Compendium of Sonic Possibilities of the Contrabass Clarinet: A Study of Cross-Compatibility and Composer Collaboration

Alder, Jason William (2021) Compendium of Sonic Possibilities of the Contrabass Clarinet: A Study of Cross-Compatibility and Composer Collaboration. Doctoral thesis (PhD), The Royal Northern College of Music in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Compendium of Sonic Possibilities of the Contrabass Clarinet: A Study of CrossCompatibility and Composer Collaboration is a resource for composers and performers detailing the use of contemporary techniques on the contrabass clarinet. Due to a lack of standardisation of the instrument, the results of using these techniques can vary greatly between instruments from different manufacturers. This resource discusses new and known techniques from the clarinet and wind-instrument lexicon, noting their differences when played on the contrabass clarinet, with particular focus on the cross-compatibility between instruments from the three most-used manufacturers – Leblanc, Selmer, and Eppelsheim. Through collaboration with composers, new techniques were developed with ways of composing for them. Included are fingering charts for the altissimo register, quarter-tones, multiphonics, colour-fingering combinations, and double trills for each of the three contrabass clarinets, audio and video examples of many of the techniques performed on each instrument, and recordings of new compositions created through the collaborative process and improvisations demonstrating the use of the techniques. The results of this thesis bring greater attention to the contrabass clarinet and provide tools for promoting its use among composers and performers.