Sylphyo, the new clarinet
With the shape of its bell and its dark color, the Sylphyo of Aodyo evokes a clarinet, but by the display you can tell it is an electronic clarinet.
Thanks to the left thumb octave selection mechanism on the Sylphyo, crossing the break is much simpler compared to a clarinet. To reach the clarion register, just tune your Sylphyo in G so that you can play a C using just the left index, middle, and ring finger keys. To play a G, just add the right index, middle, and ring fingers on their respective keys. With the Sylphyo tuned in C, the fingering positions are closer to the higher register on the clarinet.
The Sylphyo is tuned in C by default, however it can be tuned in Bb like most soprano clarinets, or in C or A like some other soprano clarinets. Most other clarinets are in Eb or Bb, and it is as easy to select the proper tuning for them as well. The Sylphyo can be tuned to any tone on a ±2-octave range.
The clarinet fingering on the Sylphyo is an adaptation to the keys of the Sylphyo, with some changes to compensate for the missing keys available on the clarinet.
The Sylphyo also offers an oriental clarinet fingering based on the modified Albert system found in some turkish clarinets, designed in collaboration with students in Middle-Eastern Music at UCLA (Los Angeles).
How do you play the keys on this clarinet? Can you play all the notes that you can play on a regular clarinet? Is this clarinet easier or harder to opperate than a regular clarinet?
You play the keys of the Sylphyo as any wind instrument, by putting your fingers on the tactile keys. Here is a video showing how to handle it:
One of the selectable fingerings has been designed for close compatibility with Bb soprano Boehm-System clarinets, mainly in the Clarion register, with adaptations to the keys of the Sylphyo: https://aodyo.com/sylphyo-user-guide/#section-fingerings.clarinet
Another fingering has been designed for close compatibility with modified-Albert-System oriental clarinets, with adaptations to the keys of the Sylphyo. It can be used to play middle-eastern music, and more generally world music repertoires: https://aodyo.com/sylphyo-user-guide/#section-fingerings.oriental-clarinet
One can say that the Sylphyo is easier to operate than an acoustic clarinet, as your simply need to put some air flow into the mouthpiece to produce a clear sound. However, the technic you develop with the Sylphyo can be quickly transferred to traditional clarinets and vice-versa.