MusicReasonPitch, Tuning, Intonation, and Fret Geometry
Is this note in range for this instrument?
Choose an instrument profile and, optionally, a note to check against it. This tool shows the documented written and sounding range from a cited source, and whether your chosen note falls inside it. It never labels a range safe or appropriate for a specific individual player, only what published references document.
Answer
Understand
A transposing instrument's written range and its sounding range are different numbers related by a fixed transposition interval; a B-flat clarinet's written middle C actually sounds a whole step lower. Documented ranges also vary somewhat between published references depending on how conservatively "practical" range is defined, which is exactly why this tool cites its source rather than presenting a single number as absolute truth.
Worked examples
The B-flat clarinet profile applies its stated transposition consistently in both directions: a written note converts to its sounding equivalent by subtracting two semitones, and converting that sounding note back always recovers the original written note exactly. A note sitting exactly on the documented boundary of a range is classified as inside that range, not excluded at the edge.
Method and limitations
Each instrument profile is a versioned entry in a small internal reference table, storing its own transposition interval, documented written range, source, and last-reviewed date. Written-to-sounding conversion simply adds the transposition interval; sounding-to-written subtracts it. Range membership is inclusive at both endpoints. This tool never claims a documented range is safe or appropriate for any individual's actual instrument or embouchure; real practical range varies by player, instrument condition, and skill level far more than any single published table can capture.
Written and sounding views exist side by side because an arranger writing a part for a transposing instrument needs the written range, while a composer thinking about the actual pitches heard in an ensemble needs the sounding range; the same instrument, the same physical limits, but two different numbers depending on which question is being asked. Switching views here never changes the underlying instrument or its true range, only which numbering convention is displayed.