How The Clarinet Changed My Life

Music is what my life runs on from day to day. Without music, my life would be a lost cause. So all thanks to a German instrument maker and his son, the clarinet was created. Johann Christoph Denner and his son Jacob, improved the chalumeau by adding a register key to the instrument, and later the chalumeau received the Boehm flute key system (Bellis), which created what my musical life all started on: the clarinet and family. The very first original clarinets had only two keys to be played – eventually three (“The Clarinet”). Though despite the small size and few keys, the clarinet could hit more notes, and was louder than most other instruments of its age (“The Clarinet”). Around the mid 1740’s, ensembles started to include the new and profound clarinet in their pieces of instrumental music (“The Clarinet”).
It has a lower tone than any of the other woodwinds, making it possible for the Bass clarinet to not only cover the tuba part on some occasions, but to also cover the bassoon parts because of some more keys that were added to the Bass clarinet (“The Bass Clarinet”). I love the Bass clarinet because of how low it can go, and the dynamics of the Bass Clarinet are awesome! I have found through a few years of playing the instrument, that it can play almost any phrase of music at a very low and soft pianissimo and gradually, or immediately on the spot, hit a hard forte, yet keep the sound and pitch that is very likeable among the crowd. The Bass clarinet, in my mind, is the “Superman” of the whole clarinet family. The sound of a few Bass clarinets playing together sounds truly amazing, especially when the players hook their instrument up to an amplifier. In fact, a great example of what I mean, and I am not lying, is the song called “Black” by Sqwonk. Black throws out crazy tempos and many different times to follow, however, “Black” sounds totally wicked! Don’t believe me? Go right ahead and look it