What is "chalumeau"

n. 1 (context musici English) A woodwind instrument which was the predecessor of the clarinet. 2 The lowest range of the clarinet, reaching up to written B♭ (B flat) above middle C.

''This article is about the historical musical instrument. For the register on the clarinet that is named for this instrument, see Clarinet#Range. The chalumeau (; ; plural chalumeaux; from Greek: , kalamos, meaning " reed") is a single-reed woodwind instrument of the late baroque and early classical eras. The chalumeau is a folk instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day clarinet. It has a cylindrical bore with eight tone holes (seven in front and one in back for the thumb) and a broad mouthpiece with a single heteroglot reed (i.e. not a continuous part of the instrument's body) made of cane. Similar to the clarinet, the chalumeau overblows a twelfth.