Bohlen-Pierce clarinets and other instruments


Full information about the Bohlen-Pierce project is given in the article elsewhere on this site, but briefly, the Bohlen-Pierce scale is an alternative musical scale, arrived at by dividing the just twelfth (a 3:1 frequency ratio) into thirteen steps, giving extensive new musical possibilities to those involved in the creation of new music.  For the first time, instruments built to this scale are now offered for sale to musicians.
 


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Soprano clarinet

The BP soprano clarinet is the same size as the conventional Bb clarinet, and is played with the same mouthpiece.  The fingering uses a combination of open finger holes and keywork derived from the Boehm system (the complete low note mechanism for the little fingers, plus a throat key for L1, a trill key and the register key).

In keeping with the futuristic nature of the BP project, the BP soprano clarinet is constructed as standard in Delrin, a high quality synthetic material.
 

Price: 
Delrin, 10 keys, nickel plated
Can. $1,600.00

BP soprano clarinet
 
 

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Tenor and contra clarinets

The tenor and contra clarinets are the larger sizes in the BP family.  The former is midway in size between the conventional alto and bass clarinets and is constructed similarly to the alto; the latter is the same size as an Eb contrabass. 

Further details will be posted as the prototypes are field tested.
 

Prices:
Tenor, Delrin body, nickel plated keywork
TBA
Contra, metal body, nickel plated
TBA

 
 

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Metallophone and glockenspiel

Various mallet instruments can be envisaged, to provide ready reference to the pitches of the equal tempered BP scale and for rhythmic accompaniment in performance.

The metallophone is built along the same lines as the Orff metallophones used in schools, with aluminum bars and a wooden resonator box, giving a soft, sustained sound.  The range of the alto metallophone covers the middle of the range of the BP soprano clarinet, the soprano the second register of the BP clarinet.

The glockenspiel uses steel bars mounted in a wooden box, as with a conventional marimba.  The range is a tritave higher than the soprano metallophone.
 

Price:
Alto metallophone, 14 bars, 265 to 795Hz
Can. $750.00
Soprano metallophone, 14 bars, 440 to 1320Hz
Can. $750.00
Soprano glockenspiel, 14 bars, 1320 to 3960Hz
Can. $750.00

BP alto metallophone


 
 
 
 
 
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