Ahh...it purrs. If I played this instrument the vibrations would permeate my soul so deeply, every surface level stress would immediately shake off my person and melt away. I think the contrabass clarinet life would be a good life.
A few great ideas came out of this video: 1) introducing the Swedish Meatball as a standard unit of weight. 2) Contrabass Clarinet Altissimo Concerto No. 1 3) Skipping the Country when Selmer comes looking for a return....
johnsonfromwisconsin Idea 2 is great and all until you try actually playing that and making it sound... erm... less unhappy about it. It’s pretty easy to get that high, but it is NOT easy to improve the sound of it at all.
I used to play this in high school and it was the most fun instrument to play. It would vibrate so much on the low notes that I would have to memorize my music!
I played contrabass with my clarinet choir in college when we played September! (we played it with 4 clarinets, 2 bass clarinets, and 1 contrabass) it was so much fun! I miss playing it lol but gosh I could never afford one of my own
I play contrabass clarinet in my school’s concert band. I switched from soprano clarinet and I do not regret my decision whatsoever. It’s a beautiful instrument and I absolutely love playing it!💜
I had a chance to play really old contra bass clarinet as a member of wind ensemble in Iowa State university. All the music major clarinetist didn’t want to play contra. So i had fun. Only sad thing was my teeth hurt. Hahaha....
What do you mean your teeth hurt? I'm going to be playing it part of the time next year in a high school band because the current player will be graduating. I want to find out as much as possible about playing it before then.
Ethan its the vibrations, because its such a lower register, the sound wave has a slow period, but has power to it. You don't hear the contra in a piece, you feel the contra. Lower register, at full force. you'll see what I mean. At least for me anyways. Jaemyung could have a different story.
Hey I live in Iowa. I've always wanted to play on a contrabass clarinet. My band director said he was lucky enough to play one when he was in college. Lol. Im jealous of him. If I get to play at least try one out for fun, I'll die a happy man.
Wow, that's like the opposite of flutists. EVERYONE would jump at the chance to play (or at least try) a contrabass flute or double contrabass flute haha I guess our teeth wouldn't hurt after, but omg it uses so much air, it's CRAZY!
I played this exact model at the MFA national festival in 2018 due to my school not wanting to ship ours in its disintegrating case. It was an amazing opportunity to play such an impressive instrument, but he didn't describe how painful physically and mentally it is to put this thing together. The main body splits in two, so to put it together you have to line up the 8lb upper joint with the other 8lb lower joint, or even more painfully one $15k joint with another $15k joint.
The high school that I teach physics at has 3 of these. No students were playing them, so my friend the band teacher lent me one for a couple of summers, it was super fun. Someone saw me playing one during the school year, and all of a sudden parents said that their kids wanted to play one, so now students are playing them. I guess I was a musical inspiration!! The low notes are amazing, they vibrate your brain, in a good way.
Addie Hughes I play Bass Clarinet in my school's jazz band and I also march Bass Clarinet. I tried to convince my band director to let me march Contralto Clarinet but he drew the line at Bass 😂
FlurriCatGaming I wish! We don’t allow bass clarinets in marching band, so I switched over to Baritone and there aren’t any in our jazz band either so I play valve trombone for jazz band.
@@addiehughes8179 I honestly never understood why some bands don't let bass clarinets march. There's plastic versions, they can be just as loud if not louder than tenor saxes, and they also have a lot more range.
I love your channel! It's been reinvigorating my love for the bass clarinet, which I played in middle and high school. I hated bass clarinet for the longest time, but looking back now, I see how foolish I was, it was such a fun and beautiful instrument. I'll be going back to school soon, which I've been putting off, but playing the bass clarinet is one of the things I'm most looking forward to.
Oh this is great! So nice to finally hear a contrabass clarinet played solo with a wealth of articulations and agility across its range. As a composer, I can evaluate much better the physical demands on the musican than with about all of the other examples I could find where it is always played slowly in a subdued, dark, glowering manner in the ultra low register. This is truly helpful and I thank you for that! You said you weren't used to it but very nice playing nonetheless!
Not all contras are happy with fast movement and you'll see that the contralto (narrower bore) is much more agile than the contrabass (bigger bore). In fact, there's a choice of large-or-smaller bores for the Eppelsheim Contrabass, I believe. An octave jump within the same register means filling or emptying a several-foot column of air quickly, and that bore diameter figures into it.
"The Contrabass Clarinet is Really Frickin' Heavy" The one dude in the back who plays the eppelsheim Subcontrabass Saxophone, in which is an octave lower than a Bari sax, which is also roughly 5' 10" tall: *Oh boo hoo*
I just found this today, and it gave me so much joy! I played contrabass for a couple of seasons in my high school concert band, and loved it to bits. I only gave it up because I got bronchitis the second year and couldn't summon the wind to fill it (so I cheated and switched to Eb soprano lol). Such a treat to see it demonstrated with such enthusiasm. Thank you!
Thank you so much for making a contra video! I get the joy of playing the Leblanc Paperclip model in my high school band. I was kind of worried at first because I wasn’t sure how the instrument would play, but it went surprisingly well, despite the reputation it has. I’m glad to see others know what a contrabass clarinet is!
There is something fascinating about the way you played the instrument. I don't know if I was just in awe of the instrument or if it was your enthusiasm
I too played one in High School Concert Band. They dusted it off just for me. It was awesome. At times when the band was playing, I couldn't hear my horn, but I could feel it. Very cool instrument. It is is amazing how expensive they are! Thanks for this video. It is great to hear you rocking this thing
It's really any double reeded instrument. Whether it be the bassoon, oboe, or any other. All are pretty expensive. I'm glad my bass clarinet reeds are cheaper. 😂
Ive had to pay in the range of 12-15 dollars for Contraalto clarinet reeds, how bad are double reeds? ( I am glad my main instrument is Bb clarinet and not the Contraalto or Alto)
I’ve got an old Leblanc paper clip contra, they can sound good if it is in good repair and is being played by someone used to the instrument. The drawback to the paper clip is that it doesn’t have trill keys or any mechanism to get you into the altissimo register. You can get a few notes in altissimo with some creative fingerings but they’re not really usable. The only reason you’d ever need altissimo is if you’re playing regular clarinet solos for fun, you’d never need it in a group. For 1/10th the price of the Selmer I’ll live with the limitations.
Yeah well we also got to consider that theyre the first of their kind too basically. Leblanc essentially invented this instrument. Selmer now owns LeBlanc- it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what comes next. I do agree it sucks that the paper clips don’t have trills however. I have a straight line and it does have one RH trill key. Mine is almost perfectly in tune however. But could repair for these can be very very expensive and hard to find.
Ayye, finally some recognition for my main instrument. Ive been playing it for 4 years and 3 in my bands wind ensamble and its been so fun. There seems to be a lack of videos on it and im glad you finally did one. I made all county the past 3 years on it and its been a super great experience with the contrabass. I have a tall variant so i have to sit on a stool to play and it sometines gets my back hurting but its all worth it for the most beautiful instrument
I bought a contra-alto clarinet on ebay in rough shape and got a total overhaul. Both together were way less than most used ones of the same, and I LOVE it. My new favorite clarinet!
These instruments weren't really designed with the high register in mind. As such, most Contrabass Cl. parts are usually written in the range of the string bass or tuba.
I think that's the case with many contrabass instruments in general. They're made for bass notes, though in their mid and lower high registers, they can probably play pretty well. But the high high octave is where it starts to break down. As you can probably tell from my channel icon, I have a contrabass flute. It plays beautifully! Until you hit the high E. Then...I needed to experiment with alternate fingerings and playing around with resonator keys -- use a lot of non-standard flute fingerings on this thing. I'm able to play up to the 4th octave E, though 😃 Interestingly, that E didn't require an alternate fingering.
@@WillHsuMusic there are alternate fingerings that can be used for the contra, or it's also possible to close or open certain pads to change the pitch if needed . High C on contra can be tuned with voicing and embouchure once you can get used to it
Seriously, right? I have a lousy banjo that outweighs this clarinet. Electric guitarists lug around amplifiers that would give this guy a hernia. Personally, I'm an organist. The best thing about the pipe organ is never having to carry it.
My thought, as well. This Selmer looks just like the one I was privileged to play back in the early 70's in High School. I like your expression---This is a proper looking instrument!
So my tiny friend who’s the only bass clarinet player in my band is trying to do contrabass clarinet and now that I’m seeing this I think it’s going to crush him.
this thing sounds so much better deeper richer and more resonant than the tin can sounding paperclip contras. Just my humble opinion, I am a saxophonist.
By far the cleanest most rumbly sounding instruments is by far the Contrabass Saxophone It registers extremely Low and extremely crackily at its last 4 notes which is the only terribly sad factor that you can't get a resonance but the reason is basically are ear perception softens as it goes lower so we can only hear half of what the note is instead hearing half very low notes and the vibrations in the sound waves more than the exact clarity that it would offer....same with piano and contrabass clarinet and tuba and double bass
The Eppelsheim Contrabass is around 21k quoted and has better key work than the Selmer, which although looks fantastic and beastly goes out of adjustment when you take it out of the box! The UT Wind Ensemble has put in an order for one and hopefully the Coast Guard Band that I now work for as the Bass Clarinetist will purchase one too!
Another Eppelsheim fan here. When I was choosing one he had two bores to choose from - the smaller responded much better and wasn't significantly 'smaller' in tone. Worth making the same experiment!
Bob Sax A bit of background - I play in a new music ensemble in Cologne and wasn't happy with what I could get out of my own 'paperclip' in full-ensemble pieces. So I convinced the ensemble to look at getting an Eppelsheim, trying one out first in a few concerts. I was expecting the large-bore one to be the most realistic option given what I actually wanted from the instrument. In fact the smaller-bore one had basically just as 'big' a sound but was _much_ more agile and much easier to articulate. The bore difference isn't small, either: 32mm vs 36mm...
Carl Rosman I agree, the smaller bore model is plenty effective. It's super agile and a functional instrument. Also the National Symphony Orchestra's Contrabassoonist I believe still uses an Eppelsheim Contraforte. That thing can project! I heard a Brahms Symphony No. 1 performance, which might as well have been a feature for Contraforte.
Carl Rosman Thank you Carl. I’ve played the contrabass (mostly LeBlanc) in small ensembles trying to emulate a pizzicato double bass. I find that contrbass clarinet sounds more like a double bass being bowed. Where as larger bored instruments like the tuba and bass Sax have a rounder pizzicato sound . So I assumed the larger bore would give a rounder more sine wave sound versus the square wave of the contrabass clarinet . However, it may have more to do with the conical versus cylindrical bores of those instruments? Do you happen to know what the bore is on the instrument used in the original Eppelsheim demo which was a duet with a jazz guitar?
Lol oboe reeds are even more expensive at $13-20 :3 (btw I'm not an oboist but I DO have a friend that IS and according to her, that's how expensive they are. Also, I am a flutist/flautist.)
It depends on the size of the reed. A size 4 Contrabass Clarinet reed would be £16.00 whereas (I'm guessing) a thin oboe reed would be probably £10.00 but it varies.
@@ethancampbell9096 The C. G. Conn company bought Selmer a number of years ago. As a matter of fact, Conn owns Leblanc (out of business now), Steinway, Selmer, and few dozen other companies and have for a while now.
My school owned 2 bass clarinets, I got to play the older one which was, I think, an older Selmer rosewood model. Thing is old and finnicky but god is it awesome.
I wrote a piece for concert band which employs the contra alto and contrabass clarinet. When I heard it live, it was REALLY a good sound. I'm glad I wrote for it
@@zao1590 Hi Zao! I apologize for not noticing your reply! Somehow, I landed on this video again and found my comment and your reply. My piece is called Kaalachakra (The wheel of time). The piece is on my channel! It's the second video. It'd be awesome if you could give it a listen! Thanks,
Hello, I was wondering, what was the music you played in the introduction? I play contrabass clarinet and that introduction sounded like a mixture of a ton of etudes that I played in high school.
It's probably best known as the Gigue from J. S. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite #1 (BWV 1007). Bach re-used and re-set a lot of his pieces, so it may show up in other suites for other instruments as well.
@@michaela2363 I did It for 3 years. I was quite the legend at competitions. Band directors from other schools would compliment me for my bravery and/or stupidity. They certainly aren't fun to carry for parades.
"Pound-for-pound, this instruments is more expensive ... than almost 3 Boeing 757 airplanes". It makes no sense to multiply per-pound weights by a number. Yes, you can do it mathematically but the resulting number is meaningless and your comparison makes no sense. Furthermore, just because an airplane is large doesn't make per-pound weight particularly interesting.) You may as well complain that an iPhone XS is $2562/lb. It just makes no sense. (Loved the video otherwise!)
@@earspasm Yeah, ya gotta have a sense of humor if you're going to play low winds! There's a reason that bari sax & bass clarinet players drink beer with the trombone and tuba players!
Wow. Excellent tone. A lot of Bb Contra players can't seem to get the full-bodied tone, and you end up hearing them breathing through the instrument more than you'd like.
You could flip burgers with those reeds.
bass clarinet reed isnt too large at all
Honestly they use 2x4s for reeds.
@J how822 more like the burger would break lol
You could flip wood planks with a subcontrabass saxophone reed
Thats a $1000 spatula then
“Reeds are $10 a PIECE!!!”
Me: [laughs in bassoon]
same wooden reeds for bassoons are like 15 dollars
The legere reeds for contrabass that I use are $35 for one
@@lauraking206 try about twice that. Oboe reeds are 20
@@zao1590 the legere oboe reeds are 150
yeahhh, my oboe and english horn reeds were both around $16, double reeds expensive 👀
The contrabass clarinet at our high school is called "The Big Daddy"😂😂😂
Yes daddy
@@samuelhingley7066 um
Yes Daddy uwu
Yep
BYE LMAO
I used to play this at my high school, I was a one man section.
That is me! My band teacher forgets about me all the time😂 i love the contrabass so much! How long did you play it for?
There were two of us ladies playing contrabass clarinet at my High School (class of '76) and All-County / Region completions. We had a great time!
Same!
I’m a bass and still a one person section.
I'm on Contra alto clarinet, and it's the same here, one man section, but instead, I play Bari parts due to lack of Contra alto parts
Ahh...it purrs.
If I played this instrument the vibrations would permeate my soul so deeply, every surface level stress would immediately shake off my person and melt away. I think the contrabass clarinet life would be a good life.
Stephanie Douglass wow. That was beautiful.
well you're right
it's beautiful until you can't read music from your entire head vibrating... totally worth it.
I wonder what David Murray could do with that thing.
Can confirm, Contrabass Clarinet is an amazing experience to play. The one I have access to only goes down to a low Eb though :(
A few great ideas came out of this video:
1) introducing the Swedish Meatball as a standard unit of weight.
2) Contrabass Clarinet Altissimo Concerto No. 1
3) Skipping the Country when Selmer comes looking for a return....
johnsonfromwisconsin Idea 2 is great and all until you try actually playing that and making it sound... erm... less unhappy about it. It’s pretty easy to get that high, but it is NOT easy to improve the sound of it at all.
That's exactly what I'm hoping for. :D
my selmer artisrocrat clarinet is so bad but we payed like a 1000 bucks for it
Remove the Altissimo part of that idea and i'd go for composing it
I used to play this in high school and it was the most fun instrument to play. It would vibrate so much on the low notes that I would have to memorize my music!
DO SEPTEMBER ON THAT BEAST
its not the 21st night tho
Marsel Music Exactly
It would take him until mid-October on that monster!!!
I played contrabass with my clarinet choir in college when we played September! (we played it with 4 clarinets, 2 bass clarinets, and 1 contrabass) it was so much fun!
I miss playing it lol but gosh I could never afford one of my own
But it’s... December!
As a Bass Clarinet player...
As a Bb clarinet player...
ME THOOOOOOOOO
I needdd this in my lifeeee, bass isn’t low enoughhhhhhh
im a bass player and tried a contrabass, one of the best experiences ever
I want to play this unit of a clarinet so bad
I. Love. Contrabass. Clarinet. Someday I wish to own one. It's a big dream of mine. Someday...
Thank you for making me smile with this video 😍
Ebay
So it can sit in your living room as a decorative ornament?
Contraltos better lol
I play contrabass clarinet in my school’s concert band. I switched from soprano clarinet and I do not regret my decision whatsoever. It’s a beautiful instrument and I absolutely love playing it!💜
I did the same thing, also never regretted it
I would switch to contrabass but My band director wont let me D:
Amazing! At least a few people believe in them! Which contra do you play?
$32,000?!?!?! O-O thats like the price of car!
@Kasper Nordentoft same!!!
nah give me a yamaha or selmer Bass sax over this all day.
@Kasper Nordentoft I play trombone and I would too
😱😱😱
Bling-Bling Boy or a nice vintage selmer mk6 tenor sax
3:34 Oh my gosh. It does sound like a boat. 😆
I had a chance to play really old contra bass clarinet as a member of wind ensemble in Iowa State university. All the music major clarinetist didn’t want to play contra. So i had fun. Only sad thing was my teeth hurt. Hahaha....
i understand your pain
What do you mean your teeth hurt? I'm going to be playing it part of the time next year in a high school band because the current player will be graduating. I want to find out as much as possible about playing it before then.
Ethan its the vibrations, because its such a lower register, the sound wave has a slow period, but has power to it. You don't hear the contra in a piece, you feel the contra. Lower register, at full force. you'll see what I mean. At least for me anyways. Jaemyung could have a different story.
Hey I live in Iowa. I've always wanted to play on a contrabass clarinet. My band director said he was lucky enough to play one when he was in college. Lol. Im jealous of him. If I get to play at least try one out for fun, I'll die a happy man.
Wow, that's like the opposite of flutists. EVERYONE would jump at the chance to play (or at least try) a contrabass flute or double contrabass flute haha I guess our teeth wouldn't hurt after, but omg it uses so much air, it's CRAZY!
I played this exact model at the MFA national festival in 2018 due to my school not wanting to ship ours in its disintegrating case. It was an amazing opportunity to play such an impressive instrument, but he didn't describe how painful physically and mentally it is to put this thing together. The main body splits in two, so to put it together you have to line up the 8lb upper joint with the other 8lb lower joint, or even more painfully one $15k joint with another $15k joint.
The high school that I teach physics at has 3 of these. No students were playing them, so my friend the band teacher lent me one for a couple of summers, it was super fun. Someone saw me playing one during the school year, and all of a sudden parents said that their kids wanted to play one, so now students are playing them.
I guess I was a musical inspiration!!
The low notes are amazing, they vibrate your brain, in a good way.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment we’ve all been waiting for....
EDIT: Oh wow thanks I’ve never gotten this many likes before. 🤗
I play bass clarinet for my high school and I’m in the highest band (only bass in the band) and I’ve always dreamed of a contrabass Clarinet!!
Addie Hughes I play Bass Clarinet in my school's jazz band and I also march Bass Clarinet. I tried to convince my band director to let me march Contralto Clarinet but he drew the line at Bass 😂
@@RealSoftBonerGaming Are you secretly me? Lol
@@RealSoftBonerGaming I march bass clarinet too! Its definitely interesting being the only bass clarinet player
FlurriCatGaming I wish! We don’t allow bass clarinets in marching band, so I switched over to Baritone and there aren’t any in our jazz band either so I play valve trombone for jazz band.
@@addiehughes8179 I honestly never understood why some bands don't let bass clarinets march. There's plastic versions, they can be just as loud if not louder than tenor saxes, and they also have a lot more range.
Really cool to see instruments like this in person.
But it's not in person it's in a youtube video...
I love it! The wooden model sounds sounds so much better than the metal ones
I love your channel! It's been reinvigorating my love for the bass clarinet, which I played in middle and high school. I hated bass clarinet for the longest time, but looking back now, I see how foolish I was, it was such a fun and beautiful instrument. I'll be going back to school soon, which I've been putting off, but playing the bass clarinet is one of the things I'm most looking forward to.
Here at URI, we've lovingly nicknamed the contrabass clarinet "the beast".
That's what I called the contra bassoon when I had the opportunity to play one for a few months. Reed instruments in that range deserve that name.
A true joy to travel with
Oh this is great! So nice to finally hear a contrabass clarinet played solo with a wealth of articulations and agility across its range. As a composer, I can evaluate much better the physical demands on the musican than with about all of the other examples I could find where it is always played slowly in a subdued, dark, glowering manner in the ultra low register. This is truly helpful and I thank you for that! You said you weren't used to it but very nice playing nonetheless!
Not all contras are happy with fast movement and you'll see that the contralto (narrower bore) is much more agile than the contrabass (bigger bore). In fact, there's a choice of large-or-smaller bores for the Eppelsheim Contrabass, I believe.
An octave jump within the same register means filling or emptying a several-foot column of air quickly, and that bore diameter figures into it.
Thank you Jeff for those further details. I will do my best to study them and take them into account as I write!
"The Contrabass Clarinet is Really Frickin' Heavy"
The one dude in the back who plays the eppelsheim Subcontrabass Saxophone, in which is an octave lower than a Bari sax, which is also roughly 5' 10" tall: *Oh boo hoo*
11 Penguins in a Van
sub contrabass saxophone
@@ambrosia3907 I can do you one better
11 Penguins in a Van OctoBass
I just found this today, and it gave me so much joy! I played contrabass for a couple of seasons in my high school concert band, and loved it to bits. I only gave it up because I got bronchitis the second year and couldn't summon the wind to fill it (so I cheated and switched to Eb soprano lol). Such a treat to see it demonstrated with such enthusiasm. Thank you!
Bari sax player :
Bursts through wall. GOD DAMMIT LARY YOU STOLE MY INSTRUMENT
Thank you so much for making a contra video! I get the joy of playing the Leblanc Paperclip model in my high school band. I was kind of worried at first because I wasn’t sure how the instrument would play, but it went surprisingly well, despite the reputation it has. I’m glad to see others know what a contrabass clarinet is!
Love playing the contrabass clarinet, it vibrates into your soul!!
"*Deep inhale* I'm outta breath"
Literally me
That one huge column of air to support. I'm impressed! Sounds great!!!
That is a beautiful piece. I played the bass clarinet in 8th grade band and enjoyed it.
There is something fascinating about the way you played the instrument.
I don't know if I was just in awe of the instrument or if it was your enthusiasm
I too played one in High School Concert Band. They dusted it off just for me. It was awesome. At times when the band was playing, I couldn't hear my horn, but I could feel it. Very cool instrument.
It is is amazing how expensive they are!
Thanks for this video. It is great to hear you rocking this thing
“$10 for a reed” TRY BASSOON
TRY OBOE
It's really any double reeded instrument. Whether it be the bassoon, oboe, or any other. All are pretty expensive. I'm glad my bass clarinet reeds are cheaper. 😂
Ive had to pay in the range of 12-15 dollars for Contraalto clarinet reeds, how bad are double reeds? ( I am glad my main instrument is Bb clarinet and not the Contraalto or Alto)
store-bought bassoon reeds can go anywhere from 15-26 dollars depending on where you buy them!
@@kithawthorne9525 my bari sax reads are like 15 each
I love my contrabass. I’d love to try playing one of these newer ones.
I played contrabass in high school and loved it. Thanks for the wonderful trip back down memory lane.
THE PAPER CLIP
Paper clip curls,into itself.
My school has one, but it sounds like garbage
Which One, The Paperclip or the Contrabass Clarinet? lol
I’ve got an old Leblanc paper clip contra, they can sound good if it is in good repair and is being played by someone used to the instrument. The drawback to the paper clip is that it doesn’t have trill keys or any mechanism to get you into the altissimo register. You can get a few notes in altissimo with some creative fingerings but they’re not really usable. The only reason you’d ever need altissimo is if you’re playing regular clarinet solos for fun, you’d never need it in a group. For 1/10th the price of the Selmer I’ll live with the limitations.
Yeah well we also got to consider that theyre the first of their kind too basically. Leblanc essentially invented this instrument. Selmer now owns LeBlanc- it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what comes next. I do agree it sucks that the paper clips don’t have trills however. I have a straight line and it does have one RH trill key. Mine is almost perfectly in tune however. But could repair for these can be very very expensive and hard to find.
Played this in highschool, I miss it every day
When you hardly ever have to pay for reeds
Because your mom works at a music store
And you also got a free wooden clarinet😎
Gamer time
purplecatlover1825 randompizza I am so jealousssss
Bruh thatd like the most pro gamer move in existence in combination with some hacks.
The kid who pulls up in the lime green amazon instrument
We have one of those in our symphony orchestra. I sit right behind it in the trombone section and oh my lord what a beast.
Ayye, finally some recognition for my main instrument. Ive been playing it for 4 years and 3 in my bands wind ensamble and its been so fun. There seems to be a lack of videos on it and im glad you finally did one. I made all county the past 3 years on it and its been a super great experience with the contrabass. I have a tall variant so i have to sit on a stool to play and it sometines gets my back hurting but its all worth it for the most beautiful instrument
I bought a contra-alto clarinet on ebay in rough shape and got a total overhaul. Both together were way less than most used ones of the same, and I LOVE it. My new favorite clarinet!
The high C literally sounds like a concert B rather than a Bb. Is that a problem with this particular instrument, or contrabass clarinets in general?
they're just all that way as far as I've experienced, it"s always VERY pitchy in between the break and the higher notes
These instruments weren't really designed with the high register in mind. As such, most Contrabass Cl. parts are usually written in the range of the string bass or tuba.
I think that's the case with many contrabass instruments in general. They're made for bass notes, though in their mid and lower high registers, they can probably play pretty well. But the high high octave is where it starts to break down.
As you can probably tell from my channel icon, I have a contrabass flute. It plays beautifully! Until you hit the high E. Then...I needed to experiment with alternate fingerings and playing around with resonator keys -- use a lot of non-standard flute fingerings on this thing. I'm able to play up to the 4th octave E, though 😃 Interestingly, that E didn't require an alternate fingering.
@@WillHsuMusic there are alternate fingerings that can be used for the contra, or it's also possible to close or open certain pads to change the pitch if needed . High C on contra can be tuned with voicing and embouchure once you can get used to it
you posted this right as i was going to start learning contrabass
I played contra alto in high school and my teacher constantly made me play because it sounded so pretty
Pretty is the last word I'd use to describe the sound of a cb. Its not melodic at all.
Last year in the wind ensemble at my school, we played a piece called "Give us This Day" by David Maslanka that called for contrabass clarinet
"16 pounds very heavy" lol my accordion is 12-13kg AND I WEAR IT STANDING
Seriously, right? I have a lousy banjo that outweighs this clarinet. Electric guitarists lug around amplifiers that would give this guy a hernia. Personally, I'm an organist. The best thing about the pipe organ is never having to carry it.
@@timsmith4873 the worst thing about it is that you cant take it somewhere else.
Oh...the tone of it all....love it.
My friend's brother plays that, it's an ENORMOUS instrument 😂
That was super fun!! I can't afford it, but I'd play it! I'm working on my next Bass Clarinet (low-dog) but with a low C. Never had one. :)
Alto clarinet next 😂😂
The alto clarinet is inside the bell, you just can’t see it
How sneaky of him
Contra alto plz
might as well do the basset horn, which is superior is basically every way to the E♭ alto
@@porsche911sbs not in transposition
I played the e flat contrabass in high school. I loved pulling out my b flat clarinet music and playing it. Different key, but oh so fun! 😁
The most beautiful instrument! Heard of Scherzo Fantastique by Alfred Reed? Great piece for this and the Eb Contrabass.
my life: when you are the only bass clarinet player in your high school and your band directed wants you to play bass and contrabass.. oh myyy-
I REMEMBER PLAYING THIS IN HGIHSCHOOL. My lungs wanted to die freshman year. Senior year i got pretty good. Still couldnt get the Low C in tune tho.
I used to play the "ordinary" B-flat bass clarinet, so I'm envious...
ten dollars a peice
me, a bassoon player: HAHHA
Well really the joke's on you, but i get the point
❤❤❤ My favorite clarinet 😊 Loved playing this!!
Looks like fun to play
It actually looks like a proper contraass clarinet. The paperclips look ridiculous. First time I saw one I didn't even know it was a type of clarinet.
They (paperclips) look awful. The only instrument that looks good is the contrabassoon and only of you get a decent one.
My thought, as well. This Selmer looks just like the one I was privileged to play back in the early 70's in High School. I like your expression---This is a proper looking instrument!
Subcontrabass next!
Andraciti or alto clarinet next
There is only one subcontrabass clarinet in the world and it is in unplayable condition.
@@pukalo f
(gasps) Alto clarinet, please. I wanna see that. 😁
pukalo [CDN] you’re thinking of the octocontralto
Octrocontalto is my dream instrument as a clarinet and bass clarinet player and this is one step closer thank you
I'm surprised it survived shipping with out going out of alignment!
So my tiny friend who’s the only bass clarinet player in my band is trying to do contrabass clarinet and now that I’m seeing this I think it’s going to crush him.
this thing sounds so much better deeper richer and more resonant than the tin can sounding paperclip contras. Just my humble opinion, I am a saxophonist.
Paperclip clarinets look shit
Paper clip models sound better than the newer leblanc models but Selmers sound much better than the paper clips
By far the cleanest most rumbly sounding instruments is by far the Contrabass Saxophone
It registers extremely Low and extremely crackily at its last 4 notes which is the only terribly sad factor that you can't get a resonance but the reason is basically are ear perception softens as it goes lower so we can only hear half of what the note is instead hearing half very low notes and the vibrations in the sound waves more than the exact clarity that it would offer....same with piano and contrabass clarinet and tuba and double bass
"I'm out of Breath!"
I am not surprised.
I love your channel!
The Eppelsheim Contrabass is around 21k quoted and has better key work than the Selmer, which although looks fantastic and beastly goes out of adjustment when you take it out of the box! The UT Wind Ensemble has put in an order for one and hopefully the Coast Guard Band that I now work for as the Bass Clarinetist will purchase one too!
Another Eppelsheim fan here. When I was choosing one he had two bores to choose from - the smaller responded much better and wasn't significantly 'smaller' in tone. Worth making the same experiment!
Interesting about the two different bores. I would think the larger one would give you a much better sound.
Bob Sax A bit of background - I play in a new music ensemble in Cologne and wasn't happy with what I could get out of my own 'paperclip' in full-ensemble pieces. So I convinced the ensemble to look at getting an Eppelsheim, trying one out first in a few concerts. I was expecting the large-bore one to be the most realistic option given what I actually wanted from the instrument. In fact the smaller-bore one had basically just as 'big' a sound but was _much_ more agile and much easier to articulate. The bore difference isn't small, either: 32mm vs 36mm...
Carl Rosman I agree, the smaller bore model is plenty effective. It's super agile and a functional instrument. Also the National Symphony Orchestra's Contrabassoonist I believe still uses an Eppelsheim Contraforte. That thing can project! I heard a Brahms Symphony No. 1 performance, which might as well have been a feature for Contraforte.
Carl Rosman Thank you Carl. I’ve played the contrabass (mostly LeBlanc) in small ensembles trying to emulate a pizzicato double bass. I find that contrbass clarinet sounds more like a double bass being bowed. Where as larger bored instruments like the tuba and bass Sax have a rounder pizzicato sound . So I assumed the larger bore would give a rounder more sine wave sound versus the square wave of the contrabass clarinet . However, it may have more to do with the conical versus cylindrical bores of those instruments?
Do you happen to know what the bore is on the instrument used in the original Eppelsheim demo which was a duet with a jazz guitar?
In 2015 I played a leblanc contrabass clarinet that went to low C. Much fun!
Lol oboe reeds are even more expensive at $13-20 :3 (btw I'm not an oboist but I DO have a friend that IS and according to her, that's how expensive they are. Also, I am a flutist/flautist.)
Catstuffies Tran I’m a flutist too, thank god we don’t have reeds 😂😂😂😅😅
It depends on the size of the reed. A size 4 Contrabass Clarinet reed would be £16.00 whereas (I'm guessing) a thin oboe reed would be probably £10.00 but it varies.
I’m an oboist, and mine are $20-30.
this is so cool. I played a paper clip style LeBlanc when I was in college 40 years! Yikes! More than 40 years ago! Geez I'm getting old !
swigging swoogity get this man some shoes
Mira ...heh heh. We don’t wear shoes in the house. :)
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has to continually suck in air when playing the contrabeast!
Is this instrument the reason Selmer company just got sold?
Selmer was sold????
@@ethancampbell9096 The C. G. Conn company bought Selmer a number of years ago. As a matter of fact, Conn owns Leblanc (out of business now), Steinway, Selmer, and few dozen other companies and have for a while now.
James Matheson, Jr. wrong. Conn-Selmer is owned by Steinway
My school owned 2 bass clarinets, I got to play the older one which was, I think, an older Selmer rosewood model. Thing is old and finnicky but god is it awesome.
4:46-4:55
Exactly how I feel when I play bass and we go 2 octave high C and above 😂😭
As a clarinetist myself, this is amazing
What's the cheapest you have seen? I'm 12 and asked my Dad if I could have one for Christmas but I told him the price and he said no chance.
I don't think you'll be able to handle that huge instrument at the age of twelve but maybe later in life
Francis LeStrange im 14 now and continue to have the same aspirations. i plan on trying to get one in 2 years. 12 wouldve been a bit young xD
@@jonnylpenman I think it's great that you are still inspired to play such a beautiful instrument, keep at your aspirations buddy!!
I love how the sound vibrates in the back of my throat
DO A DOUBLE CONTRA BASS
I remember my days of playing an E♭ Contralto clarinet in middle school and high school, I would hardcore love to play this beast of an instrument.
Awesome! Love It! I love your channel! First! ❤️❤️☺️👏
I wrote a piece for concert band which employs the contra alto and contrabass clarinet. When I heard it live, it was REALLY a good sound. I'm glad I wrote for it
What's it called? I'd love to check it out and see if my wind ensemble could play it
@@zao1590 Hi Zao! I apologize for not noticing your reply! Somehow, I landed on this video again and found my comment and your reply. My piece is called Kaalachakra (The wheel of time). The piece is on my channel! It's the second video. It'd be awesome if you could give it a listen!
Thanks,
Hello, I was wondering, what was the music you played in the introduction? I play contrabass clarinet and that introduction sounded like a mixture of a ton of etudes that I played in high school.
It's probably best known as the Gigue from J. S. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite #1 (BWV 1007). Bach re-used and re-set a lot of his pieces, so it may show up in other suites for other instruments as well.
@@stanrogers5613 This was exactly the cello piece. I think it was just just transposed directly for this instrument by whoever.
I play contra! It's a pain and an honor and no one else at my school (including our talented director) knows how to play it.
Our marching band has a bass clarinet but not this
imagine marching a contrabass clarinet, wilddd
@@michaela2363 I did It for 3 years. I was quite the legend at competitions. Band directors from other schools would compliment me for my bravery and/or stupidity. They certainly aren't fun to carry for parades.
@@coinfactory123 I reverted to my alto clarinet for marching......Not as brave as you, I guess!! LOL
You actually play it amazingly nice for someone who doesn't have it every day!!! Loved it
My Vito contra can only go down to low D# :/
You’re literally who I aspire to be like as a bassclarinetest lmao
Can i paypall money if u for u to give me bass clarinet lessons?
www.earspasm.com/omega/donate/ this is better! 😊
He’s on the site Play with a Pro. He has standard rates for online lessons.
This is what I know of, www.playwithapro.com/live/Michael-Lowenstern/
R0bilicious link?
@@R0bilicious ok thx
My son (middle school) just tried this instrument for the first time today. Can't wait to see this big dude in person.
"Pound-for-pound, this instruments is more expensive ... than almost 3 Boeing 757 airplanes". It makes no sense to multiply per-pound weights by a number. Yes, you can do it mathematically but the resulting number is meaningless and your comparison makes no sense. Furthermore, just because an airplane is large doesn't make per-pound weight particularly interesting.) You may as well complain that an iPhone XS is $2562/lb. It just makes no sense. (Loved the video otherwise!)
Hi Don. It's for humor, not for comparison :)
@@earspasm Yeah, ya gotta have a sense of humor if you're going to play low winds! There's a reason that bari sax & bass clarinet players drink beer with the trombone and tuba players!
Beautiful beast. I'm almost in love with it. Despite the price.
As a bass clari player, this makes me extremely happy 👌🏻
Ask your band teacher if you can switch to contrabass, I'm very glad I asked when I was in band.
we added it to our ensemble for Grainger’s Molly on the Shore. luckily we have a member who lent one to the university in trust. it was amazing
I feel bad for anyone who hasn’t played one of these they’re really fun
Wow. Excellent tone. A lot of Bb Contra players can't seem to get the full-bodied tone, and you end up hearing them breathing through the instrument more than you'd like.
So cool I just randomly found a video with this instrument and had to look it up again its amazing.
I had the pleasure to play the eb contrabass. It was very fun and made such pretty sounds. Would recommend!
I've played one of these before once upon a time. It was fun to feel the vibrations all throughout my body
Glad I got to met you, and great playing as always.