What is a Chalumaeu?

This instrument is essentially the historic ancestor of the modern clarinet. It is a single reed instrument with a cylindrical bore, and over-blows a 12th instead of an octave, just like the clarinet.

What impresses and surprises a lot of people is how deep and mellow the Chalumaeu sounds even with such a small size (barely bigger than a soprano recorder).

Chalumaeu vs Clarinet – Differences

The big difference is that the Chalumaeu has all open holes, including a thumb hole, very similar to recorder fingering. This makes it extremely expressive as you can perform true legato all over the range, plus do slides and bends to add emotion to your performances.

The Chalumaeu’s biggest weakness is its tonal range, which is basically an octave + a few notes. But there are some modern alterations to the Chalumeau that can open up a bigger range. Historically it was basically a 1 octave instrument though.

The dynamic range however, is incredible on the Chalumaeu (just like on the clarinet). And the deep, warm tones with the open holes make it sound almost like a mix between a modern clarinet and the Armenian Duduk (which is a double reed instrument with open hole design).

It may be interesting for you to know that the modern clarinet still uses the term “Chalumaeu” to describe its low register.

Is the Chalumaeu Hard to Learn?

If you already know the fingerings on clarinet, or recorder, you will have no problem here. If you only played recorder, you will have to learn the embouchure and techniques for playing a reed instrument. 

Overall I would say it’s a fairly easy instrument to learn how to play, once you know how to play the reed properly, especially since it is basically a 1 octave instrument so you don’t have to mess around with the register key and breaking into the next octaves (like you do on a clarinet).

Getting proper intonation and tone balance over the full range will take some time though, and even more so to add expression with the reed, vibrato, bends, slides and other playing techniques to add emotion.

Chalumaeu Sound Example

Here is a video where Richard Harvey (a fantastic wind instrument player) performs on the Chalumaue and demonstrates its unique and warm tone in a very inspiring way: