Contra-alto Clarinet
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Contra-alto Clarinet
The contra-alto clarinet, E♭ contrabass clarinet, is a large clarinet pitched a perfect fifth below the B♭ bass clarinet. It is a transposing instrument in E♭ sounding an octave and a major sixth below its written pitch, between the bass clarinet and the B♭ contrabass clarinet. The contra-alto clarinet is often used in clarinet choirs and ensembles of clarinets and saxophones. It may also be present in a wind band. The repertoire for contra-alto clarinet in the symphony orchestra is limited. In ensembles it is usually used in unison with the other woodwind instruments, such as ( bassoon, bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet), or it plays the lower octave in addition. History The contra-alto clarinet is largely a development of the 2nd half of the 20th century, although there were some precursors in the 19th century: * In 1829, , an instrument maker in Göttingen, introduced an instrument tuned in F in the shape and fingering of a basset horn, which could b ...
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Alto Clarinet
The alto clarinet is a woodwind instrument of the clarinet family. It is a transposing instrument pitched in the key of E, though instruments in F have been made. In size it lies between the soprano clarinet and the bass clarinet. It bears a greater resemblance to the bass clarinet in that it typically has a straight body (made of grenadilla or other wood, hard rubber, or plastic), but a curved neck and bell made of metal. All-metal alto clarinets also exist. In appearance it strongly resembles the basset horn, but usually differs in three respects: it is pitched a whole step lower, it lacks an extended lower range, and it has a wider bore than many basset horns. The range of the alto clarinet is from the concert G2 or G2 (in the second octave below middle C, bottom line of the bass clef) to E6 (in the second octave above middle C), with the exact upper end of the range depending on the skill of the player. Despite the broad range, the instrument is always scored in the treble ...
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Wind Band
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments, and occasionally including the harp, double bass, or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional, non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, synthesizer, or electric guitar. Concert band music generally includes original wind compositions, concert marches, transcriptions of orchestral arrangements, light music, and popular music. Though the concert band does have similar instrumentation to the marching band, a marching band's main purpose is to perform while marching. In contrast, a concert band strictly performs as a stationary ensemble. Origins The origins of concert band can be traced back to the French Revolution, in which large bands would often gather for patriotic festivals and c ...
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Concert Pitch
Concert pitch is the pitch (music), pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are musical tuning, tuned for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from musical ensemble, ensemble to ensemble, and has varied widely over music history. The most common modern tuning standard uses A440 (pitch standard), 440 Hz for A above middle C as a reference note, with other notes being set relative to it. In the literature this is also called ''international standard pitch''. The term "concert pitch" is also used to distinguish between the "written" (or "nominal"), and "sounding" (or "real") notes of a transposing instrument, i.e. ''concert pitch'' may refer to the sounding pitch on a non-transposing instrument. Music for transposing instruments is transposed into different key signature, keys from that of non-transposing instruments. For example, playing a written C on a B clarinet or trumpet produces a non-transposing instrument's B. This pitch is referred to as "concert B". Moder ...
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Boehm System
The Boehm system is a system of keywork for the flute, created by inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm between 1831 and 1847. History Immediately prior to the development of the Boehm system, flutes were most commonly made of wood, with an inverse conical bore, eight keys, and tone holes (the openings where the fingers are placed to produce specific notes) that were small in size, and thus easily covered by the fingertips. Boehm's work was inspired by an 1831 concert in London, given by soloist Charles Nicholson who, with his father in the 1820s, had introduced a flute constructed with larger tone holes than were used in previous designs. This large-holed instrument could produce greater volume of sound than other flutes, and Boehm set out to produce his own large-holed design. In addition to large holes, Boehm provided his flute with "full venting", meaning that all keys were normally open (previously, several keys were normally closed, and opened only when the key was oper ...
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Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in the Western world is the wood of ''Dalbergia nigra''. It is best known as "Brazilian rosewood", but also as "Bahia rosewood". This wood has a strong, sweet smell, which persists for many years, explaining the name ''rosewood''. Another classic rosewood comes from ''Dalbergia latifolia'', known as (East) Indian rosewood or ''sonokeling'' (Indonesia). It is native to India and is also grown in plantations elsewhere in Pakistan (Chiniot). Madagascar rosewood (''Dalbergia maritima''), known as ''bois de rose'', is highly prized for its red color. It is overexploited in the wild, despite a 2010 moratorium on trade and illegal logging, which continues on a large scale. Throughout southeast Asia, ''Dalbergia oliveri'' is harvested for use in ...
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Ebonite
Ebonite is a brand name for a material generically known as hard rubber, and is obtained via vulcanizing natural rubber for prolonged periods. Ebonite may contain from 25% to 80% sulfur and linseed oil. Its name comes from its intended use as an artificial substitute for ebony wood. The material has also been called ''vulcanite'', although that name formally refers to the mineral vulcanite. Charles Goodyear's brother Nelson Goodyear experimented with the chemistry of ebonite composites. In 1851 he used zinc oxide as a filler. Hugh Silver was responsible for giving it its name. Properties The sulfur percentage and the applied temperatures and duration of vulcanizing are the main variables that determine the technical properties of the hard rubber polysulfide elastomer. The occurring reaction is basically addition of sulfur at the double bonds, forming intramolecular ring structures, so a large portion of the sulfur is highly cross-linked in the form of intramolecular addition. ...
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Selmer Company
Conn-Selmer, Inc. is an American manufacturer of musical instruments for concert bands, marching bands and orchestras. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments and was formed in 2003 by combining the Steinway properties, The Selmer Company and United Musical Instruments. Conn-Selmer is the largest manufacturer and importer of band and orchestral instruments in the United States. The company produces a large variety of musical instruments itself and through contractors under the brand names Vincent Bach, C.G. Conn, King, Holton, Selmer, Armstrong, Leblanc, Ludwig, Musser, and Scherl & Roth. Conn-Selmer is also the North American distributor of Henri Selmer Paris woodwinds and the U.S. distributor of Yanagisawa saxophones. History Origins The origins of the Conn-Selmer company begin with the H&A Selmer company. In the late nineteenth century, brothers Alexandre and Henri Selmer graduated from the Paris Conservatory as clarinetists. They were the great-gr ...
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Buffet Crampon
Buffet Crampon SAS is a French manufacturer of wind instruments based in Mantes-la-Ville, Yvelines department. The company is the world market leader in the production of clarinets of the Boehm system. Its subsidiary, Buffet Crampon Deutschland GmbH, founded in 2010 and based in Markneukirchen, Vogtland, Sachsen, is the world market leader in the manufacture of brass instruments. To manufacture and sell its products, the BC Group employed around 1000 people worldwide at the beginning of 2021, 470 of them as employees of BC Germany alone. The management of the group has been in the hands of Jérôme Perrod since 2014. Products and brands The following brands / labels, with the exception of the Buffet Crampon brand, are formerly independent companies whose essential assets, including the name and trademark rights, are owned by other companies and ultimately were acquired partly by Buffet Crampon SAS partly by BC Deutschland GmbH, and which were then dissolved as companies. ...
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Henri Selmer Paris
Henri Selmer Paris is a French enterprise, manufacturer of musical instruments based at Mantes-la-Ville near Paris. Founded in 1885, it is known as a producer of professional-grade woodwind and brass instruments, especially saxophones, clarinets and trumpets. Henri Selmer Paris used to be family-owned but was sold to Argos-Wityu in 2018. Selmer Paris instruments have been played by many well-known saxophonists such as Marcel Mule, Claude Delangle, Frederick Hemke, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, Herschel Evans, Zoot Sims, Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman and Coleman Hawkins. Among famous Selmer Clarinet players is Benny Goodman in his early career. History Selmer Paris In the late nineteenth century, brothers Alexandre and Henri Selmer graduated from the Paris Conservatory as clarinetists. They were the great-grandchildren of French military drum major Johannes Jacobus Zelmer, grandchildren of Jean-Jacques Selmer, the Army Chief of Music, and two of ...
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Metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typically ductile (can be drawn into wires) and malleable (they can be hammered into thin sheets). These properties are the result of the ''metallic bond'' between the atoms or molecules of the metal. A metal may be a chemical element such as iron; an alloy such as stainless steel; or a molecular compound such as polymeric sulfur nitride. In physics, a metal is generally regarded as any substance capable of conducting electricity at a temperature of absolute zero. Many elements and compounds that are not normally classified as metals become metallic under high pressures. For example, the nonmetal iodine gradually becomes a metal at a pressure of between 40 and 170 thousand times atmospheric pressure. Equally, some materials regarded as metals ...
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Adolphe Sax
Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the flute and clarinet. Early life Antoine-Joseph Sax was born on 6 November 1814 in Dinant, in what is now Belgium, to Charles-Joseph Sax and his wife Marie-Joseph (Masson). While his given name was Antoine-Joseph, he was referred to as Adolphe from childhood. His father and mother were instrument designers themselves, who made several changes to the design of the French horn. Adolphe began to make his own instruments at an early age, entering two of his flutes and a clarinet into a competition at the age of 15. He subsequently studied performance on those two instruments as well as voice at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Sax faced many brushes with death. As a child, he once fell from a height of three floors, hit his head on a stone an ...
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Eugène Albert
Eugène Albert (April 26, 1816 – May 11, 1890) was a Belgian woodwind instrument maker, primarily known for his clarinets, based in Brussels. His work started around 1839, and his sons, Jean-Baptiste (1845–99), Jacques (1849–1918), and E.J. Albert, continued making clarinets until the end of the World War I. The model of clarinet he made is still widely known, especially in the U.S., as the "Albert system", although this model is basically the same as Iwan Müller's 13-key instrument, with the addition of some improvements inspired in his tutor, Adolphe Sax. Sax was the first to use ring keys on the clarinet. In 1840 he made an improvement in Iwan Müller's 13-key clarinet, adding two rings, or ''brille'' (glasses), to the lower joint. This resulted in the 13 keys / 2 rings clarinet. In the same year, Albert, based on Müller modifications and Adolphe Sax's rings created a new keywork system, adding more two rings to the upper joint, resulting in a 13 keys / 4 rings clarinet. ...
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