How do I set up the Bass Clar. in B with Bass Clef? Is a G on the bottom line in bass clef going to sound an octave lower?
You have options in Setup to choose whether you want bass clef at pitch, or 8ve lower.
Do you want the bass clef in concert layouts, or in transposed layouts?
You can get the former by selecting “Bass Clarinet > B Flat Bass Clef Concert Pitch” in the instrument picker. Concert pitch layouts will show the bass clarinet in bass clef, at pitch.
Bass clarinet in bass clef for transposed layouts is unusual, and Dorico doesn’t provide one by default. Probably you want to select the same instrument as above, then do Edit Instrument Definition to change the Clef for Transposing Layouts to bass clef and then adjust the transposition to be as desired.
As others metioned, Choose Woodwinds/Bass Clarinet Bb Bass Clef Concert Pitch. The pitches you notate in the Bass Clef will be sounding pitches. I played Bass Clarinet in professional ensembles, and (unless I was reading directly from a score), the part was always transposed up a major 9th and notated in Treble Clef.
Unfortunately, Dorico does not provide an ideal solution to this question—a question more common than we would like to admit. (I must disagree with @asherber that bass clef is unusual in transposed layouts; Franck and Rachmaninoff notated bass clarinet this way almost exclusively, for example.)
There are three (mostly) standard workarounds. First, as @Janus suggested, you could use the “Bass clef concert pitch” in Setup mode. And it is indeed at concert pitch (i.e., not sounding an octave lower), as is expected when notating bass clarinet this way—if you’re using a concert-pitch layout.
Frustratingly, this instrument reverts to the treble clef, and still at an octave-plus lower, in transposing layouts. If you still want bass clef then, the most “official” workaround is to use a Clef and Transposition Override, also accessible from Setup mode. These overrides are layout-specific, so you would have to go into both your full score layout and your part layout—depending, of course, on whether you want the conductor, player, or both to get bass clef in transposing layout. Right-click the relevant layouts and select Clef and Transposition Overrides… You will get a window like this:
Select your bass clarinet instrument and override the clef for transposed layouts to Bass Clef. To take care of the octave, replace Bb2 with Bb3 (or A2 with A3, if you have a bass clarinet in A).
Of course, as an override, this will not carry through into future projects. If you want this to appear in the future as a default option, you could use the instrument editor as @asherber suggested. Unfortunately, my own experiences with it have been painful; in the past, one would manually edit the XML files to do this. (That’s still possible, but obviously risky!) In the future, I would very much prefer for Dorico to simply have a universal-bass clef bass clarinet instrument.
I would submit that Frank and Rachmaninoff are rather esoteric examples-and exceptions. It is, in modern practice, usual for Bass Clarinet parts to be transposed and notated in Treble Clef.
What about R. Strauss, Stravinsky, Dukas, Wagner and Shostakovich?
Most professional Bass Clarinetists can read bass clef.
However, I agree that modern Bass Clarinet parts should be written in treble clef, sounding a ninth lower.
That was all I meant. As a Bari Sax/Bass Clarinet player, I had to know how to read in Bass Clef-and Baris Sax/Bass clarinet players should be able to read Bass Clef well. The Bass Clef notation was common practice in Europe and Russia during those composers’ lifetimes. It was thought of as a low instrument like Bassoon, so the convention (then) was to write it in Bass Clef. They would write the Bass Clef part a major 2nd above the sounding pitch. The player would then read the written notes in the Bass Clef. It is a much more common practice now to write the part transposed and in Treble Clef.
This is interesting discussion and helpful. I have a few works that were done in Finale years before it passed away, and when it transposed the bass clarinet it did so a major ninth higher than its actual pitch:
And here it is in C:
Same with an early work from around 1984:
And in C:
I haven’t yet had the occasion to write for the bass clarinet using Dorico so I’ll see how it goes if I write something for that instrument in the near future. It’s always been one of my favorite wind instruments, actually, even since I heard Schönberg’s op. 29 as a teenager.
I disagree with this; I think the instrument editor is the most appropriate approach, and I wouldn’t even call it a workaround. Clef and Transposition overrides are for when you have one player for which you want two different layouts: one which matches the instruments definitions and one which is different, so maybe one bass clarinet part in treble clef and one in bass clef.
Note that changes you make in the instrument editor apply to the current project only, unless you click the Save as Default star in the lower left. If you do want this bass/bass instrument available in future projects, then you should first click the New Variant from Selection button, so that you’re creating a new instrument rather then editing one of the default ones, then set the options as you want them and click Save as Default.
I am finding this interesting. However, I must ask as I was taught that all “bass clef” instruments were non-transposing. As a one time baritone/euphonium player, this required an awareness that the fingerings shifted by a step (a ninth, actually) when switching. So the question is: Is the bass clarinet a transposing instrument when notated in bass clef (i.e. a C sounds as Bb)? (Sometimes? Depends? Are there others?)
— Jim
I’d say that this “rule” was rather taught out of convenience. As bass clarinet and baritone saxophone are regularly written in treble clef they are not considered to be bass clef instruments, this leaving bassoon, double bass and all the low brass instruments. As they all are writen non-transposing the rule is correct.
The rule does not state: All bass instruments are non-transposing.
Reason behind that is that, while a bassoon player will read bass clef from his first bassoon lesson, saxophone and clarinet players read treble clef and use bass clarinet and bari as a doubling, so the parts for these are written in that way that the players read the same clef and transposition and use the exact same fingerings.
The fact that some late 19s composers chose to notate differently in a time where these instruments were new and notation standards had yet to evolve does not make this acceptable practice for modern engraving.
In addition, there are some local traditions (band music in Belgium and NL, IIRC) that break that rule. I’ve seen published “world parts” with transposed bass clef for low brass. That is definitely not standard practice though, and I’ve only seen those parts included as extras. (These days not even included in the printed set of music, but only as a link to download them.)
The only time I’ve seen transposed bass clef in a score is in a score where everything is in Bb transposition. (Thankfully, that’s a rare beast.)
But to be clear: Never use transposed bass clef, unless you have a good reason and know what you’re doing. Same for writing clarinets or saxophones in bass clef. If you’re writing for a specific player, go ahead and use their preference, but it’s not a good idea if it’s for general consumption. (Yes, a professional bass clarinet player should be able to read bass clef. I can do so fine myself. But I’d be surprised if more than a tiny fraction would prefer it. And if you want non-professionals to be able to read your music…)
@MassMover & @Rikard ,
Thanks for the info! As an “old guy” ( born just before the start of the space age) I find that many things I learned long ago are wrong — or at least inaccurate; and it’s better to approach things with humility than hubris! 
Not necessarily true. Double bass and Contra Bassoon all sound an octave below notated.
Very true. I guess it was more about how it didn’t matter whether an instrument was a “C”, “Bb” or other — unlike treble clef where parts were transposed into different keys. Having played TC Baritone then switching to Trombone, I get totally screwed up seeing a trombone part in tenor clef! But that’s another whole can of worms!
As a bass clarinetist, please write your bass clarinet parts in treble clef a major 9th above the sounding pitch.
The one thing the bass clef-using composers listed in the thread above have in common is that they are all dead. Join the 21st century and notate things correctly.
The bass clarinet is still a transposing instrument in bass clef. It sounds a major 2nd lower than written, whereas in treble clef notation, it sounds a major 9th lower.