Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s of very low pitch—generally one

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

(which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family, tuned lower than the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

), many other instruments in the contrabass register exist. The term "contrabass" is relative, usually denoting a very low-pitched instrument of its type, rather than one in a particular range. For example, the contrabass flute's lowest note is approximately an octave higher than that of the

contrabass clarinet The contrabass clarinet (also pedal clarinet, after the pedals of pipe organs) and contra-alto clarinet are the two largest members of the clarinet family that are in common usage. Modern contrabass clarinets are transposing instruments pitc ...

. Instruments tuned below contrabass instruments, such as the double contrabass flute or

subcontrabass saxophone The subcontrabass saxophone is the largest of the family of saxophones that Adolphe Sax patented in 1846 and planned to build, but never constructed. Sax called this imagined instrument the ''saxophone bourdon'', named after the very low-pitched ...

, may be referred to as "double contrabass," "triple contrabass," "subcontrabass," or "octocontrabass" instruments. On the other hand, the "contrabass" classification often includes such instruments.

Wind

Brass

* Contrabass bugle, a variant tuba used in drum and bugle corps *Contrabass

hélicon The helicon is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Most are B basses, but they also commonly exist in E, F, and tenor sizes, as well as other types to a lesser extent. The sousaphone is a specialized version of the helicon. The fir ...

*Contrabass

sackbut The term sackbut refers to the early forms of the trombone commonly used during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. A sackbut has the characteristic telescopic slide of a trombone, used to vary the length of the tube to change pitch, but is di ...

*Contrabass serpent *Contrabass

saxhorn The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a c ...

in EE♭ *Contrabass saxhorn in BB♭ *Subcontrabass saxhorn in EEE♭ *Subcontrabass saxhorn in BBB♭ * Contrabass trombone, in F or BB♭ below the bass trombone * Contrabass trumpet *

Subcontrabass tuba The subcontrabass tuba is a rare instrument of the tuba family built an octave or more below the modern contrabass tuba. Only a very small number of these giant novelty instruments have ever been built. Most are pitched in 36’ BBB♭ an octave ...

in BBB♭

Woodwind

Contrabass clarinet The contrabass clarinet (also pedal clarinet, after the pedals of pipe organs) and contra-alto clarinet are the two largest members of the clarinet family that are in common usage. Modern contrabass clarinets are transposing instruments pitc ...

, two octaves below the B♭

soprano clarinet A soprano clarinet is a clarinet that is higher in register than the basset horn or alto clarinet. The unmodified word ''clarinet'' usually refers to the B clarinet, which is by far the most common type. The term ''soprano'' also applies to t ...

* Octocontralto clarinet, two octaves below the

alto clarinet The alto clarinet is a woodwind instrument of the clarinet family. It is a transposing instrument pitched in the key of E, though instruments in F have been made. In size it lies between the soprano clarinet and the bass clarinet. It bears a gre ...

*Subcontralto clarinet, alias of an octocontralto clarinet * Octocontrabass clarinet, three octaves below the B♭ soprano clarinet *Subcontrabass clarinet, alias of an octocontrabass clarinet * Contrabass flute, two octaves below the C concert flute * Subcontrabass flute, two octaves below the

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

* Double contrabass flute, three octaves below the C concert flute *

Hyperbass flute The hyperbass flute is conceptually the largest and lowest-pitched instrument in the flute family, although it is extremely rare. It first appeared at the turn of the 21st century, and only two are known to exist. With tubing reaching over in le ...

, four octaves below the C concert flute * Contrabass oboe, two octaves below the

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

*Contrabass

ocarina The ocarina is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from cl ...

, one octave below the bass ocarina in C *Great contrabass pommer * Contrabass rackett *

Contrabass recorder The contrabass recorder is a wind instrument in F2 that belongs to the family of recorders. The contrabass recorder plays an octave lower than the ordinary bass (or "basset") recorder. Until recently, it was the largest instrument in the rec ...

, in F, two octaves below the alto/treble recorder * Subcontrabass recorder, in C, three octaves below the soprano/descant recorder * Sub-subcontrabass recorder, in F, three octaves below the alto/treble recorder * Contrabass sarrusophone, range similar to the contrabass saxophone * Contrabass saxophone, two octaves below the alto saxophone *

Subcontrabass saxophone The subcontrabass saxophone is the largest of the family of saxophones that Adolphe Sax patented in 1846 and planned to build, but never constructed. Sax called this imagined instrument the ''saxophone bourdon'', named after the very low-pitched ...

, two octaves below the

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

*Contrabass

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteri ...

*Contrabass tubax, a saxophone-like instrument two octaves below the alto saxophone *Subcontrabass tubax, two octaves below the tenor saxophone *

Contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is cons ...

, an octave below the bassoon * Contraforte, a recently invented proprietary wide-bore variant of the contrabassoon with a more powerful tone and an upward pointing bell *

Reed contrabass The reed contrabass in C, otherwise known as the it, contrabbasso ad ancia or french: contrabasse à anche, is a type of woodwind instrument. It is reminiscent of an ophicleide in appearance but, unlike the ophicleide, employs a double reed (ak ...

Contrabassophone The contrabassophone is a woodwind instrument, invented about 1847 by German bassoon maker Heinrich Joseph Haseneier. It was intended as a substitute for the contrabassoon, which at that time was an unsatisfactory instrument, with a muffled sound ...

*Slide reed subcontrabass

Other

*Contrabass

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

*Contrabass singer,

basso profondo Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo, contrabass or oktavist, is the lowest bass voice type. While '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that is limited to the second E below ...

or oktavist, a rare sub-bass, classical singer who performs notes in the contrabass octave

String

Bowed

Double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

, a contrabass

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

Violone The term violone (; literally "large viol" in Italian, " -one" being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted i ...

, or contrabass

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Octobass The octobass is an extremely large and rare bowed string instrument that was first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double ba ...

Triple contrabass viol The triple contrabass viol is a modern variant of the French octobass, closely related to the double bass. Recordings and performances of sub-contrabass string instruments are rare; over tall, the triple contrabass viol must be played with the pe ...

* Dalaruan, used in the modern

Chinese orchestra The term Chinese orchestra is most commonly used to refer to the modern Chinese orchestra that is found in China and various overseas Chinese communities. This modern Chinese orchestra first developed out of Jiangnan sizhu ensemble in the 1920s ...

* Dadihu, used in the modern

Plucked

Acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar an ...

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

* Contrabass guitar *

Subcontrabass guitar A contrabass guitar is a low-register bass guitar with four, five or six strings. It is often called, simply, a ''six string bass guitar''. The ''five string bass guitar'' is rarely called a contrabass guitar, even though it typically has the same ...

*Contrabass

balalaika The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...

, a large triangular lute used in traditional Russian folk music * Guitarrón, a Mexican acoustic bass guitar used in

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

ensembles *

Chitarrone moderno The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending out ...

, a plucked bass type designed around 1900 by Italian luthiers for use in a mandolin orchestra *Contrabass

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

, typically marketed as the Kala U-Bass

Notes

{{reflist

External links

www.contrabass.com
the "Contrabass Mania" site dedicated to low instruments