Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments

Depending on their age, clarinets generally consist of five or six separate parts: mouthpiece, barrel, upper or left-hand section, lower or right-hand section, and bell. Besides the mouthpiece, barrel, and bell, older clarinets often have a middle section with finger holes for the first three fingers of the right hand, and a lower section with the keys for L4 (the fourth or little finger of the left hand) and R4. This disposition may have been chosen to facilitate maintenance and repair of the complex lower section.

Clarinets also used to have more than one middle section, termed “pièces de rechange”, which are inserted to change the pitch. Occasionally, and more often in smaller clarinets, the body is made in one piece rather than divided into parts. The different sections are fitted together by tenon-and-socket connections, the seal being effected by lightly greased cork or cord.

The mouthpiece is a very important part of the clarinet. A single reed, secured against the “table” of the mouthpiece with cord or a ligature, closes the “wind-cut”. By blowing through the tip opening the player causes the reed to vibrate. With the lip the player damps the reed, so that it works accurately. During the 18th and early 19th century different possibilities of embouchure had existed: with the reed to the upper lip, the reed to the lower lip, or with the mouthpiece between the lips, as in playing the oboe. The precise shape and finish of the mouthpiece, together with the curve of the rails, are of extreme importance in determining the tone, the tone-colour, and the intonation of the instrument.

For this reason instrument makers through history have tried to make mouthpieces which are resistant to changing temeratures and humidity conditions. Very early mouthpieces were made from boxwood, like the other parts of the clarinet. Later black wood or cocus wood were used. In Britain and France ebonite became a favoured material, but glass and metal were also common.

From left to right: (2752, (2751), (2001), (2002), (109), (136), (2314), (530).
(2752): This unfinished early 19th century mouthpiece was made in the workshop of Thomas Glen (1804-1873) in Edinburgh. The bore is already finished, also the grooves for the cord and the short table. Mouthpiece (2751) is made in the same workshop and shows the next working step. These are typical British mouthpieces, because they have no tenon. They are socket-type mouthpieces, and they are made for a barrel with a tenon. The ivory ferrule strengthens the thin wood of the socket.
(2001): William Milhouse (1761-c 1835) made this mouthpiece around 1800 in London. Notice the straight tip in contrast to the other rounded tips, and the narrow short table!

(2002): Like the mouthpiece of Milhouse this contemporary mouthpiece of Cramer & Key (London) has a tenon. But what a long tenon! This method of strengthening the connection between the mouthpiece and barrel is again typically British.
(109): This socket-type mouthpiece was made of black wood around 1840 in the workshop of Richard Bilton, who worked with Cramer and with Thomas Key before founding his own workshop.
(136): Eugene Albert (Brussels) provided England with clarinets and mouthpieces made from cocus. The latter are not grooved for cord, because they use a ligature. The wind-cut is much wider, so a long table is necessary to fix the reed. The example given here was made in 1865.

(2314): German mouthpieces have a narrower rail and are grooved, because German players customarily use cord instead of a ligature. This example was made by Clemens Meinl of Wernitzgrün in 1935.
(530): A quite common mouthpiece used around 1920 for metal clarinets, which were used in military bands. It has a long table and is used with a French-cut reed. The ligature shows that Hawkes & Son in London made this mouthpiece.

The barrel is a short section coupling the mouthpiece to the upper section. Early instruments often have the mouthpiece and barrel in one piece. After 1800 this section was partitioned. The fact that makers tried to find more resistant materials for mouthpieces may be one reason for this change. It is also easier and cheaper to find proper wood for short tubes than for long ones. Another advantage of having a separate barrel is that it takes the strain from excessive contrasts of warmth and moisture near the mouthpiece, which often results in cracks. The short section, with its strengthening ferrules, can withstand these forces. If it does not, it is much more economical to replace the barrel, rather than the whole upper section. Last but not least, clarinettists used to make small adjustments to the pitch during their performance by slightly separating the barrel and upper section at the tenon, while currently many possess two barrels of slightly different lengths for the same purpose.

From left to right: (2002), (1846), (2447), (527), (4063), (132), (2764), (530), (141), and (4112).
(2002): This typical British barrel by Cramer & Key from about 1800 is waisted to fit a long tenon mouthpiece. The ivory ferrules strengthen the tenon-and-socket connection and are at the same time part of the elegant design.
(1846): D'’Almaine in London provided this tenon-type barrel (c 1834) with a tuning slide: the tenon of the lower section is made of brass and fits into a brass tube inside of the barrel, so the player can pull out the barrel to tune his instrument without loosening the connection.
(2447): A later D'Almaine barrel with a different design (c 1845).
(527): An elegant ivory tenon-type barrel made by Gerock (London) in 1826.

(4063): Around the middle of the 19th century barrels tended to be less bulbous and slimmer (Selboe, Copenhagen, c 1850).
(132): Barrels of Clarinets in A are longer (Simiot & Brelet, Lyon, c 1845).
(2764): Simple system clarinets made by Albert (Brussels) for the British market have continental barrels. British waisted barrels or tenon-type ones were no longer used.
(530): Metal instruments used for military bands also had metal barrels (Boosey & Hawkes, London, 1930).
(141): A long hardly bulbous Buffet-Crampon barrel, quite a common model in the 20th century (Paris, 1923).
(4112): This barrel belongs to a basset horn, an instrument which is much longer than the usual clarinet. Curving the barrel shortens the distance to the tone-holes, making the instrument easier to hold.

The precursor of the clarinet, the chalumeau, has the same bell (bottom section) as the recorder. The earliest clarinets were sometimes used in their high register to replace trumpets, and the lower end of the clarinet was funnel-shaped in design, a bit like the trumpet. Later the bells became more discontinuous and had wide rims. Modern clarinets are a compromise between those extremes.

From left to right: (1154/100), (2001), (80), (4064), (1036).

(1154/100): This bell belongs to the oldest clarinet from the Edinburgh collection, made by Thomas Collier in London, about 1770. The lower section and bell are still in one piece. The bell is continuous and shaped like the bell flare of a trumpet.
(2001): Another early clarinet from about 1800 represents again an almost continuous funnel-shaped and graceful bell, but in addition has an ivory rim (Milhouse, London).

(80): A more continuous bell of a clarinet by Thomas Key, about 1815.
(4064): A continental bell with a wide wooden rim made by Johann Selboe in Copenhagen, about 1850.
(1036): This bell with rich ornamented ferrules was made by E. Albert about 1863.