared later, when Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707) of Nuremberg improved the chalumeau, originally a folk instrument, into a clarinet around 1690. In the scores of early composers, the clarinet is usually labeled as Chalumeau, and because the sound quality of the soprano part of the clarinet resembles that of the trumpet (which has to do with the blowing habits of the time, which are different from those of the modern day), the name clarino (clarified trumpet) was compared to the clarinet, and that's how the name clarinet came to be.

It was not until the second half of the 18th century that the clarinet was slowly used in classical orchestras, but it did not have a fixed place in the orchestra like the oboe. Mozart was the first composer to fully realize the musical beauty of the clarinet, and we can see from his works after his visit to Mannheim in 1777 that his use of the clarinet became increasingly sophisticated, reaching a level of refinement in his later clarinet concerto (in A major) that would be difficult for later generations to match.

Another composer who had a major influence on clarinet music was Weber, who had two very fine clarinettists in his time, namely Karl & Heinrich Be ? rmann, and just as Anton Stadler inspired Mozart, these two players inspired the composers of their time to write many of their works. Weber's concerto is a piece that still enjoys great fame today, but a number of other composers, now little known, have left their fair share of beautiful concertos and chamber music. At the same time, the key system of the clarinet underwent a great change. In 1843, the famous clarinettist Klose and the Parisian instrument maker Buffet cooperated to improve the clarinet's original rudimentary key system, and they borrowed the Bem-type keys that had been successfully experimented with on the flute. The performance of the clarinet was greatly improved after the modification, and the playing of complex melodies like those in Weber's works became more feasible. After Beethoven, the clarinet became a regular part of the orchestra. Beethoven himself was a great fan of the clarinet, and his symphonies are often characterized by breathtaking excerpts. Next came the German virtuoso Brahms, who met the clarinettist Münfeldt in his twilight years and, with a renewed will to compose, wrote a quintet and a sonata for clarinet, each of which is a classic. In the twentieth century, the music of the clarinet has been influenced by jazz and Jewish music, in addition to the development of existing techniques. These two types of music have brought the expressive power of the clarinet to a very special level. Whether it's the brilliant colors of the clarinet in jazz or the use of the clarinet as a human voice in Jewish music, it's well worth listening to.

The earliest known music for the clarinet is in a collection published by Estienne Roger of Amsterdam (reprinted in 1716 and still in print). From about 1780 it was used by some of the largest orchestras. The modern clarinet, on the other hand, was developed from 1800-1850.

Clarinet pneumatic instrument. Widely used in orchestras, marching bands, jazz bands and light bands. Belongs to the woodwind instruments. Chinese commonly known as the black pipe, there are 17 ~ 23 keys of various Bohm system clarinet.

(1) Notation and range: The clarinet is a transposed instrument, notated in treble clef, with a notated range of e?e(4).

(2) Tone and volume: the bass register, often called the "expression of the tone area", its pronunciation is low, rich, dramatic characteristics; soprano sound pure, bright, rich and rounded; mid-range tone has no obvious personality, pronunciation is softer, and can be blended with the sound of many musical instruments; soprano pronunciation of the sharp, wild, with wailing sound. with a whistling sound. In addition to the very high register can not be played weakly, the clarinet other registers can be controlled from ppp to ff volume amplitude changes; the middle register can also reach ppp to mf amplitude changes.

(3) playing skills: the clarinet is also a very sensitive instrument, in addition to playing the broken note is not as fluent and rapid as the flute, playing the melody, scales, arpeggios, jumping notes is quite good. It can easily play a combination of legato and broken notes in a variety of glorious and magnificent phrases, these aspects can be compared with the flute.

The clarinet can be used to play breaks in all three spatulae, but the easiest and most common is the single spatulae, which naturally cannot be used too quickly. Vibrato and vibrato can be easily played in any register on the clarinet.