chalumeau

chalumeau, plural Chalumeaux, also called Mock Trumpet, single-reed wind instrument, forerunner of the clarinet. Chalumeau referred to various folk reed pipes and bagpipes, especially reed pipes of cylindrical bore sounded by a single reed, which was either tied on or cut in the pipe wall.

The chalumeau is a folk instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day clarinet. It has a cylindrical bore with eight tone holes (seven in front and one in back for the thumb) and a broad mouthpiece with a single heteroglot reed (i.e. separate, not a continuous part of the instrument's body) made of cane.

The instrument is similar to a clarinet in its construction and sound but its timbre is warmer and softer, it has a conical canal and a singular reed. It was made in the 17th and 18th century in different versions – soprano, alto, tenor, bass.

17th century The predecessor of the clarinet, the chalumeau first appeared at the end of the 17th century and quickly gained popularity with composers from the beginning of the 18th century into the early classical period.

The chalumeau was a development of the recorder, with an added reed. It is first documented in an inventory of instruments belonging to a German duke in 1687.

The clarinet had a key on the back that was higher and smaller than the chalumeau's and a register tube for the overblown register. The bore was larger than the chalumeau; it was about the size of a modern Bb instrument. The clarinet bell was larger and had a definite flare to its bore.

The Chalumeau is a woodwind instrument with a single reed. It is now rarely played, but it has an important place in musical history because it was a forerunner of the modern clarinet.

The clarinet evolved from the chalumeau, a name used to describe a woodwind instrument equipped with single or double reeds during the Middle Ages (the chalumeau is also the ancestor of the oboe). This instrument was used in many musical works, all the way up until the 18th century.

The chalumeau was a development of the recorder, with an added reed. It is first documented in an inventory of instruments belonging to a German duke in 1687. Aerophone: an instrument that produces its sound by the vibration of a column of air.