The Adorable Ab Piccolo Clarinet
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- Опубліковано 17 лют 2022
- Arguably the most absurd member of the clarinet family.
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btw he stops yapping and plays at 12:40
I was genuinely surprised how the E-flat turned out to be a giant. When I've first got an E-flat I thought it was tiny - and the A-flat clarinet shocked me by its existence. Now all needed is a contrabass vs piccolo clarinet comparison!
That could be arranged!
There's a video of this with Cyrille Mercadier
ua-cam.com/video/d-aqcHlSFEI/v-deo.html
I love this video. The Ab clarinet is so cute and usless.
We need more Ab Piccolo content
TrueReed approves!
There are Ab parts in some of the off-stage bands in Verdi operas. Both Rigoletto and La traviata have "party music" that is played by a band in the wings that includes Ab, Eb, and Bb clarinets along with the brass and percussion. I would guess that the recordings from Italy in the 1960s probably have the authentic instrumentation, squeaky parts and all.
When I played in the UB band about 1965, the conductor Frank Cippola added that Ab clarinet after he spent time in Italy.
I can't believe I missed this video! You officially have the greatest Ab command I've ever heard.
What can I say, I have a penchant for the useless!
First time I have heard one of these, I've seen plenty of old photographs (turn of the last century) of Italian concert bands that had an Ab. I always assumed it was a piccolo substitute.
It’s most prevalent in Italian concert bands for sure. There is at least one Verdi opera with an onstage band including Ab clarinet.
Excellent demo! The best I’ve seen.
The Bartók Scherzo for piano and orchestra makes a fair case for using the Ab clarinet, alongside Eb and Bb clarinets. Some of the passages are unison with the Eb, but some take the effect of the scherzo to new heights, highlighting the possible effect of the instrument. Sadly I can only find one recording from the 60s and the playing could be better. There’s absolutely no reason why the instrument should/could not be used in new works for orchestra, except for availability. The gradually flatter high notes on your instrument can be solved by shortening the mouthpiece, widening the mp chamber and barrel and then adjusting the bore size at the opening of the main piece. Intonation needs to be practiced and so discounting the instrument on this basis is unfair, a few physical changes can make a world of difference. The Leblanc I have is more in tune than a new instrument I had made, on which the 12ths were in fact augmented 11ths. So there is a lot to be said for the ingenuity of Leblanc clarinets. I have now also performed and recorded two contemporary works on Ab clarinet: Samuel Andreyev’s Verifications and Oren Boneh’s Municipal Shuffle, the latter being a concerto for Ab piccolo clarinet doubling Eb contralto clarinet and ensemble. Great video, was interesting to hear the instrument being played by someone else.
Thanks for this! Been playing a lot of fun orchestral pieces on the Eb clarinet, and it gets incredibly high for the instrument. I can only imagine what it’s like to play this instrument. Intonation must be impossible, even the Eb is very difficult to play in tune for altissimo notes.
Thank you! Intonation is a big challenge for sure!
An orchestral clarinetist let me try an Eb in about 1971. I had no trouble getting it up to its top (written) C. However, the regular Bb goes plenty high enough for jazz; on it, I prefer to stay in the low register and I seldom go above the G in the clarion register. Benny Goodman got a good tone in the altissimo register without sounding freaky.
Very interesting & well played. ❤️😍😀
Awesome. Enjoyed your talk and playing!
Thank you, Tony!
I’ve always wanted one of these… unfortunately they’re rather hard to come by
Thanks so much for making this video! I think it's so interesting how this is thought of as such a high-pitched instrument, yet it has the same exact bottom note (middle-C or concert C4) as a standard concert flute with a C-foot!
These are two very interesting points on the range of these instruments that I had never thought of. Thank you!
@@mal2ksc Yep, also the same as alto flute.
I really, really want one! 🥰
I have always wanted to play one of these!
Such a cutie 😍
Thanks for uploading this. I have known of them since I got Anthony Baines's book "Woodwind Instruments And Their History", but this is the first time I have heard one.
Keeping the altissimo notes in tune must be very hard. That high (written) F, which should be concert Db, came out as a concert C.
The reason for the rare key of Ab? They would have made a Bb, an octave above the regular clarinet, but it would have been too small for fingers and the Boehm keywork. Ab was as close as they could get. Baines says that the Ab clarinet is used in Italy.
Thank you. I believe it was played in particular in Italian wind bands. Someone gave me an old Albert System model but it has been impossible to find a mouthpiece
Leblanc made clarinets in many keys. I have a bass descending to low c made in the 60 s by Leon Leblanc and also a Leblanc Cclarinet. Leblanc of course no longer exist but you can sometimes pick them up from Clarinets Direct. Once again thank you for letting us see and hear this piccolo clarinet. God bless you. Bill. UK
Great video. The Leblancs do have awful intonation unfortunately, the Orsi is much better but can be hard to find. If you want a ligature that doesn't scratch the Rovner slim sopranino ligature works well.
Thank you, Jared! I really appreciate your stuff, too. Great tip on the ligature, I had not considered looking for a solution in the saxophone family.
How about a B Flat Piccolo Clarinet which would be an Octave above the Standard B Flat Clarinet?
Love the horn. I'm about 40 years too old to even think about picking it up, but I did love playing the Eb, even if I tended to be a bit flat with it. Which probably had more to do with the reeds that I had available to me. I got much better on the Bb after getting some reeds that were more to my liking. Then I became first chair, and my hopes of continuing the Eb, or even my hopes that I could at least TRY a contrabass were dashed (high school. Sigh...)
Ugh...I want one so bad!
They’re pretty fun. I hope you get to play one someday!
@@MichaelTumiel If I could figure out the dimensions, I was thinking of 3D printing one someday when I can get a 3D printer. I know the sound quality probably won't be the same, but it'd be worth a fun project til I can get my hands on a regular one. I know a few years ago I saw someone on youtube was working on a 3D printed B-flat. It poses its own sound quality challenges, but the guy was enjoying seeing what he could do with it. I think the only reason nobody has attempted the A-flat yet is nobody knows the dimensions or what they ought to sound like in the first place. They're so rare and hard to find. I know the orchestra doesn't call for them much, but it doesn't mean more clarinet players wouldn't mind getting one if it were more reasonably priced to get one made.
Found you my friend!
@@elfiefromangelcity6142 you might already be familiar with Jared De Leon’s work, but you should check out his UA-cam page and website if not. I believe he’s actually selling files for a 3D printed piccolo A-natural clarinet he designed.
@@MichaelTumiel Oh yeah, he's the guy I was talking about! I didn't know he'd made files for the a natural when I wrote my last post. I might buy his files.
SO WE DONT NEED 5 PARTS TO PUT OUR INSTRUMENT TOGETHER!!!!
No! There are actually some Bb clarinet with one piece bodies as well.
Si tuviera tanto dinero, me compraría toda la familia de clarinetes, pero solo me puedo conformar con el soprano😅
I bought a used Leblanc Ab clarinet, which I'm told was new c. 1976. It turned out to be nightmarishly out of tune with itself, most octaves being closer to a seventh. But the seller refused to refund, so I was stuck with it. The tech who refurbished it replaced the barrel in his efforts to fix the tuning. Mine came with the stock mouthpiece, but I also got the Vandoren, which seems preferable. Overall, the experience was quite discouraging, though I'd be warily curious to know if other companies' Abs are any better in tune.
Awesome video! I’m interested in trying to 3-D print an Ab. Do you have any ideas where I can find measurements?
I would get in touch with Jared De Leon (who also commented on this video). He’s a 3D printing expert in the clarinet world.
I want to plateau the ring keys on my Eb Sop Cl, because I have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, which makes it difficult for me to cover the holes. Thank you
It s great with bass clarinet
How long are the parts of the instrument?
Pls pls pls where to you buy one I really want one
Wow, I never knew there was such an animal! I imagine only the most skillful players could play it with any success.
just find an opera company putting on La Traviata, it's used in the off stage band in act 1
If there was a cheap Chinese one I’d buy one, but otherwise they aren’t worth the money. Cute though.
where did you buy it I've been trying to find one 💀
This belongs to the university where I teach and was purchased long before I got here. They don’t come up for sale often, but they’re out there so if you really want one I wish you luck!
I believe there are some new ones you can buy maybe from Orsi and maybe a few others, but they are super expensive.
nice, where can i get one? or are there no more of them?
The Leblancs sometimes come up for sale used, but that’s pretty rare. As far as I know Ripamonti is the only company who offers an Ab clarinet today.
@@MichaelTumiel alr thx
Leblanc stopped making Ab clarinets decades ago, and all the other French companies stopped years before them. italian makers Orsi and Ripamonti still make them, as do German makers Martin Foag (both in wood and metal) and Schwenk & Seggelke.
@@timothytikker1147 if I win the lottery I’ll review all of these
LoveThose!!🎶*.⋆ .
Why am Ab? I would think an A or Bb piccolo would be more useful… add to that we are used to those transpositions!
I think anything higher would be too small to play!
Where can i find one
Try Wal Mart.
the LA studio doubler Marty Krystall found one of these in a Hollywood music store; he happened to mention to film composer Michael Kamen that the had one; next thing he knew, he was booked for Kamen's '101 Dalmations' scoring sessions and had an Ab piccolo clarinet cue on 'Pup-Pup-Puppies.' The cue is here, around 3:40 in. ua-cam.com/video/7r0-i6Neb1w/v-deo.html
Such a cool story! Thanks for sharing!
Very cool. For my ear, the banda parts in the Verdi operas are best done a bit out of tune and honky as they are meant to imitate street or amateur musicians. When the off-stage band is played by the regular (and excellent) orchestra players, I feel the effect is ruined by too perfect playing. Composers like Verdi and Rossini were so skilled at writing music that evoked nature and scenes, that I wonder if that is what this instrument was designed to do. Many composers wrote idiosyncratic character parts for singers (Tales of Hoffman, Daughter of the Regiment, etc.), so perhaps this instrument was a musical joke or trick to make the off-stage band sound amateurish to enhance the stage affect. Just a speculation on my part.
Yikes 😢
I am sure you will never need to, but Joe Clark (ClarkProductions118 on UA-cam) did a concert with Ab clarinet, and he has a list of at least 3 pieces of repertoire for it.
Haha, yes I am aware - I also know Joe!
Hi Michael
I’m glad to see you are continuing your Ab clarinet research
Quanto que custa um clarinete ab ???
Mucho dinero.
High pitched.
An interesting thought, but this is definitely not a high pitch instrument. As someone else commented, this was manufactured too late in the 20th century to be an HP instrument.
no way they made a clarinet more annoying
Excuse you…
Your playing out of tune / why ?
I explain in the video that this is a fairly challenging little instrument to play in tune. Especially in some of the excerpts I used. Have you ever handled / played an Ab clarinet?
As I wrote above, my Leblanc Ab was unbearably out of tune with itself, and was made more-or-less tolerable only through drastic overall by a reliable technician.
There's absolutely no way that Leblanc would have made a High Pitch instrument in 1976. And mine came with its original mouthpiece and barrel. I then got a mew Vandoren mouthpiece for it, but it made little difference. My tech's take on it was simply that Leblanc naïvely took one of their larger clarinet designs and literally shrank it, instead of taking the time to determine the actual acoustical requirements of such an instrument. He made a new barrel, did extensive adjustment, and even inserted a metal rod down the bore, all to correct the tuning, resulting in significant improvement.
@@timothytikker3834 The Selmer alto clarinet is also badly made. The keys for the knuckle of the right-hand pointer finger are out of reach.