![]() Alto players don't usually have extensive solo parts. Nevertheless, an alto clarinettist will always have a B-flat clarinet that can be used optionally, so that one does not get bored in pieces in which there is no alto voice. In the larger wind orchestras there is always a need for an alto clarinet, and the more demanding pieces usually will have a voice for this instrument. In rather small numbers, excellent instruments are rather expensive. The beautiful and "sonore" sound combined with a practical size and good looks makes it an attractive instrument. You find alto clarinets in harmony and wind bands, large symphonic bands (like high school bands) or clarinet choirs, but hardly ever in classical symphony orchestras (there you'd rather find the basset horn). A wooden bass clarinet is too heavy for holding it while you play. Because the funnel is bent, too, the whole clarinet can be built in roughly the same hight as a Bb clarinet and it is usually played just holding it with your hands (with an optional neck strap or a long metal thorn), while bass clarinets really need to have a thorn to be placed standing on the ground. The bent barrel is both an aesthetically feature but also allows the player to hold head and mouth in a normal position while the instrument is fully vertical (while B-flat clarinets are held in 45 degree to the body). Today both have the characteristic bend in the barrel, with a barrel that is usually made of metal, and they usually have a metal funnel like a bass clarinet. They are alto voices, about half an octave below the "normal" B flat clarinet. The alto-clarinet and the modern form of the bassett horn are looking very similar. ![]()
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