The reed contrabass (; ) is a metal

double reed A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and ...

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

in the bass-contrabass register, pitched in C. Although the

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

-like double reed and metal construction make it superficially similar to a

contrabass sarrusophone The contrabass sarrusophone is the deepest of the family of sarrusophones, built in three sizes pitched in E♭, C or B♭. It was made in the 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily in France by its inventor and Parisian instrument maker Pierre ...

, it is descended from the

ophicleide The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the cour ...

which it resembles in appearance, as well as in the arrangement of the simpler key work and fingering.

History

The first reed contrabass was Czech maker Červený's design of 1856, which he also called the ''Tritonicon''. It was further developed by the Belgian maker Mahillon, who in 1868 produced the for

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

s in France and Italy. It was one of several attempts at the time to create a woodwind instrument in the contrabass register, attempts that would eventually lead to the

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 (mouthpie ...

by the turn of the 20th century. The reed contrabass is still played in Italy today.

Construction

The instrument is typically of metal construction, with a conical and unusually wide bore. This width allows each note to be produced by opening only one tone hole, whereas, in other woodwind instruments, several tone holes must be opened to produce most notes (for this reason, all keys but that for the lowest note remain normally closed). This property greatly simplifies the fingering of the instrument, in that no alternative fingerings for individual notes or trill keys are needed, nor exist. The lowest note that the reed contrabass may typically achieve is D1 (DD) - the lowest D on a standard grand

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. Although obscure, the instrument may still be procured on request from the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

instrument manufacturer

Orsi Orsi is a surname of Italy, Italian origin, and may refer to the following people: Last name * Adolfo Orsi (1888–1972), Italian industrialist, owner of Maserati * Anaïs Orsi, climate scientist * Benedetto Orsi (died 1680), Italian painter * C ...

. The reed contrabass is sometimes confused with the

, to which it bears some superficial resemblance.

References

External links

A larger article with pictures
(archived from contrabass.com) {{Double reed Contrabass instruments Double-reed instruments