clarinet

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Wind instruments of the Western orchestra

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clarinet summary

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Arts & Culture

clarinet

musical instrument

Also known as: clarinette, klarinette

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

clarinet

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Category: Arts & Culture

French:: clarinette

German:: Klarinette

Key People:: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Johannes Brahms; Igor Stravinsky; Carl Maria von Weber; Benny Goodman

Related Topics:: basset horn; bass clarinet; reedpipe

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clarinet, single-reed woodwind instrument used orchestrally and in military and brass bands and possessing a distinguished solo repertory. It is usually made of African blackwood and has a cylindrical bore of about 0.6 inch (1.5 cm) terminating in a flared bell. All-metal instruments are made but are little used professionally. The mouthpiece, usually of ebonite (a hard rubber), has a slotlike opening in one side over which a single reed, made from natural cane, is secured by a screw clip, or ligature, or (in earlier times and still often in Germany) by string lapping. The player grips the mouthpiece, reed ...(100 of 846 words)

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