NEW TECHNIQUES FOR THE BASS CLARINET Methods for producing special effects and notation in contemporary mt HENR! BOKNEW TECHNIQUES FOR THE BASS CLARINET Preface This ‘special intermediate version* of the handbook is designed for clarinettists, composers, Musicians and musicologists with a special interest in contemporary music and in the development of instrumental techniques. Clarinettists will find this practical manual a welcome help in the interpretation of contemporary repertory. After briefly retracing the history of the instrument, the book goes on to deal with the various methods of causing it "fo sound” i.e. the production of special effects and with most convenient manner of indicating them. / Originally a Compact Cassette audio tape with recordings of "multiple sounds or multiphonics, of | mulfiphonic tris and tremolos', and of musical examples from works by contemporary composers | accompanied the handbook. This material is resampled in digital form and optionally available on ‘Compact Disc. | | Even though this manual may not be exhaustive, it has the merit of being the fruit of the mature experience of an instrumentalist and a teacher Written by Henri Bok, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 1989. Special, limited, English version: April 2005, Copy nt. eaiition 260/ /o HE = — } . Scanned dligitaly from French | Engish - “out of print” - edition 1989, Printed cori 2006, Rotterciam The Netheriands : Processing, addtional typesetting and Diagrams 4 & 5, by Dick Hormsen.1. GENERAL ORGANOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS {hn 1660 Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707) of Nuremberg, who is considered to be the inventorof the cla- inet, Hansformed a double reed French instrument, the chalumeau, info anew instrument with asingle reediong provided min on octave key. In fact, the term “octave key” is misleading since it actually produced a worth ne ashed'it (as cid the cylindrical shape of the bore) from other wind instruments, This cyinchical shape specu the Production of the odd partials that determine the timbre of the instrument, facillates the emission of ine high register and! the composition of multishonics (sounds produced simultaneously, essential emploved a contemporary music). Ihe word “clarinet” is derived from the italian “clarino“, an old type of high-pitched trumpet. The clorinet S generally made of wood (Atican blackwood or boxwood). sometimes of ebonite, metal or plastic raatorca The clarinet family consists of: The Piccolo or Sopranino Clarinet in Eb, mainly used for its characteristics high register The Clarinets in 8, A and C, the most common members of the fomily, The Clarinets in Ab and D, less frequently used than thase in Bb and A The Alto Clarinet in £3 and its variant, the 3 The Bass Clarinets in BS and A, used ) instruments in contemporary music The Contra-Alto Clarinet in Es (called the Contra-bass Clarinet in Es in the United States) The Contra-bass Clarinet in B& e one, calledthe German system, 1811-1885) and Oskar Ohler (1858- Closing of several tone-holes with a single finger. The German system is practised mainly in Germany and Austria, while the Boehm system is used everywhere oe. The Boehm system is now used in virtually all other counties because of ts advantages over the German System, for instance, the large variety of tone-colours, the possibilities in the production of ‘multiphonics, and its abliity to create certain special effects with greater ease. LL] HISTORY OF THE BASS CLARINET The documented history of the bass clarinet goes back to anannouncementin the Parisian journal,’ Avant- Coureur of 17 May 1772. in which mention is made of a “basse lube’ (beme tuba), or bass clarinet invented by _sieur Giles Lor”. This instrument was “capable of three and a half fulloctaves: ‘descends as low as the bassoon nd rises as high as the flute”. would seem that the “bosse-tube" was designed fo be played as both asolo and an orchestral instrument. Ihe model that should be mentioned next is the “Klarinetten-Bass* made by Heinrich Grenser, the famous Dresden instrument builder, which was probably destined to replace the becxson military bands. 3 the beginning of the 19th century Destontenelles of Lisieux and Dumas of Sommiéres independently in- vented bass clarinets that resemble the modem instrument ana, es VetY probable that the solo in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots wos wntten for Durex lke the ttalian, Catterino Catterin his instrument was called the 's Adolphe Sax who, with his clarinet, known as the “clarins in the presence of Meyerbeer), Alinough the bass clarinet has already been in existence fora good! number of years, ithas only been in the lost twenty years that composers have come to recognize its poterion oe 2 Solo instrument. Often used in the