that is a contra alto clarinet.. now more comonly known as an e flat contra bass.. i played one of these great instrument, which has a reedier sound that cuts through other instrument ''voices''... thanks for opening up the eyes of others!

I’ve been playing this instrument for one year and I absolutely love it. I carry the base section.

The most useful thing about Eb Contra-alto clarinet (and Eb Bari sax) is that you can read bass clef music (for tuba, string bass, bassoon, trombone, etc) as treble clef by adding 3 #'s to the key signature.

@lamaspacos

Жыл бұрын

With a Bb or F instrument we add only 2 or 1 #, respetively.

@TheodoreBrown314

9 ай бұрын

​@@lamaspacos With Eb instruments, there's no work past accidentals though. The bottom line of the Bass Clef (G2) is the same as the bottom line of the Treble Clef when read by an Eb Bass instrument (E4 transposes up 3 semitones and down 2 octaves to get G2) For Bb instruments, a similar trick works with Tenor Clef (Trombone players love this trick). And God forbid, if you ever have to read Mezzo-Soprano Clef, the same trick works with F instruments 😅

@_grim_7399

7 ай бұрын

I'm still kinda confused, so for example the tuba part has one flat, do I get rid of that flat when I add the 3 sharps or do I add them on top of the flat?

@TheodoreBrown314

7 ай бұрын

@@_grim_7399 Sharps and flats cancel out, when you're doing stuff like this. So 1 flat (F major) for Tuba = 2 sharps (D major) for Contra-alto Clarinet or Bari Sax

@_grim_7399

7 ай бұрын

@@TheodoreBrown314 thank you soo much! This helps me alot!

It’s so useful. You can move around and be heard, which sometimes is an issue in the clarion on the contrabass.

Thanks for this! Yes, I'm a bass & alto clarinetist and just bought a sweet contralto clarinet! I'm psyched to explore the depth of this beautiful instrument. I also love your contraction of "contra-alto" to contralto, makes much more sense. I'm going to use "contralto" too, Thanks!

@Albanothemadman

10 ай бұрын

It may be wrong but I can't stop saying it that way...let the nerds figure it out, lol Thank you!

@robertp2934

Ай бұрын

@@AlbanothemadmanI have the exact same Bundy EEb contralto clarinet and use a George Bundy 3 mouthpiece and medium soft plastic reeds. It speaks quite easily in most registers. Keep the videos coming.

Digging the frequency of these new videos!

@Albanothemadman

2 жыл бұрын

They are easy to do and the algorithm seems to favor longer videos...and not so much shorter music videos, unfortunately. That can come later. Ill do a whole series like this because it's something i'm interested in, and they're super easy to do! Hopefully we can get some traction!

Bring It !!!

Nice work Joe!

@Albanothemadman

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Dude!

From a bass clarinetist. The length of the instrument muat make it difficult to mic up. I use a Piezobarrel mic on the neck but some players use three close acoustic mics for concert performances.

Thanks for this nice intro to the Eb contra clarinet. Do you also prefer the bassoon stand for this instrument?

Great video! Which strap are you using there? It looks to have two hooks.

Any tips on getting your notes this nice and round sounding? Many people (including myself when I tried bass clarinet) get this sort of overly resonant, slightly barky sound. Enlighten us!

@Albanothemadman

Жыл бұрын

Not much too it really. Medium to medium soft strength reed, oral cavity pretty open while still maintaining control of the airstream, flexible but not too loose embouchure. Play a lot of ballads to work on finding a tone that suits you. No reason to play super hard setups on the big bois. IMHO anyway. No magic...just practice. That's all! Hope that helped a bit.

Friend, what is the fingering of the treble D6 E6 F6 and G6 on the contra alto clarinet? I have one and I can't find it

Is there still a manufacturer of this instrument? Because in Brazil you can't find it anymore, even using it is difficult.

@Albanothemadman

5 ай бұрын

Yes. I believe conn/selmer (old leblanc) still makes the vito plastic contra alto. The "professional" option is the selmer paris.

why is the contralto and contrabass still in treble clef

@Albanothemadman

2 ай бұрын

Cuz we took a look at bassoon and said miss us with those 3 separate clefs...we're gonna be lazy

I accidentaly broke one of these one time😅

What about Octocontralto ?

@Albanothemadman

9 ай бұрын

If I remember correctly there's only 1 and it's sitting in a museum in France somewhere I believe. Pity.

@TheodoreBrown314

7 ай бұрын

​​@@Albanothemadman If you're interested, Foag has started producing an octocontra*bass* clarinet for the low price of €60500 😆

12:39

I actually play this for my concert band. Second lowest, only to the tuba.

@jetzayra

Жыл бұрын

do you have any tips on how to not squeak? i’ve played a normal b clarinet for over 5 years and recently started the contralto last year and can’t stop squeaking. i know the basics but every time i take a breath i squeak on the next note.

@quasar1628

Жыл бұрын

@@jetzayra Try to think more about a circular embouchure, as opposed to the normal Bb clarinet. I also move my mouth up and down the mouthpiece depending on how high or loud I'm playing.

cool instrument but i hate the name oof it like its contra but also alto which those contradict each other and it sucks

@Albanothemadman

Жыл бұрын

I just think of it as an Eb contrabass. Some people call it the “great bass” but nah. Not anymore, lol!

@diminuendo7525

Жыл бұрын

@@Albanothemadman great bass is a better name but nobody is gonna call is that so its best to just call the contras EEb and BBb contra clarinets

@frankjuggaloheathen1035

Жыл бұрын

A lot of people call it the contralto clarinet, but it's actually a misnomer. It's actually called the contra-alto clarinet. There IS a difference; contralto is more of a vocal term and describes an alto singer (alto is in fact a contraction of contralto). Contra-alto, on the other hand, literally means "octave below alto," which is exactly this instrument's pitch range, an octave lower than the alto clarinet. I know it sounds like a nitpick but it's true, and I love sharing musical knowledge

can you give a link to the mouthpiece please

@Albanothemadman

Жыл бұрын

No particular link I’m afraid. I got mine on eBay, geo m bundy. It’s a pretty common hard rubber student mpc. I’d just google around for the lowest price.

@Gear100

Жыл бұрын

@@Albanothemadman ok found one thank you!