This article will explore the first instrument known as the chalumeau and the various types of instruments that evolved from it. The chalumeau group of instruments were folk instruments that were played with a single reed, and the chalumeau itself is more commonly known as the predecessor of the modern clarinet. The tool has only eight holes on its cylindrical bore. There are many other single-reed instruments that resemble the chalumeau and existed around the same time. I will discuss the history of the chalumeau and its repertoire, similar instruments of the time, and the evolution from the chalumeau to the modern clarinet. My sources will include academic articles from online databases, such as Oxford Music Online, as well as books written on the topic. Such sources include Albert R. Rice's The Byzantine Clarinet and Edgar Hunt's Some Light on the Chalumeau. Through this article, I hope to shed more light not only on the group of instruments in the chalumeau family, but also on the people who helped adapt and modify the chalumeau itself, and the specifics of those modifications to create what we now see as the modern clarinet . The instrument we know as a chalumeau, sometimes referred to as a baroque clarinet, is a single-reed instrument with seven finger holes and a thumb hole on the opposite side of the instrument (Lawson). It is often described as a long tube with a cylindrical hole similar to that of the recorder. The chalumeau was born after many attempts to increase the amount of sound produced by the recorders of the time. Since the chalumeau had a high range and a low range but lacked a mid range, two more keys were later added to the instrument which... a paper medium... an abortion, both creators of the Boehm system split off and continued to modify and improve the clarinet.SourcesAlbert R. The baroque clarinet. Oxford [England: Clarendon, 1992. Print.Colin Lawson. "Chalumeau." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press.Web. October 15, 2013. Janet K. Page, et al. "Clarinet." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press.Web. October 15, 2013.Karp, Cary. "The Early History of the Clarinet and Chalumeau." JSTOR. Np, nd Web. October 9, 2013. Lawson, Colin. "The Chalumeau: independent voice or poor relation?" JSTOR. Np, nd Web. October 9, 2013."Musette De Cour." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 October 2013. Web. 24 October 2013. "Single-reed instrument." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, September 29, 2013. Web. October 21, 2013."Shawm." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 October 2013. Web. 26 October. 2013.