Yes – or at least, I've got an opinion but right now I've got to hit the hay! I'll check back in tomorrow (= today).
In the meantime, think: early orchestras ... natural horns (with crooks) (um – extra bits of tubing, not Al Capone's predecessors) ... families of instruments (recorders, saxes, "saxhorns", etc) ...
We have instruments in different keys because of instrument evolution.
Way back in musical times instruments were made in different pitches for a variety of reasons. Mostly because they just were and we did not have great communication between regions and countries.
Instruments evolved and certain consensuses( consensi) were made. Many instruments are in the key they are because the instrument sounds best in that key. If you made them in a different key, they would be longer or shorter and not sound the same, they would not have the same characteristics. A perfect example is Clarinet. Listen to someone play a Bb clarinet, then play the same passage on an A clarinet. There is a different feel, a different tonal quality between the instruments even though they are both clarinets.
French horns are commonly contructed in F and Bb. The higher notes sound better on the Bb horn the lower notes sound better on the F horn. If you go really high some people play an f-alto or eb-alto french horn. I happen to play an f-alto, but the eb-alto has a much better timbre when you get 3 ledger lines above the treble clef. You do not want to listen to a french horn in the key of C, they really don't sound that good when made in that key.
Now, some instruments are made in a different key, but taught the transposed fingerings from the get go, the student doesn't really know he or she is playing a transposing instrument. This may nto be such a bad idea but it does have it's problems . . .
Not sure what you mean by "transposed fingerings".
Saxophonists are generally expected to play two or more different saxophones (alto and tenor, for example), and it's much easier for them to switch back and forth if the saxophones are transposing instruments such that the same written note corresponds to the same fingering. This applies to orchestral clarinetists (Bb and A), oboe players who double on English horn (C and F), and various other instrumental groups.
Some instruments transpose by octave: Parts for the double bass, bass guitar, guitar, and tenor voice are written an octave above concert pitch. Parts for the piccolo and celeste are written an octave below sounding pitch.
An advantage of transposition for the composer, arranger, or conductor is that it makes it easier to tell at a glance when an instrument is playing in an extreme part of its range.
I think what Canadian means by transposing fingerings, is teaching kids not the notes as written, but as if they are sight transposing. For ex. you could get a clarinet to play a flute part, all they would need to do is put it down an octave. They would already be taught that if they see a C, they play a normal D, but yet they would never be taught what a normal D is, they'd just be told it was a C. Sort of like teaching the instrument as if its in C.
Hi Canadian – back again. A few transposition oddities:
• recorders just about always read concert pitch (with octave adjustments) even though the instruments are pitched in C and F (and occasionally D, etc).
• orchestral trumpeters often use instruments other than those specified. For instance, you never see trumpets in F any more. (Any exceptions, anyone?) At one point it was common (in Oz, at least!) to see Bb parts played on C instruments for the extra brightness. (I'm not really up with the current trends here and elsewhere. Trumpeters – over to you.)
• natural horns with their crooks and hand-stopping techniques warrant a whole new thread, I'd say. Parts were written in every key imaginable. Nevertheless, in a modern orchestra, those parts would usually be played on the "standard" Bb/F double horn with the player transposing as necessary.
• tubas are commonly pitched in Bb, C, Eb and F. An orchestral player needs at least two: a bass instrument (Eb or F) and a contrabass (Bb or C). 99% of the time the parts are written in concert pitch – it's generally left up to the player to pick the most appropriate instrument for the piece ... and to sort out the appropriate fingerings! In British-style brass bands, the Eb and Bb "bass" parts (ie: tuba) are written in treble clef, sounding respectively an octave-and-a-major-sixth and two-octaves-and-a-major-second lower. (Think: baritone and bass saxophone transpositions.)
• and for something really confusing (at least to this non-cellist), have a look at the Kodaly unaccompanied cello sonata. The C and G strings are tuned down a semitone but the part is written so as to comply with normal fingerings – you end up with a half-transposing instrument. Or something. I think. It's crazy!
I remember the perplexed looks on the faces of (many) pianists in Arranging I when the subject of saxophones came up. More bewilderment when the subject of trombones (in Bb? reading concert pitch?? but not always?) reared its ugly head.
... and a curse on anyone who threw "Cb harps" into the general confusion!
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