Bohlen-Pierce Tenor Clarinet: Improvisation by Nora-Louise Müller

[ShinyAndTouchable]

Holy Crapoly. Your improv is kinda awesome with all the polyphonics and what not.

[masoaviator]

What key is the tenor clarinet? Eb, Bb, or C? And what's its lowest note?

[johnm307]

@masoaviator None of the above. It's not even pitched to ordinary notes.

[Moonlitwatersofaqua]

the tenor clarinet is so eerie sounding. I love it :D

[pinkpantherlover24]

Is the tenor clarinet about the same size as a bundy alto clarinet do you know??

[nomuell]

@pinkpantherlover24

This instrument is a Bohlen-Pierce tenor clarinet and uses an alternative scale system that divides the perfect twelfth into 13 steps. Thus it is something totally different than an alto clarinet. It is about the same size, but the scale and scale steps are not comparable. You can find a description of the scale and my instruments on my website.

noralouisemuller. de/BP-en.html

noralouisemuller. de/BP-en.html

All the best,

N.

[pinkpantherlover24]

@nomuell ok thank you :) I was just curious if it was about the same size.

[JoeGancher]

@pinkpantherlover24 not even close in size to an alto clarinet.

[pinkpantherlover24]

@JoeGancher oh, do you know if it is bigger or smaller?

[JoeGancher]

@pinkpantherlover24 The Tenor clarinet is bigger than an alto Sax in length. Sizes go in increasing order soprano, alto, tenor...

[pinkpantherlover24]

@JoeGancher oh, I was talking about an alto Clarinet not an alto sax.

[dwnwd]

Wow, great playing - sensitive & interesting, transporting.

[nomuell]

@dwnwd

Thanks a lot! :-)

[cyberprimate]

Nice tone. And you're good looking.

Is the tenor clarinet the same thing as the alto clarinet?

[nomuell]

@cyberprimate

This instrument is a Bohlen-Pierce tenor clarinet and uses an alternative scale system that divides the perfect twelfth into 13 steps. Thus it is something totally different than an alto clarinet. It is about the same size, but the scale and scale steps are not comparable. You can find a description of the scale and my instruments on my website.

noralouisemuller. de/BP-en.html

noralouisemuller. de/BP-en.html

All the best,

N.

[AquaTart]

me likey

[Angelica21600]

i play bass clarinet but i dont really see much difference in the 2

[lozleigh]

I have only recently become aware of the Bohlen-Pierce scale and after watching several videos of original compositions, I have noticed that the scale sounds especially sparse on stringed instruments. However, hearing this improvisation on the tenor clarinet I can truly appreciate the intrigue of it's tonal character. What a wonderful sound.

[nomuell]

@lozleigh

Hello lozleih, thank you very much for your compliment. If you feel that the Bohlen-Pierce scale sounds sparse on a string instrument, it might have to do with their spectra. The second partial, the octave, is quite present in a string sound but "disturbs" the BP scale because it does not contain any octaves. (The interval closest to the octave has the ratio 49:25, i.e. it is smaller than an octave and an dissonant interval). ....[to be continued]...

[nomuell]

In the clarinet's spectra, the second harmonic is suppressed, whilst the third harmonic (the twelfth or "tritave" in BP language) is quite dominant and clearly audible. This might help to show the characteristics of the Bohlen-Pierce scale.

[lamaspacos]

BEAUTIFUL.

[nomuell]

@lamaspacos

Thank you!

[nofx84]

Wow, really good tone. Were you playing in a really big room? Or did you add that reverb after?

[nomuell]

@nofx84

Thank you. I was playing in a very small room. My friend who made the recording added a lot of reverb, that's why it sounds like a big hall.

[HulaBulaSoundsystem]

This is the best music I've heard this year. Very good. Great playing on unusual instrument

[nomuell]

@HulaBulaSoundsystem

Hi, thank you very much for your nice compliment!