Johann Christoph DennerBorn 13 Aug 1655; died 20 Apr 1707 at age 51.German inventor, maker of musical instruments and inventor of the clarinet. He made improvements to the chalumeau, the first true single reed instrument, of the late 1600's. He and his son Jacob are attributed with innovating the speaker key which gave the clarinet a larger register. The clarinet overblows at the 12th. That is, when playing a C without the speaker key, then add the speaker key, the note that sounds is a G, which is the interval of a twelfth. The other woodwind instruments overblow at the octave. The clarinet bore is cylindrical, whereas every other woodwind instrument has a conical bore (even the flute!). This is why the clarinet overblows at the twelfth and is so laden with overtones, which contributes to its unique sound. |
