Alto clarinet.

A member of the clarinet family (see Clarinet, §II, 1), normally pitched in E (it is classified as an aerophone). It is used chiefly in military bands and wind bands, and is usually built with an upturned metal bell and a curved metal crook; the two-piece body carries a mechanism of similar design and layout to that of the soprano clarinet, with two common exceptions. First, because the tone-holes are a little large for convenient covering, the instrument is frequently made with tone-holes covered by plates instead of directly by the fingers; second, there are commonly two speaker keys, as on the bass clarinet.

The history of the alto clarinet as we now understand it may be said to begin in the early 19th century with the design of instruments of large bore, first in F and later in E for military bands, both in France (those made by Cuvillier and Simiot, for example) and Germany (Grenser and Wiesner). In England, the alto clarinet in F seems to have survived as a non-military instrument of narrower bore, confusingly known as the tenor clarinet.

The alto clarinet has a good full tone, and blends well; unlike the basset-horn, it has no difficulty in balancing other modern instruments. It has been little used in the orchestra, however, and is no longer included in British Army bands, though it is a regular constituent of American concert bands and of clarinet choirs.

NICHOLAS SHACKLETON