Dominic Rivers 10/15/14 Music History 7th Mr. Runnels Clarinet A clarinet is a woodwind instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece, a cyndrical tube with a flared end, and holes stopped by keys. Musicians used the chalumeau, which was considered a true reed instrument. Johann Denner a German flute maker improved the instrument by inventing the speaker key. Johann is highly regarded as the inventor of the clarinet. The clarinet went through a lot of improvements and innovations during the late 1700s. The 13 key model was developed by Iwan Muller. The single reed had moved from the top to touching the musician’s bottom lip. Rings were added around the holes by Hyacinthe E. Klose and August Buffet. The clarinet was a favorite of famous composers such as, Mozart and Hayden. In 1800 Theobald Boehm …show more content…
For the hole to achieve its perfect shape it has to be small on the outside and larger inside. The clarinet maker uses a small tool, which placed in the tone hole to expand the other side of the hole. Tiny holes next to the tone holes are drilled in for holding the key mechanism. Some clarinets were made out of a tropical wood located in Jamaica. In the mid-1800s French designers made clarinets out of ebony, a hefty, dark wood located in Africa. But slowly the material became known as African Blackwood, which resembles ebony but is a lot less heavy and brittle. African Blackwood is what most modern clarinet bodies are made out of. It is this hefty, dark wood that gives clarinets their characteristic color. Clarinets also come in silver and bass. The clarinet mouthpiece is made out of hard rubber called ebonite. The clarinet mouthpiece is made out of a kind of hard rubber called ebonite. The keys are almost always German silver, which is made from copper, zinc, and nickel. It looks like pure silver, but it does not tarnish, or