An interesting aside. I think at least some professionals, given the
option, prefer to use bass clarinets without the c extension because
they prefer the response. I encountered just such a player in a pro
orchestra one time that was playing one of my pieces. (It was a European
orchestra, but I don't know if that is significant.)
He pointed out a note I had written with 4 leger lines below the treble
clef and commented that it was too low. Then he looked again. (There was
a sharp in front of it.) DOH! (In fact, nowhere in that piece calls for
the extension.)
But it was interesting to realize that, at least for this player, his
wired mindset was that the lowest note on his horn was e-flat rather
than d-sharp. Perhaps because the higher clarinets only go down to e.
FWIW: since then I have begun to call for the extension routinely, but I
always try to provide ossias. That said, about halfway through my most
recent orch. piece I realized ossias were simply not acceptable. So
instead I wrote optional doubling on e-flat contrabass. And of course,
having done that I ended up calling for a few notes below concert BB-flat.
Now I'm going to be very interested to see what the player does when it
is premiered. (Her bcl has the c extension.) If she has access to a
contra she likes, I would not be surprised to see her use it. Two words:
Doubling Pay.
dhbailey wrote:
Raymond Horton wrote:
Lon Price wrote:
As a woodwind player, the only practical reason that I can see for
writing the bass clef for bass clar. is the avoidance of a lot of
ledger lines. As a clarinet player, I'm used to seeing 3 ledger
lines below the staff, and 4 above. With the modern bass clar.'s
ability to play as low as written C 4 ledger lines and a space below
the treble staff, I can understand why one might want to write
passages this low in bass clef. I would think that an even more
practical approach would be to write the passage an octave higher
and mark it 8ba., but still in treble clef. Although I'm capable
of doing it, I don't like to read anything in bass clef, because I
have to consciously tell my fingers where to go. When I read treble
clef parts, my fingers go to the right keys automatically. I guess
that comes from playing sax, clar. and flute for 50 years, all of
which are written in treble clef. I can certainly see the
practicality of training oneself to read bass clef, for the reasons
stated by others, though.
As a copyist-engraver, I might question the client on writing bass
clef for bass clar., but ultimately, if that's what he wants, that's
what I'll give him.
Growing up in concert bands, I'm totally used to thinking of bass
clarinet in treble clef, and never use bass clef for it, but I'll tell
you a reason bass clef would be an advantage. I tend to write a lot
of low bass lines for bass clarinet and contrabassoon in octaves, and
often write the bassoons on other lines that put them above the
staff. With the bass clarinet way below the treble clef, and the
bassoons ranging from the middle to well above the bass clef, it
really reeks havoc with the score spacing. Also, dynamic placement
for those three lines is a constant nuisance, since they often share
dynamics but not vertical spacing. Tenor clef for the bassoons
occasionally helps, but bass clef for the bass clarinet would really
fix it. But it causes more problems than it fixes, so I don't go there.
I think the problems of bass clarinets and the use of clefs is
exacerbated by the fact that many (most?) professional bass clarinetists
use instruments with extended range down to low C, making it possible to
run into that extra ledger line below the staff.
But the typical amateur bass clarinetist is only using an instrument
with one half-step lower than the typical soprano clarinet, so the bass
clarinet part written with those folks in mind doesn't go any lower than
they already know how to play, so reading those low ledger lines
shouldn't be any problem in those sorts of parts.
So perhaps in this discussion there ought to be a separation of the two
sorts of bass clarinet being used?
--
Robert Patterson
http://RobertGPatterson.com
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