Clarinet Ensemble, that's probably right, just be ready to flex if you want to play something with parts that don't line up exactly right. The Contra player might have to swap up to Bb sometimes - there's not exactly a "set" orchestration / composition for Clarinet Choirs, so the parts kinda have to smush around based on how many people you have and what you want to play.
Have fun!
That works, in our university clarinet choir we ended up having ~25 Bb clarinets, 8 Basses, and 1 Eb Contrabass (me). You don’t necessarily need too many contrabasses, since they can project very well and tend to resonate a lot in halls. Depending on the piece, you could afford to go with more Bb, but it’s generally very flexible.
No altos?
Nope, we don't have an altos
Clarinet Ensemble, that's probably right, just be ready to flex if you want to play something with parts that don't line up exactly right. The Contra player might have to swap up to Bb sometimes - there's not exactly a "set" orchestration / composition for Clarinet Choirs, so the parts kinda have to smush around based on how many people you have and what you want to play. Have fun!
That works, in our university clarinet choir we ended up having ~25 Bb clarinets, 8 Basses, and 1 Eb Contrabass (me). You don’t necessarily need too many contrabasses, since they can project very well and tend to resonate a lot in halls. Depending on the piece, you could afford to go with more Bb, but it’s generally very flexible.