Aage

Current positions: Bass clarinetist, founder and co-director of Darkwood Consort (collaborative duo with viola) since 1992; adjunct professor of clarinet/bass clarinet and chamber music for The College of Idaho; adjunct professor of clarinet/bass clarinet, chamber music and woodwind methods at Northwest Nazarene University; bass clarinetist with the Boise Philharmonic since 1988; bass clarinetist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony since 1998; douçaine and founder of Virelai des Bois; douçaine and voice with Academy of St. Giles. I am also doing graduate work in early music and history at Boise State University, where the douçaine is the focus of my research and performance work. ************My bass clarinet exploits are well documented on the Darkwood Consort pages, so I have dedicated this page to the tenor douçaine, which is the focus of my graduate work in early music. ****************The bass douçaine found on the Mary Rose is the only extant model of the instrument that had baffled historians for ages. There are very few instrument makers making replicas and only a handful of players. My instrument was made by Phil Neuman in Oregon City, who makes replicas of the open double reed bass douçaine found on the Mary Rose, as well as altos and tenors based on that design. He has also made instruments for Piffaro, the Renaissance wind band, early reed specialist Debra Nagy, and Case Western Reserve University. ****************The cylindrical bore allows for a quiet sound and over-blowing at the twelfth (although it is not currently common practice to over-blow on the douçaine). The eight holes in front and one in back allow full chromatic fingerings for a tenth, with a transitional open note before overblowing the twelfth. Notes above the twelfth or thirteenth are unstable, as the holes are very small and the thumb hole must be covered at least 75% to go any higher.