Introducing the Chalumeau

[@balalaikabeginner]

What a beautiful sounding instrument!

[@katherinespencer1900]

Thank you

[@flexprog3374]

The reason why it so low is the cylindrical bore/single reed configuration. It means in terms of physics the air in the instrument resonates with a primary wave than is two times longer than the instrument. This is two times lower than most other wind instruments like recorders and oboes which are conical (or closed at one end like flutes) and resonate at the length of the instrument. Modern clarinet also have that feature, and they indeed have a very low register compared to the size of the instrument as well. An oboe for example, is more or less the same size as a clarinet but the clarinet goes much lower. Interestingly enough, this cylindrical shape is also why the clarinet overblows to the twelfth and not the octave like other wind instruments. In the case of the chalumeau, that means there is no attainable high register, which makes for a instrument very low for its size, but also unable to go to the high notes that you would expect.

[@katherinespencer1900]

Well thank you very much for that I’m very much enlightened.

[@victoreijkhout6146]

Your analysis is correct, but I don't think the single reed has anything to do with it. The Duduk is a double reed, and because of its cylindrical bore it also has that low sound. (Btw, it took me forever to find an explanation of what's going on with the oboe. "r sin(r)" is the operative term.) It's the fact that the reed of whatever type makes it a stopped pipe.

[@EM-pt7ch]

@Flexprog thank you so very much for the science behind this instument! 🎶🎉🎶. I have always loved the lower register instruments and as beautifully surprised by this one.

[@Cornodebassetto]

Actually they can play in the high register, the Fasch concerto goes quite high, I know from experience having performed it on soprano chalumeau

[@Rik77]

Really interesting thanks. Just a side query... the modern flute is cylindrical, not conical. Yet has the same properties you describe as being inherent in conical bore instruments. Is there something different about the modern flute, is it because it is metal usually?

[@harknessmusic6654]

I actually made a chalumeau for a music appreciation class I took: had to make an instrument, and, as an amateur woodworker, figured I could do it. Jumped almost 10 feet when I blew the first note on it (I knew it was supposed to be low, but it still surprised me). I should get it out again, and maybe make the rest of the consort....

[@katherinespencer1900]

Sounds a very good plan go for it

[@TonyBittner-Collins]

Please do. 🎼🎶💕

[@idraote]

If you got to manufacture a chalumeau you are quite a skilled amateur woodworker :O

[@mahlonrhoades4509]

where did you find the plans?

[@mahlonrhoades4509]

I am a retired instrument maker - made harps for Lyon and Healy for about 15 years and did violin restoration in Chicago and built mechanical action pipe organs in Melbourne Australia. I'd love to know where you found the information to make one of these.

[@eelsafety]

the woman explaining this is adorable, so passionate

[@Vague05]

I know, it's a pleasure to watch.

[@gblan]

...and an excellent musician to boot!

[@JohnMcPhersonStrutt]

A pleasure to watch and to listen.

[@JustFiddler]

indeed

[@argonwheatbelly637]

It's lovely. Like a reedy recorder, but without the brassy conical sound of the sax. Sounds like it can hold its own nicely, in a consort or not.

[@mattmiller8614]

I think you’re trying to say clarinet

[@argonwheatbelly637]

@@mattmiller8614 : No. I meant sax.

[@argonwheatbelly637]

Ahhh... you meant as compared to the recorder... no, a reedy recorder is not a clarinet. Rather different.

[@argonwheatbelly637]

@emilianoturazzi : It's had nothing to do with form. I was commenting on the sound. I know about clarinets and their registers. It was meant to help those who only know recorder.

[@argonwheatbelly637]

@emilianoturazzi : Essentially... but I was simply pointing it out for recorder players.

[@jared_bowden]

I really like the sound of this instrument, a lot more than I thought I was going to. It sounds to me like a clarinet, but slightly warmer and sweeter. At first I thought 'it sounds like the clarinet's low range' and then they mention at 6:20 that the clarinet's low range was actually based off it.

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

What a lovely use of vibrato in the first tune. I also love the slightly less dense sound as compared to the modern clarinet; The owl analogy is super accurate. This combined with the oboe sounding like a duck if a duck could sing like a lark and the flute sounding like a regular songbird, I'm really starting to fill out my woodwind ornithology catalogue😇. It's nice that some instruments aren't meant to sound like the human voice.

[@angelicamartacahyaningtyas9083]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZSrqKaDjNCmidk You miss Vox Humana stop on pipe organ. It is supposed to mimic male voice, but to my ears it sounds more like kermit the frog.

[@kazeppa]

I think some organs have a mode called vox humana

[@signeandersson3990]

Lovley🎶🙏🎶

[@graupner1345]

This is a really fantastic introduction to this wonderful instrument - thank you! I do have to set the record straight on Graupner though. I don't understand why he is so often introduced as a "harpsichord player" and not a "composer" or as the capellmeister (for nearly 50 years!) of the court of Hesse-Darmstadt. In fact he was one of the most prolific composers that history has produced. He probably did not compose quite as much as Mr Music himself (Telemann) but a closer inspection of Graupner's music reveals significantly more invention, emotional depth, and, over his lifetime, style development, than his contemporary. His around 1400 cantatas (83 involving at least one chalumeau) would take over 2 weeks to play through if performed 24/7! Moreover, his collaboration with his librettist brother in law, Johann Conrad Lichtenberg, amounts to the most productive librettist-composer relationship in German and possible any language *of all time*! So one wonders how much more he would have to have composed to be properly recognised as a composer! And then the portrait. There is sadly no portrait of Graupner - we will never see his likeness. However, due to the double edged sword that is the image search engine, many people now mistakenly use one of two portraits of other men for Graupner. The first is the portrait of his boss, Landgrave Ernst-Ludwig. The second, the one in your video, is actually of Johann Christoph Bach. That portrait has become associated with Graupner because of another common misconception (not propagated in your video!), that Graupner's full name is Johann Christoph Graupner. In fact his name is just Christoph Graupner. However, he did have a son with the name Johann Christoph Graupner, which is how the name confusion first arose! Here is a wonderful example of the chalumeau in action in a Graupner cantata (video starts at 1.29.52): kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3a5gmpjo7yZea8 (I call it the "peppa pig chorale")

[@capitantrueno6403]

Thanks for your video. I have three C chalumeaux ( two from Sansluthier, Spain, and a Tupian chalumeau, German, I think). They are marvellous instruments and I can asure you I have a great time playing them. Best wishes from Spain.

[@pierrebidkhanian3135]

where can i buy a decent quality one or a starting chalumeau, ive been playing recording for like 10 years... i love it but i want to start playing the chalumeau too...

[@katherinespencer1900]

Many of the historical clarinet makers make them such as guy Cowley and van de poel

[@rafaelfernandeslopesdeoliv1700]

I think the early music shop from the uk might have a few.

[@jackhughesbooks]

Lovely tone. The consort pieces were utterly charming. And thank you for the history of the instrument

[@katherinespencer1900]

My pleasure

[@andrewmaud4847]

What an absolute delight. Have always wanted to know about the chalumeau. An owl singing in the breeze. Thank you!

[@AidanMmusic96]

I love Graupner's music - he wrote a brilliant Sinfonia featuring the timpani. It's apparently thanks to him rejecting the position at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig that Bach gained the recognition he had in his lifetime.

[@katherinespencer1900]

Interesting

[@graupner1345]

He implemented a major development in composition for the timpani which sadly, due to the impounding of his music after his death, did not spread to the developing classical style. I am talking about the use of more than the "baroque standard" of two timpani. In fact he composed 68 cantatas which included 3, 4 and on three occasions, 5 drums. With the latter, the timpani can often play along with the bass instruments! Here is one of his last works, the 1753 Christmas cantata which includes 4: kzbin.info/www/bejne/en6Zkn6qg6aokKM

[@ChrisLeeW00]

I 3d printed one that uses a regular clarinet mouthpiece, and the low register always gets a wow from people!

[@debbiej.2168]

Where did you get the directions for this?

[@TheodoreBrown314]

Are the STLs for this public? Ngl I wouldn't mind seeing what it's like to play one of these

[@zeldathomas3498]

You know it's getting serious when the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is calling out purists

[@katherinespencer1900]

Ha!

[@bihayalimyok300]

I literally saw this instrument in my dream today. Someone gave me this and said "took this clarinet and play" I started to play but then I think "wait a minute this is not a clarinet but I don't know what is this. Looks like recorder but sounds like a clarinet" The only difference is mine was red. And now I saw this video. I don't know if this is a sign

[@dancostello6465]

Everything I ever learned about chaleumeau was from a Carthusian monk named Carl. Miss Carl eternally haven't seen him for over 40 years. He's long gone to Heaven. He was a loving and kind teacher. Would play chaleumeau for us and make glass. He loved Graupner. Jesus blessed us when he made Carl.

[@shritan0]

It sounds like a “woodier” clarinet sound if that makes sense

[@vrajesvari108]

The performance here of La Speranza is just so so good. Please post more videos of Chalumeau pieces like that

[@ABCDuwachui]

I love her enthusiasm.

[@michaelreismanchannel1456]

The Chalumeau sounds an octave lower than it should because it has a cylindrical bore and therefore acts like stopped organ pipe.

[@scottvigder1264]

Utterly fantastic sound and color and I've been playing bassoon for 47 years!

[@andycordy5190]

How could you not love this alluring instrument? Truly it' s charming enough to melt the heart of the fiend.

[@katherinespencer1900]

A lion tamer indeed !

[@albertrice2746]

Lovely Introduction to the Chalumeau--Bravo to Katherine and her musician friends! Best wishes, Albert (Al) Rice

[@phileo_ss]

How delightful! I knew about the chalumeau and listen to recordings of Telemann, Vivaldi et al, but I imagined them to be much bigger instruments. I might get some recordings of Graupner too.

[@hollish196]

BEAUTIFUL sound. Between recorder and oboe, I believe. I love this. It is very sad that we have lost it in modern times. We need this sound!! With the thee together= my ears are in love.

[@steveallenmashburn8815]

er -- we do have it -- it is the lower register of the clarinet.

[@levigr]

What a wonderful and lovely introduction to the chalumeau. This goes straight to my "favorites" playlist 👌

[@tedshoemaker923]

Thank you for making a video that does its job! No distractions, no clickbait, no nonsense.

[@qwaqwa1960]

I think it would sound gorgeous with a clavichord!!

[@katherinespencer1900]

Brilliant idea. Episode 2 !!!

[@DanLizotte]

I noticed the ligatures and thought ooooh they must be some fancy period appropriate thing I wonder what they are 😂😂😂

[@bobjacobson858]

It sounds like a clarinet.

[@sheilamaceira]

What an absolute delight to the ears! And such a lovely "show and tell" generously given by Mrs Spencer (and her two colleagues)! 🥰

[@jumpingjflash]

What's in a name? A clarinet by any other name would sound as sweet 😃😃

[@axyglx]

Timothee Chalumeau

[@michaelwright2986]

Before I saw this video, I knew nothing about the chalumeau, and I didn't know there even was a Graupner. So this wins for instruction and delight.

[@MichaelJenkins910]

This was a beautiful discovery of a rainy afternoon. Thank you so much!

[@katherinespencer1900]

Twas my pleasure

[@Vodolaz39]

And the lady herself is pretty expressive 😀

[@pavetheworldlovely]

Do you mean...that you aren't paying $100 for a custom ligature that leaks out the sides anyway?

[@FrankDudgeon]

Lovely video. The music is enchanting and the commentary delightful. Thank you.

[@MizzKittyBichon]

5:19 Owl: _Whoo-oo-oo_ are you people???

[@DividingInfinity]

Can we please get a video on the Bass Chalumeau? I know the information might be a lot like this one but it would be amazing to hear it’s tone and usage during the time period

[@katherinespencer1900]

Graupner often chose the bass Chalumeau over the others for his many concertos.

[@anthonywilliams6764]

I first heard about this instrument when in discussion with a great jazz tenor saxophone player from England called Don Weller, around fifty years ago. Don was a great fan of J.S.Bach, and himself was taught to play the clarinet at the British army school of music. Don became one of the legends of British jazz, and once or twice when we played together at a jazz gig, he would lean across to me and whisper the word" Chalumeau" which meant that he was going to play his horn at very low pressure, and in the lower register. I subsequently learned that the word chalumeau had nothing to do with pressure, but was related to the sound that Don wanted to hear from his saxophone. The chalumeau is a beautiful instrument, and I send thanks for this lovely upload. More of these films please.

[@katherinespencer1900]

That’s a wonderful story

[@Frahamen]

it's a clarinet disguised as a recorder.

[@bernarddaigle2830]

It sounds low because it's a closed pipe conical bore.

[@frogmouth]

Lovely sound. Looks like a chunky recorder

[@timflatus]

It's a bit like a single reed equivalent of the duduk

[@harveyblankenship564]

Beautiful sound coming from this instrument! It appears to be a Recorder, but, w/a reed - sounding very much like a Clarinet.

[@musicalintentions]

wonderful video - thank you!

[@user-yd1vl9lj5j]

Freddy the Flute from H&R Puff and Stuff.

[@d4sk43nguru]

does anyone have a link/sheet of the irish tune in the intro?

[@BattleCattleSA]

subscribing for half second of owl

[@karlgw]

you could also check out the Xaphoon: a modern instrument invented in the 70s by Brian Wittman with a similar design and range as the chalumeau

[@buddycollier5056]

Great video, thanks I kinda hear saxophones here it’s similar

[@TheAminoamigo]

Like the musical equivalent of a wooly jumper!

[@katherinespencer1900]

Can I use that in my cv !!!

[@grimjim100]

Well done Katherine, excellent programme. Your chalumeau sounds and looks rather like the Duduk, an eastern moorish six holed thing which is played with a massive double reed rather like a bassoon reed. That too has a beautiful haunting sound but much wilder and Arabesque than your chalumeau. Like the flute, oboe or bassoon these simple instruments have a much more appealing sound quality but more limited in scope than a full Boehm system. It seems the more holes they have the more it looses its beauty in favour of efficiency. Angela and I love your playing and miss it lots. Keep up the good work on the 'Liquorice Stick', or Gobbo'! (clarinet nick names!) Many cheers, James

[@katherinespencer1900]

Dearest James and Angela. How wonderful to hear from you. I often think on you both. Glad you liked my little video and I loved reading your comments. As you know I ALWAYS learn something important when I talk to you both. Hope to see you over Easter time when playing subsides a bit to allow space to do other fun and wonderful things. See you both then. Much love Katherine

[@rosemarygilman8718]

I'm more than delighted to have just discovered your channel. You all play so beautifully and I'm looking forward to a lot of wondrful listening and learning as I go through all of your epsisodes. Thank you!

[@Louise-zs9rl]

Hahah elastic band, hair tie and shoe lace ligature😁. Love the hollow and deep sound of the Chalumeau but if they were made from olastic it would just sound cheap and nasty. I think it sounds great because of the wood it was made from.

[@katherinespencer1900]

It certainly helps the sound to live

[@willemceuleers3789]

physics, so science that is, tells us that your chalumeau should play low, madame. It is the eye that deceives many of us. The low sound is provoked by the cylindrical bore combined with one closed end (the beating reed): in this case the bore lenght counts double. By the way, same deal with the clarinet: just compare its lenght to say an oboe (closed too, but with a conical bore) or the modern flute (cylindrical, yet open at both ends): the clarinet descends down to the low tenor tessitura, whereas the oboe and the flute don't even make it close to the alto range. All the best, Willem (chalumeau, clarinet and saxophone player, both period and modern instruments)

[@Dewingo]

What a beautiful sound. Too bad you can't go to the local music store and a get a reasonable beginner version like you can for instance with a recorder. I'd really like to try one out someday.

[@antonomaseapophasis5142]

Yes, I did think precursor to clarinet, but surprised at sound which seems modern (to me). Mozart Masonic processions?

[@katherinespencer1900]

Interesting

[@FictionWriter95]

I might have a new favorite historical instrument. Also, I didn't even know that the clarinet existed prior to 1760ish, so I'd love to see y'all do a video on that!

[@idraote]

watch the video on the oboe d'amore first... ;)

[@Harmonic_shift]

I like this instrument. Very nice color to it.

[@Rik77]

Love this video. I'm currently learning the chalumeau (i have only a tenor) and its such a joy playing graupners works. Vivaldis writing for tenor (the little there is) has eluded me though, its so difficult and very high. Graupner seems to understand the instrument better imo.

[@truthinesssss]

Delightful! I really enjoy the warmth of the instrument - very pleasant to listen to. …great performance as well. Thank you.

[@gustavoavilan5407]

Very very beautiful video. Bellísimo vídeo. Muchas gracias.

[@hernangogol343]

Super great teaching skills on musical history. 🤔

[@cateclism316]

Looks like a recorder with a reed!

[@PieroDistefano]

Where can I bought this instrument. A good one. I'm clarinet player and I would like to try it. Thanks

[@katherinespencer1900]

Historical clarinet makers like guy Cowley

[@qwaqwa1960]

Amazing Bach never wrote for it, given his interest in instruments...

[@katherinespencer1900]

Sad times

[@gblan]

Such a beautiful sounding trio. I have to get one now!

[@michaelkazmierskidunn7189]

I thought the Chalumeau was the higher pitched of the two chanters on the French Musette bagpipes. (I'm a bagpiper as obvious as it is).

[@agogobell28]

That could very well be the origin of the name.

[@katherinespencer1900]

Interesting !!!

[@HenrikBergpianorganist]

It is as well. Possibly there was confusion between 'chalemie' (=shawm) and chalumeau at some point?

[@coelhoigor]

How is it possible that an obscure 18th-cent piece by an unknown composer brought tears to my eyes? What is even this

[@graupner1345]

You ain't seen nothing yet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZK7pYF4Ys6ggJY

[@jeffrode]

I enjoyed this immensely! Thanks to you and your chalumeau!

[@greghenrikson952]

Claricorder. I love it!

[@Herr_Flick_of_ze_Gestapo]

Chalumeaux player: "I always get people being surprised about how low sound such a small instrument can make" Racket player: "hold my beer..."

[@Lucius1958]

It took a lot of keywork to close the gaps between registers, and produce the clarinet as we now know it. I have experimented with cylindrical bore instruments, using a membrane reed: the result sounds much like a crumhorn, although a bit louder. Since I made them of copper pipe, using plumbing fixtures for a reed cap, I dubbed them "plumbhorns". I even once made a set of smallpipes based on the same principle...

[@sifridbassoon]

The last (third?) trio sounds exactly like something from a Mozart divertimento. Which is logical since Mozart loved that single reed family instruments so much.

[@alessiopelusocoach]

hello very good artist, where can I find and buy this beautiful instrument? Is it in B flat? I can't find it on the internet. Thank you very much❤

[@kentaccordionist]

What is the strange shaped bit of brass on the front for. Is it just for decoration?

[@katherinespencer1900]

It’s a key to play the next note up in the scale. And there’s one on the back to for a note higher as well.

[@JessHull]

what a beautifully mournful sound it produces. I'd love to try and play one.

[@pedebe100]

Timotheé Chalumeau

[@eliherzer1748]

It sounds like a mix of a wooden flute and a clarinet

[@richardrgoodwin]

Did I read somewhere that Chalumeaux were originally played with the reed uppermost rather than below the mouthpiece as in a modern Clarinet or Saxophone? Or was that just because somebody once found one in a cupboard with the mouthpiece on upside down? ;-)

[@katherinespencer1900]

The upside down Reed thing is a thing I believe. But I’d not be surprised if your cupboard idea were not true !

[@HBelfort]

Thanks for sharing. What a beautiful sound!

[@JMaxwell1000]

Gorgeous sound! THANK YOU for introducing this lovely instrument to the world. Fantastic sound.

[@jeffreybouchard4347]

Sounds like a clarinet, just a bit more nasal💀😂

[@katherinespencer1900]

Is that a good or a bad thing I wonder ?

[@finleyjones1780]

OH MY GOD I want one!!! Who is the maker of your instrument? It looks like it says "B. Ackerman" but I couldn't find anything. I would love to have an authentic copy like that.

[@katherinespencer1900]

It is by Brian Ackerman (25 years ago) but I don’t believe he makes these instruments anymore. Guy Cowley or van de poel make them now and other historical clarinet makers

[@fatheroblivion45]

Can you remove / twist the lower joint to make it playable for a left hander?

[@katherinespencer1900]

Yes you can

[@nostalgiakarlk.f.7386]

3:05 - The two female players are playing quite passionately while the guy on the right looks like he doesn't want to be there 😂

[@guillaumehuet-yw3tm]

Very nice video and very beautiful playing, and instrument sound. I would have liked a bit more explanation on the technical part of the chalumeau. Like sound emission, range... For instance I know they are single-reed instruments usually but I don't know if all of them are.

[@peterweingartner4364]

I love this series of videos. The music is beautiful, and the history of these instruments is fascinating.

[@doddsalfa]

Incredible musical instrument,never heard of it

[@rasmichael]

You are not alone!

[@exploremusic2182]

I love the pony tail ligature!

[@Symphing12]

Such a beautiful sound!

[@ahome3406]

It sounds like a clarinet.

[@mikesoule1352]

This chalumeau looks like it's fingered just like a recorder, except i couldn't figure out what that brass piece just under the mouthoiece is used for. Thanks for showing us something most of us have never seen before!

[@WCM1945]

I love the tone of this instrument!

[@baroquer]

Such a lovely instrument....and the lady ♥

[@iamjimfan]

Speaking of physics, it's wave length of the sound wave but not length of the instrument which determines how "high" the sound is

[@timothytikker3834]

I use shoelaces for ligatures on all my single reed instruments: modern clarinets of all sizes, saxophone, tárogató, xaphoon (a bamboo chalumeau made in Hawaii!). I find they give the best tone and response of any ligature I've ever used.

[@PieroDistefano]

Please could you share more details about your ligature. Thanks

[@timothytikker3834]

It's an ordinary shoestring, best when it's a men's dress shoelace. Pino recommends cutting off the tip at one end, then to start wrapping it around the mouthpiece and reed, then to take the tip at the other end through one of the last loops and pull it tight. The result performs like a German-styleq cord ligature, but will still hold in place on French-style mouthpieces that don't have the ridges to hold the cord in place.