Newbie question: bass clarinet

[Merylair]

I'm trying to enter a part into Notion that looks like this:



But the first two and the last note don't play in Notion. My staff settings are default (I think):
Notated C sounds: B flat / One octave / Lower

There are other sections in this music for the bass clarinet that are in treble clef, and some in bass clef, but this is the first time it seemed to go out of range of what Notion will play. I'm trying to figure out if this is a limitation in Notion, or maybe I have some setting incorrect for this music, or what.

If anyone has any insight into this, let me know. Thanks.

[Merylair]

(my webhost is glitching at the moment, the picture should work again soon :p)

[lazerlike42]

You're just outside of the generally defined range of the bass clarinet. For example, check out the bass clarinet page on wikipedia and look at the range that is listed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_clarinet

Notion's sounds - along with those of most libraries you may be using with it - are designed to only sound within the range of that instrument. If a real bass clarinet can't do it, then neither can Notions.

[Merylair]

Hm, on that wikipedia page, in the image in the sidebar, under "Sounding" it does seem to extend to under the second line under the bass staff.

From looking around online, it seems that bass clarinet music can be written in different ways - is it possible that this score was written in an alternate style, and that my Notion staff settings need to be adjusted to compensate for that?

The person who wrote it actually knew what they were doing, unlike me . But it was written in the 1960's and possibly using older or unusual notation styles that aren't used nowadays. Unfortunately the composer is no longer around for me to ask these things. I'm learning as I go I would be surprised if the composer made a mistake like writing notes too low for a particular instrument, though I suppose it's possible. Wikipedia also mentions some bass clarinets that have extensions to go lower, so I thought it might be that as well.

[lazerlike42]

Hm, on that wikipedia page, in the image in the sidebar, under "Sounding" it does seem to extend to under the second line under the bass staff.

From looking around online, it seems that bass clarinet music can be written in different ways - is it possible that this score was written in an alternate style, and that my Notion staff settings need to be adjusted to compensate for that?

The person who wrote it actually knew what they were doing, unlike me . But it was written in the 1960's and possibly using older or unusual notation styles that aren't used nowadays. Unfortunately the composer is no longer around for me to ask these things. I'm learning as I go I would be surprised if the composer made a mistake like writing notes too low for a particular instrument, though I suppose it's possible. Wikipedia also mentions some bass clarinets that have extensions to go lower, so I thought it might be that as well.

Well remember: the setup you have on your bass clarinet staff is to play an octave lower than written. That means that the A note you have isn't the A note on the first space of the bass staff: it's the A note that's 3 lines below the staff.

Sometimes, instruments which produce either very high or very low notes are written with the intent to be played an octave higher or lower than written. For example, a piccolo is often written to be played an octave higher. This way, the notation can look nice and be easily readable (and not be full of notes written 4 or 5 lines above the staff).

Sometimes, this is so common as to be almost universal. For example, a double bass will almost always play an octave lower than written, unless its noted otherwise. Other times, there are different ways of approaching an instrument which all have different "adherents." Notion's default setup is to treat it like a double bass: it plays an octave lower than written. Perhaps the composer who wrote the piece just wrote the note he wanted and didn't expect the staff to be read any differently than what it says.