Clarinet

            
             The Clarinet is a woodwind instrument. Its mouthpiece looks like a peaked edge. The mouthpiece is attached to a single reed. The body is usually made from basswood and is cylinder shaped with a flared bell. This is what the clarinet looks like now. .
             The first form of the clarinet was available in Western Europe in the 17th century in a range of pitches and was generally called chalumeau. The word chalumeau is of a French origin and is a common name for any small reed-blown pipe. The German instrument creator J.C. Denner first developed the clarinet from the chalumeau around 1700. It is commonly implied that Denner invented the clarinet by improving the chalumeau. Denner gave the clarinet a separate mouthpiece, added keys to it, developed the bell, and offered for the first time the third and fifth harmonics. The clarinet was used very infrequently in the first half of the 18th century and parts with a restricted area were assigned to it. This was probably due to the imperfections of the new instrument. By 1800 few orchestras would have been without the clarinet. In chamber music, Mozart had assured its place. As a solo instrument it had already had by the 1800s a fairly long career. The years 1800 to 1840 were a period of soloists and concerto players and mechanical development.
             In 1812 Ivan Muller presented a newly designed clarinet to the Paris Conservatoire. The new instrument had 13 keys and the most advance since the work of Denner. Muller is said to have been the second great figure in the world of development of the clarinet.
             The last inventor in the history of the clarinet was Hyacinthe Klose. In 1839, he invented what has become known as the Boehm System clarinet. The system is named after Theobald Boehm who invented a system for the flute by placing holes in the proper acoustical positions. He also invented a series of ring keys.