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While talking with family and friends this weekend, the topic of contrabassoon, bass sax, and contrabass/contralto clarinet arose. Don't ask why...there's little logic to it.

But I'm intriqued enough to ask...

Does your college have any or all of those instruments? Are they used in the band program?

No need to identify your specific school if you don't want, but a few details about size of the music program, types of degrees offered, etc would be nice.

I don't want to make it a poll.

My high school's wind ensemble (Highest band, 35 winds) has a contrabass clarinetist. The guy plays baritone sax normally, but he rocks the contra really well. Add that to one bass clarinet, one bari sax and one (dynamite) bassoon player and our low reeds really are a force to be crushed upon.

My school is a magnet high school and all the kinds in this ensemble auditioned and were admitted to this school for band. There have been more than a few successful alumni that Coral Reef has brought forth even though its only ten years old.

FSU had/used all of the above. The bass sax was used in the sax ensemble. UNF used none of it. I'm pretty sure they didn't have any of the above.

Nick

Yes. We have contrabassoon, bass sax, and at least a couple of contrabass clarinets. We also have a pretty significant menagerie of historical instruments (lutes, sackbuts, racketts, et al).

I attend a big ol' state school, currently ranked #1 in wrestling.

A guy I play in community band with has a BBb bass sax (Conn, 1920's), a bari sax, a BBb subcontra clarinet and the one he uses most now, Eb contra clarinet. One season he played bass clarinet parts on the BBb bass sax. It was quite interesting, because occasionally his notes would be below the tubas, creating quite a rumble. Since this community band only has bassoon, bari sax and regular bass clarinet otherwise, his acquisition of a rosewood Selmer Eb contra was the best addition, and sounds great.

My high school didn't have bass sax or contra bassoon, but had the rest of them: alto clarinet, bass clarinet (3) Eb contra clarinet, BBb subcontra clarinet, bari sax & bassoon. And 4 tubas. The sound was, well, huge.

My school's got and uses all of them.

Thanks to our Awesome Trombone Troupe we also have a Contrabass Trombone, Alto 'Bone, and Soprano 'Bone (though these have not found their way into regular ensembles, and I don't know if they ever will)

As per the second section of the question...
Ithaca College's James J. Whalen Center for Music
500-ish students.
Most of your regular bachelor's and masters degrees offered.
2 Orchestras (Chamber and Symphony)
1 Wind Ensemble
2 Bands (called Symphonic and Concert)
Brass Choir
Trombone Troupe
Tuba Ensemble
and a whole bunch of other 'strange' ensembles.

What are you guys referring to as contra-alto and contra-bass clarinets? I get a little confused about the terminology in different parts of the country/World. In descending order, here's the order I am most familiar with:

Eb clarinet (that shrill little thing that most directors only tolerate one of!)
Bb soprano clarinet (the most common)
Eb alto clarinet
Bb bass clarinet
Eb contra-bass clarinet (just a little longer than a Bb bass clarinet)
Bb contra-bass clarinet (the one that looks like a paper clip)

I also have one of those funky Linton sub-contra bass clarinets that looks like a silver Polish saxophone. I think it's pitched an octave below a regular Bb bass clarinet. Doesn't matter... I can get reeds for it, anyway.

I think the Eb contra-alto is what you have listed as Eb contrabass.. at least thats what I was thinking.

my school uses everything but the bass sax

My old high school, whose band program started in in the early 1900s, never got rid of any instruments until the year after I graduated (graduated in 1975, instruments salvaged in summer 1976). Everything was in perfect playing condition. We had all the instruments plus others, such as Db piccolos, C melody saxophones, A clarinets, and a whole array of brass instruments, which were purchased with pop bottle deposits donated to the band in 1973.

No university I came in contact with had near the variety of instruments as that school.

Yes, indeed. It is called both. I always thought it was ludicrous to call the low Eb a "contra-alto," and I don't, but that is its "proper" name. The BBb is properly called "contra bass." Although the same pitches for tubas are called bass and contra bass, and since the Bb bass clarinet is called what it is, the Eb should be called contra bass and the BBb sub contra bass. But what do I know. Here's more on the clarinet family:

http://www.contrabass.com/pages/cbcl.html

Lee University owns both a contrabassoon and a contrabass clarinet. When I was there, we would bring the contrabass clarinet on Symphonic Band tours, and we would always receive lots of questions on it - the wrap of our contrabass clarinet was very tall; it required the player to sit on a stool and would extend from the floor to several feet above her head.
The CB clarinet player would often just read Bass Clarinet parts (played down an octave) if that was all that was available.

iiipopes wrote:Yes, indeed. It is called both. I always thought it was ludicrous to call the low Eb a "contra-alto," and I don't, but that is its "proper" name. The BBb is properly called "contra bass." Although the same pitches for tubas are called bass and contra bass, and since the Bb bass clarinet is called what it is, the Eb should be called contra bass and the BBb sub contra bass. But what do I know. Here's more on the clarinet family:

http://www.contrabass.com/pages/cbcl.html

I've always thought the bass clarinet should be called a 'tenor clarinet'- that way it would be Eb alto, Bb tenor, Eb bass (instead of the silly 'contra alto'), and BBb contrabass.

I wish my band had those it wold be a fun trick to play on a tenor player

That's a pretty big assumption.


Chuck

euphoniumguy227 wrote:

LoyalTubist wrote:C melody saxophones

I wish my band had those it wold be a fun trick to play on a tenor player

Almost as funny as handing one of your piccolo players a Db picc...

going by our tenor player probably has not even heard of a melody c something mildly amusing is almost certain to happen One would think

Thus my remark, a pretty big assumption.

I heard some kids at a high school arguing about tubas before I left California last October...

"No real tuba player in history has ever played a sousaphone!"

I chuckled to myself.