At 12:59 PM 10/14/02 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>I know the two instruments (possibly erroneously) as a
>contrabass in Eb and contrabass in Bb.
Here are the spoken names for the Eb/Bb clarinets as I learned them in the US:
Eb
Bb
Eb alto
Bb bass
Eb bass
Bb contrabass
Eb contrabass
To me, anything else is 'unusual' and needs some sort of clearer
description. For example, the extended Bb bass is colloquially a "C bass"
but still normally reads transposed treble clef (except for those soloists
who ask for untransposed bass clef). But the "C clarinet" is one of those
largely obsolete beasties (doesn't Woody Allen play on, in an Albert system
fingering as well?). I've never heard "Bb soprano" in conversational
speech, just something like "grab the Bb, will ya?"
Contra-alto isn't in my vocabulary because it's counterintuitive based on
alto/contralto in voices being nearly the same. If this instrument is not
the one colloquially called the "Eb bass" then I'm really bewildered.
My instrumental usage is probably more limited than conductors of earlier
music because as a composer I rarely call for instruments that are
difficult to find (or find players for) outside a major city -- say, a
basset horn ('zat in F or G? I forget.). If I really desperately need a
certain color I can't otherwise get, I will call for it, but it's rare.
Part of wider marketing, I suppose, which with my stuff I sorely need. :)
Dennis
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