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I recently had a saxophone student perform a repertoire piece with some altissimo technique in it, and a non-woodwind-playing musician asked me afterward about the instrument’s extended range. This led to further questions about “altissimo” on other instruments. The answers are a little complicated, but here is some information:
The term “altissimo” suggests an extreme high register. The term is widely used by clarinetists and saxophonists, with essentially the same definition: pitches in the instrument’s third register or higher. Basically, this is notes above (written) F-sharp-6 for saxophones or (written) C6 for clarinets. (It’s not really that simple if you factor in alternate fingerings: a clarinetist, for example, might use a trill fingering to produce a D6 in the second register, or a saxophonist might use a “front” fingering to produce E6 or F6 in the third register.) For clarinetists, using some of the altissimo register is a pretty basic technique, part of the instrument’s “standard” range (which extends maybe to G6, depending on who you ask), and accessible to, say, an intermediate-level high school student. For saxophonists, altissimo is viewed as a more advanced technique, outside the “standard” range, perhaps accessible to college-level musicians or motivated high schoolers.
The word “altissimo” isn’t used much in the flute and double reed worlds, though those instruments’ third registers are widely used even by intermediate-level players. (Christopher Redgate does use the term in his writings about oboe extended techniques, but arbitrarily defines it as beginning at G6, well into the instrument’s third register.) The flute’s third register begins (basically) at D6, the oboe’s at C-sharp-6, and the bassoon’s at E-flat-4.
the lowest pitch (written) of each woodwind’s third register
In short, all of the woodwinds do have an “altissimo” range in the sense that they have a third register and higher. But not all of them use that terminology, and those that do differ on whether the altissimo range is “standard” or an extended technique.
There is a long tradition of using small orchestras in musical theater as a money- and space-saving consideration. Presumably, if budgets and orchestra pit square footages were unlimited, full symphonic orchestras would be used for theater like they are for movies, with an 8-12(+)-piece orchestral woodwind section, plus perhaps a 5-piece saxophone section. But let’s go back a few decades and examine the compromises. Here are a couple of examples:
The Flower Drum Song orchestration uses a 6-piece woodwind section. The bassoons, sadly, are the first thing to go. The principal flutist has to double on both piccolo and alto flute, an uncommon compromise in the orchestral repertoire, where the doubling is often relegated to an auxiliary flute part to allow the principal to be at his or her soloistic best on a single instrument. (The second flutist also doubles piccolo, which is a bit more common.) Similarly, the oboist pulls double-duty as soloist on both oboe and English horn. The full clarinet section is expected to double not on auxiliary clarinets, but on saxophones.
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is not quite as demanding on individual woodwind players; the first flute part does include piccolo (again, this is not typical symphonic-orchestral thinking), and the bass clarinetist doubles on saxophone. The double reed section is eliminated completely.
44 years later, Flower Drum Song’s woodwind section has shrunken from six musicians to four, but the number of instruments has boomed from 13 to 25. The first flutist is expected to play some “world” woodwinds in addition to an array of orchestral flutes, and the other three woodwind players each cover instruments from three or four woodwind families, with multiple members from at least one of those families.
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’s revival after 33 years drops the woodwind section from five musicians down to one. The lone woodwind player covers seven instruments from (arguably) five families: two flutes, a clarinet, two saxophones, a recorder, and a kazoo (which, despite being vaguely woodwind-like in form, is not one). As the only player of each of these instruments, this musician should expect to be prepared to sound like a convincing soloist on each.
Based on these examples and others, two trends seem to be emerging in theater orchestrations:
Fewer woodwind players.
More colorful orchestrations. In the case of both of these shows, the new orchestrations are not simply a slimming-down of a too-expensive woodwind section—new sounds are being introduced. In some cases these might be meant to rebalance the orchestra due to cuts in other sections, but it also seems that recent orchestrations involve creative choices tending toward a broader aural palette.
Both of these mean greater demands upon woodwind players. 21st-century woodwind players need to be able to play a greater number of instruments, from a pool no longer limited to the orchestral woodwinds and saxophones, at a soloist level on each instrument. The common 20th-century clarinet/saxophone or flute/clarinet/saxophone doubler may find him- or herself less employable than in previous years, and less able to hide in the section on a weaker double. Double reeds are a must, and so are auxiliary instruments (piccolo, larger flutes, English horn, clarinets and saxophones of any size) and world or historical woodwinds.
As the number of woodwind chairs shrinks and the standards of musicianship and versatility rise, the specialist and the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none will both be out of a job, and the rare jack-of-all-trades-master-of-each will become an increasingly hot property.
On the flute, there are several notes that have identical fingerings: each note from bottom-line E through third-space C-sharp has exactly the same fingering as the note an octave higher. Obviously, some factor other than fingerings must account for the octaves, but flutists as a group seem to be unclear on what it is.
I got curious and dug through some pedagogical sources to see what flutists have published about it. I have compiled my findings into a chart:
I have started from the baseline of the lowest octave’s tone production methods, and framed the authors’ ideas in terms of what has to be done to move into higher octaves. And I’ve grouped the answers together as best I can, hopefully with reasonable accuracy as to the authors’ intended meanings. For example, “move jaw” and “move jaw forward” obviously overlap, but I separated them to try to maintain the authors’ original levels of specificity. And “jaw” and “chin” may really be the same thing for most flute-playing purposes, but I’ve separated in them in a case where the author seemed to see them as distinct.
Some of the authors address the issue specifically and in detail, while others just mention something in passing, so the chart does not necessarily represent their complete and definitive views. I have provided a bibliography with page numbers so you can read the authors’ words in context, and I highly recommend doing this if you’re interested in the topic. I’ve color-coded things so you can see at a glance which ideas are most popular, though I don’t think this is an issue to be settled by popular vote.
There are some surprising outliers. Most authors who mentioned the size of the aperture indicated that it should get smaller in the upper octaves, but a couple insisted that it should not change. Several authors indicated that the distance from the aperture to the blowing edge decreases for upper registers, but one said it actually increases. There’s significant disagreement on whether blowing harder is part of achieving the higher octaves.
I think some of the differences of opinion shown in the chart may be due to flutists actually doing the same things but describing them differently. It’s also possible that the techniques listed can be combined in different ways to create different tone production “recipes” that produce similar results.
I’m interested in continuing to expand this in the future. If you can point me toward a published source, then send it along (I’m not really interested in anecdotes or private opinions), or let me know if you think I have misread or misinterpreted someone’s views (especially if you’re the author!). Read More “Changing octaves on the flute: a survey of published opinions”
I have been following with interest the discussion on the web of the new synthetic clarinet reeds by Forestone. A few days ago, the distinguished Sherman Friedland posted an absolutely glowing review:
The Forestone reeds marks the beginning of a totally new era in the development of reeds, all reeds. It is a new beginning because these reeds are reeds which totally duplicate the feeling and response of cane. It surpasses any reed currently being sold which is not made from cane which has been grown, harvested and then cut. It does have a tremendous advantage in consistency in that it does not have to be warmed up and soaked. . . .
What this means is that it is just a matter of time before cane reeds as such, become obsolete.
In the same post, Mr. Friedland discusses the new Légère “Signature” reeds, which he finds to be an improvement over the standard Légère, but still not as good as the Forestone. [Update: see my review of the Légère Signature Series clarinet reeds.]
I have not yet tried the Forestones myself, but have used the standard Légères at times, especially for contrabass clarinets. For the very large clarinets, I had a great deal of trouble keeping cane reeds from warping, even during the course of a two-hour rehearsal; the plastic reeds have a clear advantage in this department.
Forestone, Légère, and a bad-news cheapie
In my high school marching band days, I was required to use an inexpensive, brittle plastic saxophone reed. In my opinion, these are not suitable for professional playing. Neither are the plastic oboe or bassoon reeds currently on the market.
I do think it likely that, within my lifetime, I will see plastic single reeds take over in a big way. I expect there will be a few purists who will insist on cane, despite its obvious shortcomings, claiming that nothing sounds like good, old-fashioned cane. I think this blindfold test from Légère shows that plastic definitely can sound very much like cane, and will likely be indistinguishable very soon. Read More “Thoughts on plastic reeds”
There are three things to consider when evaluating a reed. I consider these same factors for either single or double reeds, and prioritize them in this order.
Response. The overriding concern for me is that the reed responds exactly as I expect it to. A reed that is stiff, sluggish, stuffy, or otherwise unresponsive isn’t a good reed (at least in its current state), even if it “has a good sound” or whatever. Many reed players, I believe, are consistently using reeds that are overly stiff, often in the name of “good” tone.
Stability. This is the flip side of the coin from response; a reed that is too responsive is uncontrollable. (Think of the gas pedal and brake in a car: unresponsive pedals make the car feel lethargic, but overly responsive ones make for a jerky ride.) With an unstable reed, it’s hard to play in tune, hard to control dynamics, and hard to keep the tone consistent.
Tone. Once I’ve selected a reed that has the right balance between response and stability, I evaluate the reed’s contribution to tone quality. Remember that the reed is only one of many factors that affect tone, and that tone is relatively easy to manipulate if the reed is responsive and stable. Resist the temptation to rank your reeds based on their tone alone.
In general, I’m not that concerned about keeping fingers close to instrument keys. A lot of woodwind players and teachers seem to believe that “close” fingers mean more speed, which I haven’t found necessarily to be the case. To me, a much larger factor is tension: if my fingers are tense (because, for example, I’m trying really hard to keep them close to the keys), they move more slowly.
But when I work with beginning clarinetists (whether first-time instrumentalists or doublers), many of them seem to have a great deal of trouble with squeaks and with notes responding sluggishly—problems that I think in most cases can be traced to fingers not completely covering toneholes, or not covering them in a synchronized way. And one of the major reasons that this happens is that the fingers are too detached from from the keys. It’s not a question of distance, per se, but one of awareness.
One reason this is such an issue for clarinetists in particular is that so many fingers have multiple jobs. The left thumb operates a tonehole/ring and a key, which must sometimes be pressed individually and sometimes together. The left index finger has a tonehole/ring and two keys. The right index finger has a tonehole/ring and four “side” keys. And the pinky fingers have responsibilities exceeded only by the bassoonist’s thumbs. Throw in a couple of sliver keys, and you’ve got a lot of fingers constantly in transit from one key to another. Read More “Staying connected to the clarinet”
The clarinet being lucky to have a 19-note first register (from E3 to Bb4), why doesn’t the third register start another 19 notes beyond this, that is, at E6? Same might be said about the bassoon too, after exhausting the second register, the third register should technically start at F#4.
I’m not sure in what sense you mean that the registers “should” start at certain notes. They do start at those notes because using fingerings based on those particular overtones are thought to have the best combination of pitch, tone, and response. For example, it’s possible to play B-natural4 on clarinet using a side-key fingering, but that’s generally used only for special circumstances because it just doesn’t work as well as the second-register fingering.
I guess what I’m getting at is, there is some overlap between the second and third registers. Excluding the trill keys you mentioned (there to bridge the gap over the break) and only including the notes of the core octave (E3-Bb4), the second register technically goes a twelfth higher (B4-F6), and the third register 2 octaves and a major third higher (G#5-D7). So the notes in the G#5-F6 interval have technically 2 possible realizations, but somehow the third register is said to start at C#6?
Does the end of the second register sound that bad on the clarinet? Same with the bassoon that switches to the third register before the end of its regular second register (I even found a resource that qualified E4 at the top of this register a “fake”/”false”/”invented” fingering, when it’s just the regular overblown E of the fundamental octave).
On the other hand, the saxophone makes full use of its second register (and even adds a couple more notes to it, as you mentioned) and there doesn’t seem to be a need to switch to the third register halfway through it.
I was just wondering ;)
Thx
Which register you are in depends on which natural harmonic you are currently using. If that doesn’t suit your way of thinking, your dispute is with the laws of physics, not with me or with woodwind pedagogy.
When there is overlap between the registers, we have choices about fingerings, and can select the best ones for the situation.
I’m not trying to dispute anything or push whatever way of thinking, sorry if I’m sounding like that. It definite is more a physics / acoustics related question. I was just surprised at the difference between the saxophone in the one hand and the clarinet/bassoon in the other.
I am curious to learn more about the choice of the bassoon altissimo beginning on Eb4. The transitions into altissimo on the other woodwinds makes sense to me as their finger combinations begin anew (from no tone holes closed to at least one closed when entering this range) but with this, for me, does not constitute the bassoon’s altissimo range to transition from Eb4 to E4. Would it not make more sense for it to begin at the transition from D5 to Eb5 given the drastic shift in open tone holes and ventilation in the left thumb as forked fingerings are commonplace for both modern and historic bassoons? For example, the patterns for most third octave ranges and higher on all woodwinds is based on manipulations of the harmonic series. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Which register you are in depends on which natural harmonic you are currently using, not your fingerings. In some cases the fingerings appear to follow logically, and in some cases they may not.
Altissimo is when you start using 3rd or higher partial notes, that is, the notes above the fundamental octave (1st partial) and the overblown octave (2nd partial).
On the bassoon, the fundamental octave goes from F2 to F3, the overblown octave goes from F#3 to D4. Note that D#4-F4 could also be overblown but the sound is weak.
So the altissimo range starts with D#4, which is a 3rd partial G2. Note that higher partials on the bassoon are sharper and sharper, so that the expected 3rd partial of G2, D4, sounds like D#4. The fingering for this note (xxo|xxx) with an open LH3 hole is the sign of a 3rd partial fingering, since it opens a vent on a third of the tube’s length. The overblown 2nd partial G3 opens the vent halfway (/xx|xxx). The 4th partial is technically G5, but sounding as G#5, venting on both half and quarter of the tube’s length (/xx|oxx). The 5th partial is technically B5, but sounding as C#6, venting on 1/5 and 2/5 along the tube’s length (x/x|x/x) or (d xox|xox venting another 1/5-length point with the high D key). The 6th partial is technically D5, but sounding as E5 (also called “harmonic E”), venting on half and third of the tube’s length (/xx C#|xxx).
Note also that the lowest altissimo note is not D#4 but C#4. This note has a short fingering belonging to the overblown octave (2nd partial), while the long fingering is a 3rd partial of F2 (technically C4, but sounding as C#4).
After re-reading your comment, I have the impression that it might just be a misunderstanding in the octave naming convention. Altissimo starts at D# above middle C (xxo|xxx) after which the pattern of forking and ventilation in the thumb changes drastically, as you said.
The clarinet being lucky to have a 19-note first register (from E3 to Bb4), why doesn’t the third register start another 19 notes beyond this, that is, at E6? Same might be said about the bassoon too, after exhausting the second register, the third register should technically start at F#4.
I’m not sure in what sense you mean that the registers “should” start at certain notes. They do start at those notes because using fingerings based on those particular overtones are thought to have the best combination of pitch, tone, and response. For example, it’s possible to play B-natural4 on clarinet using a side-key fingering, but that’s generally used only for special circumstances because it just doesn’t work as well as the second-register fingering.
I guess what I’m getting at is, there is some overlap between the second and third registers. Excluding the trill keys you mentioned (there to bridge the gap over the break) and only including the notes of the core octave (E3-Bb4), the second register technically goes a twelfth higher (B4-F6), and the third register 2 octaves and a major third higher (G#5-D7). So the notes in the G#5-F6 interval have technically 2 possible realizations, but somehow the third register is said to start at C#6?
Does the end of the second register sound that bad on the clarinet? Same with the bassoon that switches to the third register before the end of its regular second register (I even found a resource that qualified E4 at the top of this register a “fake”/”false”/”invented” fingering, when it’s just the regular overblown E of the fundamental octave).
On the other hand, the saxophone makes full use of its second register (and even adds a couple more notes to it, as you mentioned) and there doesn’t seem to be a need to switch to the third register halfway through it.
I was just wondering ;)
Thx
Which register you are in depends on which natural harmonic you are currently using. If that doesn’t suit your way of thinking, your dispute is with the laws of physics, not with me or with woodwind pedagogy.
When there is overlap between the registers, we have choices about fingerings, and can select the best ones for the situation.
I’m not trying to dispute anything or push whatever way of thinking, sorry if I’m sounding like that. It definite is more a physics / acoustics related question. I was just surprised at the difference between the saxophone in the one hand and the clarinet/bassoon in the other.
I am curious to learn more about the choice of the bassoon altissimo beginning on Eb4. The transitions into altissimo on the other woodwinds makes sense to me as their finger combinations begin anew (from no tone holes closed to at least one closed when entering this range) but with this, for me, does not constitute the bassoon’s altissimo range to transition from Eb4 to E4. Would it not make more sense for it to begin at the transition from D5 to Eb5 given the drastic shift in open tone holes and ventilation in the left thumb as forked fingerings are commonplace for both modern and historic bassoons? For example, the patterns for most third octave ranges and higher on all woodwinds is based on manipulations of the harmonic series. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Which register you are in depends on which natural harmonic you are currently using, not your fingerings. In some cases the fingerings appear to follow logically, and in some cases they may not.
Altissimo is when you start using 3rd or higher partial notes, that is, the notes above the fundamental octave (1st partial) and the overblown octave (2nd partial).
On the bassoon, the fundamental octave goes from F2 to F3, the overblown octave goes from F#3 to D4. Note that D#4-F4 could also be overblown but the sound is weak.
So the altissimo range starts with D#4, which is a 3rd partial G2. Note that higher partials on the bassoon are sharper and sharper, so that the expected 3rd partial of G2, D4, sounds like D#4. The fingering for this note (xxo|xxx) with an open LH3 hole is the sign of a 3rd partial fingering, since it opens a vent on a third of the tube’s length. The overblown 2nd partial G3 opens the vent halfway (/xx|xxx). The 4th partial is technically G5, but sounding as G#5, venting on both half and quarter of the tube’s length (/xx|oxx). The 5th partial is technically B5, but sounding as C#6, venting on 1/5 and 2/5 along the tube’s length (x/x|x/x) or (d xox|xox venting another 1/5-length point with the high D key). The 6th partial is technically D5, but sounding as E5 (also called “harmonic E”), venting on half and third of the tube’s length (/xx C#|xxx).
Note also that the lowest altissimo note is not D#4 but C#4. This note has a short fingering belonging to the overblown octave (2nd partial), while the long fingering is a 3rd partial of F2 (technically C4, but sounding as C#4).
This is a great explanation! Thanks!
After re-reading your comment, I have the impression that it might just be a misunderstanding in the octave naming convention. Altissimo starts at D# above middle C (xxo|xxx) after which the pattern of forking and ventilation in the thumb changes drastically, as you said.