Clarinet
The clarinet is a woodwind instrument. It is consists of a long cylindrical tube which opens into a bell shape at the bottom. The mouthpiece holds a single reed made from cane.
The clarinet is an important instrument in both classical music and traditional jazz, although it began to be abandoned in jazz in favour of the saxophone from the swing era onwards.
The Clarinet Family
Clarinets are transposing instruments, and are made in several keys, some of which are quite rare. The most common key is B♭. The B♭ clarinet is about 60cm long and has a range of three octaves. A clarinet in the key of A, slightly longer than the B♭ clarinet and pitched a half-step lower, is often used in orchestral playing. Clarinets are also made in the key of E♭, pitched a fourth higher than the common B♭ clarinet, and even in D, although this instrument has become uncommon.
The bass clarinet, usually pitched in B♭, has a tube twice as long as that of a standard clarinet; because of its unwieldy length, it doubles back on itself with the bell pointing upwards at the bottom. The clarinet family even includes an enormous contrabass clarinet, pitched in either of two keys: B♭ or E♭. This instrument is most often found in large orchestras, wind ensembles, or concert bands.
Parts of the Clarinet
The body of the clarinet is constructed from wood, traditionally grendilla wood from Africa, Asia or South America, or from modern resins. This wood is very hard and holds a high polish well.
The B♭ clarinet is made of 7 main parts:
- Mouthpiece is where the musician blows to cause the reed to vibrate.
- Reed vibrates against the mouthpiece to set up vibrations within the instrument.
- Ligature holds the reed in place on the mouthpiece.
- Tuning barrel is used to make fine adjustments to the tuning of individual instruments to counteract changes in pitch caused by moisture and temperature.
- Upper joint contains roughly half of the keys.
- Lower joint contains the other half of the keys.
- Bell improves the sound made by the instrument.
These parts all fit together via greased cork-lined joints.