Contrabass clarinet

The contrabass clarinet (also pedal clarinet, after the <a href="/facts/Pedal_keyboard/BC3MTcrJ">pedals</a> of <a href="/facts/Pipe_organ/F3CIPMwS">pipe organs</a>) and <a href="/facts/Contra-alto_clarinet/Lta8sb9c">contra-alto clarinet</a> are the two largest members of the <a href="/facts/Clarinet_family/DRcf8Dve">clarinet family</a> that are in common usage. Modern contrabass clarinets are <a href="/facts/Transposing_instrument/GKoGFKmo">transposing instruments</a> pitched in B♭, sounding two octaves lower than the common B♭ <a href="/facts/Soprano_clarinet/D4JfXlDG">soprano clarinet</a> and one octave below the <a href="/facts/Bass_clarinet/nKveIQy8">bass clarinet</a>. Some contrabass clarinet models have extra keys to extend the range down to low written E♭3, D3 or C3. This gives a tessitura written range, notated in treble clef, of C3 – F6, which sounds B♭0 – E♭4. Some early instruments were pitched in C; <a href="/facts/Arnold_Schoenberg/o9xuyDwC">Arnold Schoenberg</a>'s <a href="/facts/Five_Pieces_for_Orchestra/JjYVx2QD">Fünf Orchesterstücke</a> specifies a contrabass clarinet in A, but there is no evidence such an instrument has ever existed.
The smaller E♭ contra-alto clarinet is sometimes referred to as the "E♭ contrabass clarinet" and is pitched one octave lower than the E♭ alto clarinet.
Two models of subcontrabass clarinet (the octocontra-alto and octocontrabass) were built as prototypes by <a href="/facts/Leblanc_(musical_instrument_manufacturer)/yvxGuV7W">Leblanc</a> in the 1930s and survive in the Leblanc museum.

Contrabass clarinet open-in-new

Contrabass clarinet