Clarinets

Woodwinds

Musical Theory and Technique

This Side of Sanity

    The clarinet (also rarely clarionet) is a woodwind instrument that uses a single reed. The two kidns of clarinets are the B clarinet and the A clarinet.

    The clarinet is a woodwind instrument having a straight, cylindrical tube with a flaring bell and a single-reed mouthpiece, played by means of finger holes and keys. Also an eight-foot organ stop producing a sound suggestive of a clarinet.

    Range: The B clarinet has a range of D3 to G6 (approximately 147 Hz to 1,570 Hz, with overtones to 12 KHz). The A clarinet has a lowest note of C3 (approximately 139 Hz).

    General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set Program Channel Number: decimal 72 or hexadecimal 0x47. (See General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set.)

    The word “clarinet” comes from the French word “clarinette” meaning clarinet which comes from the Italian word “clarinetto” meaning clarinet which is the diminutive of the Italian word “clarino” meaning trumpet which comes from the Latin word “clarus” meaning clear.